There's an odd thing happening in Ireland at the moment. An explosion of creatives all desperately trying to break their way into the crowded scene. More people are becoming photographers because of Instagram; there are now college degrees you can do in Dublin that you can enrol in if you know you want to enter the music industry, and creating an EP is easier to do now more than ever. So how are people overcoming the new hurdles of an over-saturated market? The answer is that they are creating new opportunities. The indigo sessions are a brand new showcase of new talent in the indie scene in Dublin. Curated by Rebecca Locke, it claims to be an exciting new staple of music nights in the city centre. I attended their second ever gathering and learnt a bit about what it's like to be at the very early stages of trying to break into the music industry in Ireland.
The performers of the night were: Lisa Gorry, Seamus Bradley, White Boy of the Month (Conor O'Boyle), Rebecca Locke and Kenan Flannery Music. Most were singer/songwriters except for Seamus Bradley who is a spoken word performer. However, they all had entirely different sounds, and there was something for everyone.
Also present and volunteering their talents during the evening were Roisín Whelan and Gemma Bovenizer. Roisín was running stage management and is the chair this year of the Circle Sessions which takes place in The International Bar as well as an intern with the Ruby Sessions. Gemma is a UCD student and photographer who works with the Thin Air Magazine and over the last few months has entered the world of gig photography.
While most of the acts have experience gigging around Dublin, all of them would be considered new enough to the music scene. As the Indigo sessions is in its early days, Rebecca is aware that to find talent to perform, she doesn't have to look too far. Each performer is connected through Locke. Lisa and Seamus having connected with her through the circle sessions, Conor O'Boyle through UCD, where they connected through the Music Society on campus and Kenan Flannery is a music producer while not performing and is working with Locke on her debut single. Rebecca put it well when she said she just wanted people to hear her talented friends play. However, talking to her, it is clear that she sees a future where the performances will grow beyond that and encourage a new opportunity for the vast array of talent Dublin has to offer.
There's something wholly encouraging as someone who's also attempting to be a creative in an over-saturated market that is Dublin to see such initiative and positive empowering environments for young artists created by other artists. What connected all the acts was not only Rebecca Locke but also their desire to perform and share their passion as well as cheer each other on in their endeavours. Here's to that!