Acid Granny are a shopping trolley-based band of musical messers from Dublin.They’ve been rolling around streets, cities and festivals of Ireland and the big bad world since 2018, improvising freaky beats and plucking songs from the ether. They’re known to show up on O’Connell Bridge, or right when you’re about to tuck into your mash, with spoons in their hands and smiles on their faces. Where they will appear on Sherkin Island, has yet to be disclosed.

Chris has come a long way from throwing up tents in the wilds of Leitrum at the Leechrum weekenders in the mid / late 00s. Now he throws up tents on the slightly less chaotic terrains of  Sherkin Island. As Person of Interest at Open Ear, Chris will open up this year’s festival on the Friday evening. We could say with selections from the further reaches of his record collection, but they are on the same shelves as the rest of his records.

Code went from tuning into day-time national radio circa 1991 to hearing tapes of The Prodigy in 1992 and then he found early hardcore / rave / drum & bass / jungle by the age of 14 and that was it – the perfect music! Since then Code has become a successful Dj & producer in his own right, also setting up the Subtle Audio label in 2005. He has since added to Subtle Audio with the sublabels Bustle Beats and Treaty Treats. Code continues to spread the sound of D&B / Jungle with his Subtle Audio Show on the long-running internet radio station Jungletrain. You can catch him there fortnightly on Sundays from 8-10pm and you will also be able catch him on Banger Cliff late on Friday night at this year’s festival.

Over the past seven years, West Cork rapper Craic Boi Mental has occupied his own niche in the Irish hip-hop scene. Emerging online in 2015 with a gift for lo-fi production and earworm choruses, the wordsmith’s surreal style won him a place in the hearts of the burgeoning Irish scene. He has packed out music venues in London and across the states. He is fresh off his US tour which saw him perform in Boston, New York and Chicago this April, so time to bring him back down to more local terrain with his debut performance at Open Ear.

Within the annals of Irish dance music history one will find many a mention of Decal / Decoy and Americhord. The former became one of the first Irish electronic acts to break out internationally, releasing on lauded labels such as  Planet Mu, Satamile & Rotters Golf while the latter, through only a small selection of 12”s on D1 Recordings became one of the first Irish women producers to be revered both at home and abroad. As Dechord they made their debut performance at D1 Recordings 25th anniversary party and 3 years later they have decided to come together again for just the second time ever up the North Shore end of Sherkin.

Damien Lynch’s recorded output may not be as overloaded as many producers in this day and age, but thinking within those terms does Lynch a huge disservice, having written, produced and performed live under various different guises for many years now. As Diamond Dagger, Lynch has electrofied disco and boogie influences for releases on Lunar Disko and Remote Town, bringing us into the cosmos via his selection of vintage machines.

Doubt is the musical alias of artist and dj-producer Ollie McMorrow. Born and raised in Cork, now, like many other Irish artists, based in Glasgow, he is one of a meeting of minds behind notorious percussive club music label FLOOD. His musical output has matured over the last half decade: from rough and ready drum tools he has developed his use of melodic form and caringly crafted harmony in recent years.

Hayes’s practice evolves from the dynamic of everyday life within the confines of its capitalist structure and investigates humanity’s current modes of being. She considers the enclosing of the common land and its inhabitants as the basis of our current capitalist existence and explores the fact that we are on the threshold of a new enclosure, a complete digital enclosure, an enclosure of the intangible commons of the mind. 

Digital Enclosure, Sonic walk is part of response to this enclosure and is an inquiry into the unseen nature of our daily digital interactions. Its intention, to better appreciate our hybrid future and solicit the viewer’s attention and thought toward a collective understanding of our personal digital shadow.

This installation will be located by The House – at the end of the festival site – and will be accessible from 1-6pm on Sunday

Frog of Earth is a music project from Irish multidisciplinary artist Mel Keane. The project draws from a variety of digital, analogue and acoustic tools. The current focus of the project is polyphonic singing and plucked strings. Where the Frog shall appear over the course of this year’s Open Ear has yet to be confirmed…

Fulacht Fiadh was fermented in the mind-bog of Ivan Pawle during pandemic lockdown in 2020CE. Thrives in shed-like environments and on south-facing slopes. Should also thrive up the North Shore of Sherkin Island too. 

Ceol Cosmach na hÉireann

Icebear is Eilis Mahon, a 22 year old experimental musician from Kildare who draws inspiration in equal parts from ambience and noise. Icebear began as a lofi recording project whilst Mahon was still in secondary school, and has since evolved to a primarily performance based project which uses live improvisation on electronics to explore trauma & power. Her sets are marked by a desire for catharsis & a belief in the healing power of collective noise making. Icebear also currently curates a monthly mix show on Dublin Digital Radio called Pure Phase.

Jane Deasy is a composer and performer in the field of electronic and electroacoustic music, theatre, and multimedia. She describes her work as ‘sonic excavations’ and continues to explore a minimal and reductive process working with sine tones, feedback, and recordings.

