Dirty Epics were a four-piece

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

new wave band formed in

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, but now resided in

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. They were composed of vocalist Sarah Jane (SJ) Wai, bassist Richie Power, guitarist Darren McCoy and drummer Alan Delaney and were managed by Nadine O'Flynn. They have performed at numerous festivals and television shows.. Dirty Epics are known for songs such as "The Cure", We're Coming Up and "White Out". Their debut album, ''Straight In No Kissing'', was released in 2008 and the band signed a distribution deal with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

for it. In 2009, they competed in ''

The Raw Sessions ''The Raw Sessions'' (also known as ''The Raw Sessions with Sony Ericsson'') was an Irish interactive music television programme broadcast on RTÉ Two in 2009. The country's first ever rockumentary series, it wad presented by Dez Ryan and follo ...

'', progressing to the final. In 2010, one of their songs featured in British teen drama '' Skins'' and the band returned to SXSW.

Musical style

The sound of Dirty Epics has been described as "a mix of the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

and the

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

". They are known for their "buzzing guitars, powerful vocals, and a driving drum and bass section". The ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'' described the effect on the pulse of a combination of "urgent drums and guitars" alongside the "scattergun screech" of Sarah Jane Wai O'Flynn. SJ Wai counts her stylistic influences as including

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

of Blondie, describing her as "a true original who perfectly balanced a punkrock image with glamorous beauty".

Career

Foundations

The band formed during their school days, when Wai, Farrell and Power first made collective use of their skills as musicians and songwriters. Delaney resided in a town "far far away" but met his three future bandmates and after which Dirty Epics were formed. New Yorker Vince Lim joined the band in late 2009 as guitarist. Darren McCoy joined then in late 2010 as guitarist. Darren, an old friend of the bands from Roundwood, Co. Wicklow. Dirty Epics started writing and recording in 2005 where a demo of "The Cure" was reviewed in ''Hot Press'' by Jackie Hayden. They had their "Launch Gig" at Crawdaddy in April 2007. This was voted “Gig of the Week” by ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''s weekly music supplement ''The Ticket''. They have also supported The Rapture at Tripod in Dublin and performed with

Republic of Loose Republic of Loose were an Irish funk rock band from Dublin. Formed in 2001, the band formerly consisted of lead vocalist Mick Pyro, bass guitarist and vocalist Benjamin Loose, keyboardist Deco, guitarists and vocalists Dave Pyro and Brez and d ...

in The Academy, as well as

The Coronas The Coronas are an Irish rock band that originated in Dublin. They release their music by their own independent record label, 3ú Records, and are based between Dublin and London. They have released seven studio albums, '' Heroes or Ghosts'' ...

at the same venue. In early 2009 the band embarked on a tour of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, performing in destinations such as

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In a piece for independent.ie, the band perhaps jokingly said that they have used several cost-saving initiatives, including buying less batteries for their guitar effects pedals, less guitar strings and have also stated that they have restricted themselves to two strippers each per show.

Festival appearances

Dirty Epics performed as the second act (between myokhotel and

The Milk Teeth ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

) on the New Bands Tent at Oxegen on 7 July 2007. They returned the following year where they opened the Green Room Stage at 17:00 on 11 July 2008 just before

The Kinetiks The Kinetiks were a Meteor Award-nominated Irish rock, pop and indie musical ensemble from Dublin. They were vocalist and guitarist Gaz Harding, guitarist Sean Brennan, bassist Jim McGuire, and drummer Paul Donohoe. On 11 July 2008, they perfor ...

. Dirty Epics performed at Indie-pendence in August 2008. On 16 August 2008, the band played the Solas Stage at Solas Festival in

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

. They have also played

Hard Working Class Heroes Ireland Music Week, previously known as Hard Working Class Heroes (or HWCH), is an Irish music festival for emerging bands. It has taken place in Dublin on an annual basis in and around September of each year since 2003. ''The Irish Times ' ...

and

Miss Ireland Miss World Ireland is a national Beauty pageant in Ireland. Winners of the competition represent Ireland at Miss World. Among the winners are Rosanna Davison, who went on to win Miss World 2003, and Pamela Uba, who in 2021 became the first ...

