by Rhea H.Boyden
I was home from Berlin about five years ago and I went to Sweeney’s Bar on Dame Street in Dublin city centre to meet a friend of mine for a few drinks. We were chatting about life in Ireland and Berlin and I remember getting very emotional and I began to cry. The tears rolling down one cheek were tears of joy at being home and the tears rolling down the other cheek were those of sadness that I did not actually live in Ireland. This was home, but it was not home. Many an emigrant who returns home to Ireland for a holiday can relate to these mixed emotions. I knew then that it was only a matter of time before I actually moved home to Ireland, which I finally did a year and a half ago.
I had not been back to Sweeney’s bar since that night five years ago, but last weekend I had a great reason to return. It was the first night at Sweeney’s of Dj Flavo‘s Fast/Shape/Sound event which promised to be a great night of dancing and excellent music. Dj Flavo, who is Dubliner Keith Farrell, is the resident Dj and founder of Fast/Shape/Sound and his first night djing with guest djs Dave Hales and Pete Dancer was indeed a huge success at Sweeney’s. I went with some friends of mine and we danced for hours.
This weekend I met up with Keith for a coffee at the wonderful and iconic Grogan’s pub and he told me he was very satisfied with how the first night went and he had been getting great feedback. He is delighted that Sweeney’s have now booked him in for more nights and he is hoping it will be a monthly event. He told me he founded Fast/Shape/Sound as a concept for a club night back in 2009 when he spent 8 weeks in Buffalo, New York. The first night was hosted in Sound Lab in Buffalo and he then brought the night back to Dublin and played in The Workmans Club for about 3 years. I asked Keith about the meaning of the name of his gig and he told me the three words Fast/Shape/Sound each represent a side of the triangle, a shape whose meanings and interpretations intrigue him. Keith studied animation and illustration in Dublin and is fascinated with geometry and the particular symmetry of the number three. To him, the triangle represents focus and positive energy and his goal is to bring people together by striving constantly to play the best music from all genres. When I saw the poster for the event, that is precisely what attracted me to the night: ‘Playing musical genres across the floor: indie, soul, disco, house – plus everything in between.’
Keith has been djing for the past 23 years and he said as he matures he realises it is better to play good music from all genres to make for a successful night. And he surely has the experience to make this work. As we sipped our coffees he enlightened me on some of the things he has learned over more than 2 decades of playing music. ‘The first four tracks you play on a night of djing are really important for setting the vibe for the rest of the night’, he said. ‘A warm-up dj really has to be as good as the headliner for a night.’ I learned while talking to Keith that successfully playing a whole genre of music on one night really is a skill that has to be honed over many years of really learning about music and understanding what works.
As well as djing all over Dublin, Keith has also spent some time djing in Berlin at 8MM bar, White Trash and Astro Bar, three venues I know well from my partying days in Berlin. We realised over the course of our conversation that we had some mutual friends in Berlin too. He told me he had just been djing in Berlin this past January and he returned to Dublin charged on good energy and was motivated to get Fast/Shape/Sound up and going again: this time the venue being Sweeney’s.
I was happy sitting outside Grogan’s chatting to Keith in the March sunlight. I realised with joy now that I live in Dublin there will be no need for me to cry the emigrant’s tears of homesickness the next time I return to Sweeney’s with my friends for a night of dancing to Dj Flavo’s great eclectic mix of tunes. And what better way to celebrate the start of Springtime in Dublin; Fast/Shape/Sound’s next night is planned for Saturday March 19th.
Sweeney’s Bar is at 32 Dame Street in Dublin 2
UPDATE: The next FAST/SHAPE/SOUND night is confirmed for Friday, April 15th 2016
Images and photos courtesy of Keith Farrell
rheaboyden
Rhea Boyden 