She has released two cassettes on Fort Evil Fruit: Notes from the Bath (2020) and Mouth of the Sound (2022). In 2021, she self-released Thawing~EP, a hand-dubbed cassette of which there are only 9 copies.

Her work as a composer/sound designer for theatre includes Playboy of the Western World at The Gaiety and Lyric (Dublin Theatre Festival and Lyric Theatre co-production, 2019), and MEDEA, (The Gate, 2020). Her music theatre production KAPERLAK premiered at Dublin Fringe Festival 2016.

Josh Warry is an Ireland-based, Australian-born artist. After debuting his crushing, turbulent sound on Irish shores at Cork Sound Fair in 2019, he has since released a number of recordings under his own name and his club-centric side project as Variscan. Find out how Sherkin’s shores fare on the Saturday of Open Ear.

At the seams of the DJ and live world, producer and lyricist KnifeFist takes to stage with a mission to take you to catharsis with his raw energy, explosive vocals, and brain-shakingly infectious rhythms.
KnifeFist is a founding member of Bitten Twice, a Dublin based experimental rave collective. They’ve been described by Plain Sailing magazine (Belfast) as “one of the most exciting labels to emerge from Ireland in recent memory”.
His single “Bite Marks” is a noise influenced jungle rap hybrid that provides a window into the boisterous energy that lives within Juli.

Kaidi Tatham is one of the UK’s finest musicians whose skills range from multi-instrumentalist, writer, arranger & producer. Often known for his nu-jazz, soulful dance music & broken-beat work from his major contribution as keys player, multi-instrumentalist, production & remixes for acts such as 4Hero, Bugz In The Attic, 2000 Black, Mark De Clive Lowe, Amp Fiddler, Amy Winehouse, DJ Spinna, Leroy Burgess, Salsoul Orchestra and Slum Village.

Belfast-based Kaidi has released two solo albums and many singles and remixes and continues to release on various lauded record labels such as Sound Signature, Neroli & 2000 Black. He be blessing us with a dj performance on the Sunday afternoon of OE ‘22

Katie Gerardine O’Neill is an artist from Dublin, Ireland. O’Neill’s experimental sound combines voice, field recordings, analogue recorders, and electronics.

Irish born, Manchester based Kerrie’s has been steadily pathing her trajectory in music for well over a decade, providing herself with a multi faceted education through DJ residencies, working at one of the UK’s most well respected record shops Eastern Bloc and applying herself passionately to music production and playing live on her chosen analog hardware set up; whilst delivering high impact results.

More recently Kerrie also has launched her own imprint ‘Dark Machine Funk’ a representation of her distinct raw analog sound, Kerrie has also released on various other well respected underground labels such as Symbolism, Don’t Be Afraid, Cultivated Electronics I Love Acid and Blueprint. 

Kerrie will close out this year’s Open Ear, debuting a brand new live show that will also double as her debut live performance in Ireland.

Recently re-deployed to Dublin, originating from the west side of Galway Town Maeve brings to Banger Cliff over 20yrs of collecting and playing records, meshing electro, techno, EBM and wave influences into one laser-focused whole. Having recently started a new monthly show on Dublin Digital Radio, Cook Street, Maeve will be dishing it out at an all too rare gig late on Saturday night on Banger Cliff.

Ngoni Egan is a DJ/Producer based in Rotterdam. He has released on labels such as Thrust collective, Winthorpe Electronics and Patrúin with many more releases scheduled.
As founder of the Lepton collective, Ngoni co-runs the platform with emerging Irish talent, and has helped to grow the imprint into an event series, record label and radio residency on Dublin Digital Radio.

Olivia Furey is an Irish performance and sound artist based in Edinburgh. Olivia takes on a disruptive and hysterical persona in her performances. The persona vocally interacts with her audiences in a challenging and absurd manner. The performances are intense yet delivered with an element of humour.

Being an amateur musician who invents instruments and searches for weird sounds through mundane everyday objects, the best way to describe her music is Cluttercore. Olivia explores assertive noise-making through electric guitar, electronics, and sonic manipulation experiments. The live performances generally hover between an experimental song and a disruptive, performative act.

From Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Patrick Kelleher emerged onto Dublin’s underground music scene in 2009 with the dark, Lo-Fi dream-pop epic You Look Cold. This was followed up in 2011 with another bedroom-produced classic, this time in the form of 80s-style synth-pop album Golden Syrup, which was shortlisted for a Meteor Choice Music prize in 2012. He played across Ireland, UK, Europe and occasionally the Americas with his band, Patrick Kelleher and his Cold Dead Hands, before settling down to have a family and work full-time supporting adults with disabilities.

In 2020 Patrick collaborated with friend and producer Brian Conniffe to release the minimal industrial techno-synth EP, Stereolith, on Remote Town Records. Patrick wrote this bio himself because he is a big boy, well done Patrick.

