Heading to Fuinneamh this weekend? One of the organisers tells us everything you need to know

For some, a collective sigh of relief went down last weekend when the Official End of the Summer was marked in the ever traditional fashion - in a field in Stradbally. However, for some particularly youthful, energetic and enthusiastic individuals, the end of the festival season means nothing but sadness and lamenting for a summer gone.

For those firmly in the second category, there is a glimmer of light with one last hurrah on the horizon, in the form of Fuinneamh.

Over the course of 2 days, a beautiful site at Loughcrew House and Gardens in Oldcastle Co. Meath, will be taken over by the staunchest of Irish festival goers and turned into a magical world based somewhere between the ancient Celtic Mysticism of Old Ireland and the modern buzzing music and arts scene we have going today.

We caught up with one of the event's organisers, Dean Venture, who filled us in on the concept behind the festival, how it came to being, and how the flow and energy of the festival (Fuinneamh literally meaning energy and spirit) is central to providing the best experience for those attending.

Claire: So, tell us a bit about the beginnings of Fuinneamh and the team behind it?

Dean: Well, originally Fuinneamh was called Lunasa. It was the first year last year, and there was a couple of people involved. I didn't get down to it myself unfortunately as I was otherwise engaged, but I know for a fact that the guys down there who were running it had the best craic ever, people were ranting and raving about it - I know people who have tattoos related to it because it was that good, which is insane - I’ve never heard or seen of that before! It also won the Best New Festival Award in the Irish Festival Awards which is amazing.

From then, though, they’ve kind of changed it around a little bit, and one of the groups involved kind of took it back over - it was originally meant to be called Fuinneamh, so its kinda gone back to its original name now. Luke and Rob are the 2 sort of masterminds behind it, 2 absolutely amazing blokes. I go back with Luke a little while, I know him from the festival scene, and he just loves the sites and building and making sure everything looks as absolutely unbelievable as it can. I met Rob through this project, and he’s an amazing bloke - I’ve never seen 2 people with so much heart and soul driven into a project ever. It's been so great working with them so far and they're really all about making it happen. There is an extensive team as well but those would be the 2 main guys behind it.

So, in theory, its Fuinneamh’s first year, as it was originally conceived.

Great, its so nice to be witnessing something from the very beginning.

There is a bit of a theme behind it - it’s definitely extremely Irish through and through. There’s a strong Celtic Mythology feeling there, there’s 5,000 year old megalithic cairns on site, but then on top of that you have a big influence from modern day Ireland with really contemporary electronic and post rock Irish music, for example. Is that mix of modern and ancient Irishness something you were striving for?

Yeah - the guys are hell bent on going all out Irish on this, and with the site itself, it makes perfect sense. They’re drawing from the powers that they feel in the ground when they walk down there and I think that will emanate through the entire festival, which is then complimented, of course, by the people playing down there. But yeah, it’s nice to mix it all in - like, there’s the old that's somehow brought us to the now.

They’re doing a great job - it’s really highlighting a proud heritage for us, as well as the excitement and movements that are going on for us today. Tell us a bit about the line-up, you have some big hitters there like King Kong Company, Bitch Falcon, Daithi and Kormac, to name a few, but there’s such an extensive line up there’s probably a lot of acts that people aren't as familiar with. Is there anyone you're particularly looking forward to, or is there any tips you can give us on who to go see?

Yeah - all of them! Haha, seriously though, without a shadow of a doubt cast from a megalithic stone you might find yourself under, there is just a rammed weekend of talent. Everybody’s handpicked. It’s great to have it over the 2 days, but there’s actually not even enough time to get more people down there. As far as the line up goes, I think for me, it’s more about the flow. When people go to a festival, there's a tendency there to go hell for leather on the Friday, you know? So, I want the music to complement that, so it just kind of builds and builds as people get down there, and the pace of all of the act’s energies and their sound and show will build, and then it will peak and it will teeter off and let people go become mischievous elves into the night! Then, come back in on the next day and start the build off all over again, you know? Everyone will be a little bit faded and jaded, so the music will be really inviting and its gonna hug people as they come back in and then build it back up slower and slower again. It’s an earlier start the next day, so we’ll blast it all out when everyone's got their beans back in them and keep going!

