Last week saw the launch of the Exposed! Album Showcase Tour in the Temple Bar Music Centre. Exposed! features artists who have all graduated from that bastion of Irish Music education called the Ballyfermot Rock School.
Traditionally, many people associate Ballyfermot Rock School with retro-rock hell and Thin Lizzy tribute bands. While unquestionably an important and practical asset to Third Level education, it is not popularly perceived as a route to guaranteed success. Thus,when Ballyfermot produces a hip-hop artist, it s time to sit up and pay attention.
Tony X contends that as well as having the opportunity to write and produce music, he has learnt to deal with the precarious situations that the industry inevitably throws at young acts.
I have learnt to present myself and to deal with situations where I could be messed around and ripped off, he says. Also, there is an encouragement that while you must give it everything, there is no point being stupid, giving up the day job and throwing all other opportunities away.
One of the reasons that Ballyfermot s own homeboy goes under the moniker of Tony X is that Tony is son of producer extraordinaire Pete Holidai. The core of Tony X consists of Tony himself and Conor Byrne, assisted by singers. Tony himself is a stout defender of the BRS.
From my Dad teaching there and looking at some of the people who d come out of there, I realised there was an awful lot going for the place. Sure, you can t just teach people, they have to have some measure of talent and a natural gift. But what comes out of there happens because you are putting so many people together who learn off each other. A load of us would jam away and take things from the approach of others. It is very much a hands-on approach, with the emphasis on getting involved.
Tony X s contribution to Exposed! is a track called Summertime Vibe , a tasty slice of laid-back jazzy hip-hop that more than lives up to its title.
While I am certainly influenced by acts like LL Cool J and Puff Daddy I never put on an American accent, he says. I believe in staying true to myself, so its my own voice that is rapping rather than mimicking something I m not. My material is diverse, ranging from chill-out jazzy stuff to material that is completely in your face!
The release of the album is very exciting for all the acts involved. Acts from Ballyfermot school have been doing really well recently. You ve got The Blew winning Hot Press/Bacardi Unplugged and getting such a tremendous reaction to their single, and then you have The Keds and Brando gigging a lot and getting a lot of interest.
The quality of the other acts involved is amazing. Miriam Barry does incredible acoustic sets and Maree Byrne is doing stuff with a guy from Finland which is mindblowing. It s hard to describe, but you could say that it is a fusion of Celtic and Finnish styles in a very contemporary way. For my own stuff, I intend going into the studio a lot over the next two months and to prepare myself for live dates in September.
Something has been stirring deep in the bowels of Ballyfermot. Now it s your chance to check it out. n
Exposed! Is out now on Rockhall Records.