. They participated in the

Arthur's Day Arthur's Day was an annual series of music events worldwide, originally organised by Diageo in 2009 to promote the 250th anniversary of its Guinness brewing company. It was named after the founder of Guinness brewing, Arthur Guinness. The 20 ...

events in Dublin on 24 September 2009 and in 2011 they played an open venue concert in Dublin to celebrate Chinese New Year. On 19 March 2010, Dirty Epics performed at the Irish Breakfast Showcase held at SXSW. It was around this time that the single "I Heart You" was released and new guitarist Vince Lim joined the band. They returned to Dublin to support OneRepublic. Dirty Epics performed at Guinness Arthur's Day 2010 in Whelans with Brandon Flowers and in The George Pub with the Hoosiers. Dirty Epics also appeared at Electric Picnic in 2013, playing in the little big tent

Media appearances

On 29 March 2008, Dirty Epics appeared on ''The Once a Week Show'' alongside guests

Leanne Moore Leanne Moore (born 24 July 1984) is the winner of the 2008 series of ''You're a Star'' on Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). Born and raised in Limerick, Moore made it to the final along with fellow contestants Robyn Kavanagh and Deirdre Archibald ...

, singer and

Pamela Flood Pamela Ann Mary Flood (born 25 July 1971) is a former Irish television presenter and former model from Tallaght, South Dublin. She received the Miss Ireland crown in 1993. A former employee of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, she was at one time a we ...

, model and television presenter. They performed "The Cure". On 30 October 2008 the band appeared on ''The Cafe'' alongside guests George Lee, economist and

Lucy Kennedy Lucy Kennedy ( ga, Lusaí Ní Chinnéide; born 21 April 1976) is an Irish television and radio presenter. Kennedy first came to public attention from co-hosting ''The Podge and Rodge Show'' on RTÉ Two. She has also presented dating show ''The ...

, television presenter. They performed the song " Way Too Pretty". On 17 December the band performed at

Whelan's Whelan's is a pub and music venue in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Profile Numerous international artists have played at the venue, including Jeff Buckley, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Kate Nash, Townes Van Zandt, Damien Rice and Allen To ...

as part of Alison Curtis's Christmas Special on

Today FM Today FM is an Irish national commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a lic ...

. On Monday 9 February 2009 they performed on the podge and rodge show, taking part in their competition Rocin' Roulette. They also performed on UTV's ''Live at the Limelight'' on 25 February 2009. Dirty Epics also appeared on RTÉ Two's ''The Raw Sessions'', progressing to the final with their song " All Time Favourite". The song "We're Coming Up" featured in the final episode of the fourth series of British teen drama '' Skins'' on E4 on 18 March 2010.

Members

SJ Wai - Vocals
Darren McCoy - Guitar
Richie Power - Bass
Alan Delaney - Drums

Discography

Dirty Epics have definitely released the singles "The Cure" (released 7 March 2008) and "Way Too Pretty" (released 3 October 2008) and also possess the songs "Overrated" and "Pony". Their debut album, ''Straight In No Kissing'' (produced by Dave Morgan and

Gareth Mannix Gareth Mannix (born 27 August 1977) is an Irish record producer. He has worked on platinum albums by Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club, Damien Dempsey, Jack L and Juliet Turner. For six years consecutively a number of acts who have worked with Mannix ...

) was released on 31 October 2008. They contributed to the 2009 charity album, ''Sparks n' Mind'', released in aid of Aware, performing a cover version of the Portishead song, "

Glory Box "Glory Box" is a song by English electronic band Portishead, released on 2 January 1995 as the third and final single from their debut album, '' Dummy'' (1994). It samples " Ike's Rap II" by Isaac Hayes. Critical reception James Masterton sai ...

". They also played at Presentation College, Terenure's Fashion Show and Design Competition in February 2009 for the Marie Keating Foundation for

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

Studio albums

References

External links

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