There’s a variety of bands there, but they all kind of complement each other in some sense. It’s a completely Irish line-up - I don't know where to start, if i start picking out a few I’ll never stop!

Well, maybe give us some underdogs, that you think people will be less familiar with but they should hear……

Hmmmm, ok, fresh one off the bat who I really enjoyed lately is Electric Octopus, who are our guests from the North. They’re playing an extended set on Saturday around lunchtime. There’s three of them and they know how to play. They’ll take it up and down, they’ll wing it - they’re a jam band, that aren’t a jam band, but super tech as well.

One of my personal favourites as well are Chancer, they’re fresh off the bat. They’re gonna blow people out of the water. They're kind of instrumental, cinematic, post-rock with enough noise to put your mother into an early grave!

As well on the early cusp of things, you have Thumper - let’s just say, two drum kits!

Steve Strong is the solo act of the event - Irish blood!

SYLK! They’ve been dominating the up and coming scene, they really know how to put on a show and they do some very interesting things noise and lights wise. They’ve a whole package which is great.

Stitch Jones, they’re great craic, the two of them. I’ve never seen two people so into just playing punk for the laugh - they’re modern punk and it sounds class.

Oh, Bodies! Definitely get in there for Bodies. They are doing some interesting things. It’s all written by a guy called Dave McGeown, and his band then are able to just put out what he wants and it’s sounding really, really tight. He’s doing some new music that's kind of not as dark and melancholic as it normally is - they had a single launch in Sin É there recently and it was unbelievable.

Prymary Colours are going to close off the stage, they’re an electronic act. Dan makes some great sounds and they have a whole show that goes with it. It’s thriving with energy - the whole point of Fuinneamh is that it means energy and these guys are gonna bring that to the table, and I think trying to incorporate the crossover of the live music and genre differences and bring in the electronic stuff as well.

Alex Smyth. If you haven't heard of Alex Smyth, do NOT miss this lad. Let alone being the nicest dude in the world, he draws a lot of inspiration from some of my favourite acts of all time, I actually have a tattoo of one of our mutual favourite acts. He puts emotion through electronic music - a lot of electronic music doesn't get that little bit more, you know? He’s using his guitar and looping it back in and then he plays electronic drums, and he's an unbelievable drummer, on top of it all! So, don’t miss him.

There’s Accidents in the Workplace - they’re like a ten piece brass band. Their front lady has a serious presence - it’s kind of like if Florence and the Machine and Nirvana had some sort of child!? It’s odd - that’s a brave statement as well, but, they’ve really been making some waves.

Soul Badger - unbelievable funk band. That’s a lot of the stuff on the Saturday morning lifting it back up.

Spud Gun - the guys have been trying to incorporate the best version of themselves for this - they got onto me the other day and asked about how doing a ‘no photo policy’ could work for their show - so, aside from having some of the most talented musicians in their group and bringing in some guests as well, I’m gonna leave it at that! Actually - that might end up being a kind of All-Stars of the Underground, depending on what you know - it’ll be a strange one, but they can put their riffs where their mouth is.

Deliverance are taking on a whole trip-hop kind of vibe, so this is going to be a first showing of some new additions that they have and the way that they're going with their music and the way they mix it up with this kind of rap-rock presence - they’re bombing on stage, they really know how to make everybody move.

Who else have we got, Oh! Vernon Jane. I don't know if you can class these as underdogs, or who is or who isn’t, but Alex and Emily have been off writing a lot of new stuff and they've stopped me in my tracks - much more than a lot of bands I’ve seen over the past while. Everything about them - I don't really want to give away too much, they’re raunchy and raw as hell.

Backroad Smokers Club - back in on the funk vibe. That’s literally entertainment right there! They're one of those bands that make funk music as if you already know the song - it’s like, that funk song you know but have never heard before - which isn't easy to do, but they really nail it.

