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From the late 80s & early 90’s Ireland has had a vital connection with London in terms of dance music. Ireland at that time was a bleak landscape, migration was rife as people left the shores for the UK for a more exciting experience.

The timing was perfect. The acid house movement was revolutionising the music scene with a loved up vibe, breaking down the barriers between race and culture. The Irish joined the already established squat scene and illegal underground free parties were held over the weekends. Punk merged with Reggae and House, combined with speed, ecstasy and acid exposed people to elements of music they wouldn’t usually listen to. Repetitive beats, piano riffs, uplifting vocals and Kiss Fm stole people from the misery of the 80s and brought them with a happy bang into the positive lair of the 90s. During this period, people drifted back and forth between Dublin and London, sharing a wealth of experiences, confidence and creativity. Clubs emerged throughout Ireland, mirroring the scenes of London with an added edge.

Genres evolved over the years with house, rave, hardcore, techno, hip hop, jungle, reggae to dancehall exploding onto Irish dancefloors.

Early 00’s/noughties brought solid record labels such as D1 (techno) and Bassbin (drum n bass and jungle) to the fore battling against the emergence of the mainstream music of the Celtic Tiger. Corks, Fish GO Deep were releasing house music around the same time with a rich history of their own club nights to draw from.

The recession hit the Irish people around 2008. But when there was a lack of money, there was a surge in creativity. Once again we saw the Irish crossing the waters to familiar pastures, this time with a more developed platform of creativity under their belts.

A wealth of established and new names such as Zero T(Metalheadz, Dispatch recordings), Boxcutter (Kinnego records) Shane Keogh (Ministry of Sound), Ciara Cunnane (Hoxton.FM),  Saoirse Ryan (Resident Advisor), SertOne, Arveene have etched their names on the London scene. Grown up music fine-tuned and matured over the years of experience. London with its eclectic scenes and music culture has influenced and nurtured the Irish dance scene over the decades, resulting in a warm embracing cross cultural emergence of new talents between the waters.

The Red Gallery celebrates this emergence and musical evolution on the 20th March with Irish Electronics.  Legends of the Dublin dancefloor Johnny Moy and Billy Surry will make an appearance. Also on the night musical treats from Arveene, OneKnown, Timmy Stewart, Cromby & Swoose, Lorcan Mak, SertOne, Dave Magnier, Bazza Ranks and Greedy Pig DJs.

The Red Gallery hosted Paddy Casey in 2014 and brought together the Irish in London enabling more creative connections within the community and paving the way for future London Irish events.

Aoife Nic Canna 2015©

For further more history on Irish dance /electroinica checks Aoife's 6 part radio doc "Folklore from the Dancefloor.  Soundcloud page HERE