Dublin producer and DJ, Plus One (FKA Matt Finnegan) is one of the most promising upcoming artists on the island of Ireland with support from the likes of Ross From Friends, Ben UFO, Re:ni and Aleksandir. From chorused-out twisted vocals, to sullen introverted breaks; he is an artist whose repertoire spans across genres, but now with much more of an emphasis on club-focused sounds.

Queen Beatz is based out of Dublin, Ireland. Born in Chicago, IL she grew up, like most Chicago kids listening to House Music which sparked her passion for electronic music. She started DJing as part of Sim Simma 8 years ago. Her love for music extends genres and range from Reggae, Dancehall, Jazz, Hip Hop, R&B, Soul, Rock, Electronic, Funk, Dubstep, Drum&Bass, Disco and everything in between. Queen Beatz is also a poet and writes music for various artists. She is half of ReetaBix, Ben Bix(producer/musician/DJ) produces beats and she recites her spoken word poems. She is also working with Mama Matrix Most Mystical as monikers Princess Difficult and Miss Taken. The Duo have a tune called ‘Climbing’  on the soon to be released Avon Terror Corps Compilation.

Rob Rua has agitated at the edge of contemporary bass music for nearly 15 years.
Rob was a key part of pioneering dubstep club night, soundsystem and record label – DubCulture – in Ireland. 

Today, Rob heads up the Rua Sound and Foxy Jangle labels – with long-time collaborator, Welfare – releasing high velocity club music from the innovative edge of the underground over 6 years spanning 19 individual records. Rob also holds down a residency on Dublin Digital Radio, and (ordinarily) DJs ar club nights around the UK and EU.

After 10 years in various parts of Europe, Rob is today based in his native Galway.

Rory Sweeney is a Filmmaker and Musician Based in Dublin. A prolific artist who is known for his eclectic style, his music can range from Ambient to Footwork to Reggaeton and more, sometimes on the same track, his giddy and atmospheric production shining through on all. He is also 1/3 of the Irish/US Experimental rave collective Bitten Twice.

Recently he has made a dip into production for local rappers and singers, from the synthy and UK garage influenced production for Sarah Joan and Pippa Molony, to the more experimental and dusty Slums influenced sound of his beats for Curtisy and Ahmed, With Love.

Meandering from the neo-soul influence of D’Angelo to the devastating lyricism of Flowdan and the contemporary R&B of Brent Faiyaz, EMBY’s story is one of defiance and courage to be true to one’s self; carving out a truly distinctive lane for himself in an environment that is not designed for artists belonging to the genres of soul, grime and hip hop to thrive.

A force 5 hurricane of funk from Loughrea, having left his mark on the back yard of the Jolly Roger in 2018, it’s time for him to face up to Banger Cliff. Bass rumblings from the fringes of the dancefloor.

Ten Past Seven emerged from the primordial bogs of Kerry in 2002 and have charted their own unique journey through the math rock/bog prog/alternative music scene ever since. 

Their second full length record ‘Long Live the Bogwalrus’ was released in 2020, through Art For Blind Records. Recorded by John “Spud” Murphy and Ian Chestnutt in Guerrilla Studios, the album features guest vocals by Landless, fiddle by Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada and hollers from sources too numerous to mention here but suffice to say the list includes a dog.

The Department of Energy is an Irish record label operating in County Cork and beyond. Drawing from mythology and folklore the DOE seeks to facilitate collective psychedelic experiences through sound.  OE’22 will see DOE bringing these unique and abstract ruminations to life for the first time ever, and where better to do it in one of Ireland’s own micro-climates, Sherkin Island.

Eddie Reynolds aka Tr One is a DJ and producer straight outta Carlow, Ireland. Equally inspired by vintage sounds from Chicago and Detroit, he started dabbling in production in the early 00s…Fast-forward over a decade and the Tr One name has adorned the sleeves of a variety of Irish and International labels including Don’t Be Afraid, Lunar Disko, Photic Fields, Apartment Records and Pogo. With a new label, Intrinsic Rhythms, and a debut album on the way it’s the perfect time to get Reynolds down to the island for what will be his first live performance in nearly 10 years.

ZOiD is Dublin musician Daniel Jacobson. He started playing guitar and writing music at 12. As a teenager he was introduced to techno music by two DJs who lived in his neighbourhood, igniting a lifelong passion for electronic club music. Simultaneously he discovered and fell in love with jazz, going on to study with some of Ireland’s greatest jazz musicians, Hugh Buckley, Mike Nielsen, Tommy Halferty, and Ronan Guilfoyle.

He’s released 2 albums and several EPs, on labels including Meljoann’s Boy Scout Audio, D1, French label Hormonal Vibrationz and his own Zoitrax label.

Recently he signed 2 tracks to Dan Curtin’s Metamorphic Records. His first release for Metamorphic, the “Dexaphonic EP”, will be out in late 2022.

His own label Zoitrax released his 3rd album “ZONGS”, featuring collaborations with 8 different vocalists, in April just gone.