New Secret Weapon - definitely not underdogs, though - their new album has been recorded by Steve Albini, I mean, do I need to say anything else?! They're some of the hardest working musicians I know - Ireland's answer to Queens of the Stone Age.

Also - Megacone - MEGA - CONE. There was a struggle there for a while to describe this band. I think its kinda like if you were to smoke some alternative smokes and play your favourite video game, and you might feel like while listening to the music that you actually met that wizard in the forest and he's about to send you off. So, we’ve come to the conclusion that they are quest-rock!
They bring three guitars to the stage and, you know, its really nice to see three guitars doing what they can do! They are the best craic going - they are the boys!

I’m probably going to stop you there!! I get a feeling if I don’t, we’ll have a full bio on everyone on the line up!

There is a lot going on besides just the music as well, though. There’s art installations and there's performances, and story telling and yoga and activities like that - tell us a bit more about that?

All I can say is come down and see what's going on for yourselves. I don't want to give all the secrets away! Mythology doesn't write itself!

I can promise you that your eyes will not stop for 2 seconds down here. Let alone the natural beauty of the grounds, this is a really beautiful location, but everything that the guys are doing building-wise is - everything is an installation basically! Everything is its own installation. I think that the only things that aren't going to be viewed as art installations - depending on your viewpoint - are the people! There is a big mix of things but I think I’ll leave them for everyone to come down and explore a little bit more, but you will be turning your head every moment.

You were talking about the beautiful site there, and it really is beautiful, so I’m going to talk to you for a minute about camping. As well as being completely Irish, you have a big eco-friendly identity, and there is a big green conscious, leave-it-as-you-found-it vibe…..

Yeah just bin your s**t! I'm the kind of person that would put a cigarette butt in my back pocket until i found a bin. Just, don't be those people. Leaving festivals is grim enough as it is, let alone all the work that goes in beforehand, but there is nothing like seeing a site of, just, destruction and carelessness in your peripherals as you're walking away trying to pull back whatever serotonin you have left in the back of your head.

Just keep the place clean, its not hard. We’re gonna do our best with the facilities, so just bin stuff, keep it together and don't ruin our lovely land. Bring your tents home, bring everything with you. Leave no trace. If you can bring it with you, then you can bring it home with you.

You wont even have to bring all your cans back with you - its lighter on the way home! And, talking of drinks, keeping it completely Irish, you do have a couple of fully licensed bars, all from Irish breweries and distillers - you have the likes of Wicklow Wolf and Teeling’s, for example. That's obviously something that's really important to you - that Irish, Irish, Irish aspect in every little detail…..

I mean, we’re a passionate country. We’re all about the music and the arts and everything. The pride is there, we can run it through and I think the guys have been fantastic in bringing everything in. From the drinks and the sponsors all the way through to the artists and the people involved in it - its Irish. We are a proud nation. We do things deadly! And, this is the Irish way of signing off on the festival season - we’re all gonna get in a field for one last time, the weather's gonna be class - I rang ahead to your man! He said it’s all gonna be good! - We’ll have a few Wicklow’s and dance around to some music, ya know?! The live music is my bag, and I want everyone there for that, on top of everything else we have to offer - but we’ve got some of the best electronic artists and DJs - I’ve been dipping in and out of that scene a bit myself, and I’m almost annoyed that I have to be at my own stage the whole time as well, because, they’re all deadly! So, yeah, Irish through and through. Clean up after yourself and get megalithic with yourself!

Awesome! We really cant wait! So, over the next few days we’ll keep an eye on the Fuinneamh Facebook page and http://www.fuinneamh.ie/ for all the up to date information?

Yeah - we’ve been doing our artists series so if you're unfamiliar with anybody, we’re pushing all of those and we’ll be putting up videos to get people a bit more better acquainted with anyone they might not know. Any more information about camping and getting down all that will all be there for anyone that needs it. The only thing that isn't online at the minute is the after party! The Bowery on Sunday for live music with Buniscoinn, Steve Strong and Tribal Dance, so even though we’re not on site on Sunday, there is going to be stuff back in Dublin.