Searchlight Showcase 2016
The Searchlight Showcase is the culmination of a lot of hard work from our second year students and the up and coming bands selected to take part in the Searchlight Development Deal. The Development Deal is something we run every year, where we select four talented young bands to work with the students on pre-production, recording, mixing and mastering in our studios as well as the showcase gig in Button Factory.
The Showcase is a chance to show off the fruits of all the hard labour that both the students and bands have gone through, and it always makes for a great night!
Searchlight Showcase 2016 will take place in the Button Factory on February 11th from 7PM, with a total of 12 acts performing on the night. Entry to the gig is free.
The Bands
Wolves of Youth
Wolves Of Youth are an Indie rock band from Donegal formed in April 2014.
Their upbeat, energetic live shows, infectiously catchy sound and addictive melodies and lyrics will have you up on your feet, singing along and wanting to hear more!
2015 was a great start for the band having played gigs and festivals up and down the country including a slot at Electric Picnic, as well as supporting Irish acts such as The Strypes, Rainy Boy Sleep and Mundy. The lads also received radio play on stations such as 2FM, iRadio, Ocean FM and BBC Ulster's Across The Line.
The band's first release was their self titled debut EP “Wolves Of Youth" but with an ever-growing setlist due to an unwavering drive to hone their sound and write new and better material, this is just a taste of what this four piece has to offer.
2016 is set to be even bigger and better for the Wolves, with a new EP in the works and many more gigs and festivals to be announced for the year.
The Clockworks
The Clockworks are four school friends that formed a band due to a mutual interest in and love of music, as well as a mutual disinterest in and hate of the status quo: (the ideology, not the band!)
A bunch of normal lads from a small town, they have committed all of their time and effort to music. They have played gigs all around the country, supporting such bands as Brit Award nominated The Magic Numbers and most recently Dublin band Otherkin. They have also been playing their own gigs and will continue to do so for 57 blue moons at the very least.
Influences include Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths and The Libertines. Like these bands, they have a strong focus on lyrics but never forget the importance of a catchy tune behind them.
Big things are happening for the lads in the coming months, so keep an eye (and an ear) out for them!
SPINES
SPINES were born when three Dublin teenagers, Ciara Lindsey, Sinead O'Loughlin and Niamh Coker found themselves performing with different bands at the same show. The girls liked the look of each other and the idea of putting together an all female collective. They bonded over a shared love of Arctic Monkeys, Nirvana and cans. Deciding they wouldn’t get very far in their noise revolution without someone to hit the drums they trawled twitter in search of a female stick smith and Tara Gormley completed the lineup.
2015 was spent lugging gear in and out of basement venues and persuading attendant doormen that yes, they were on the bill, and not just trying to sneak in. It didn’t always work with one show seeing them yanked off stage two songs into their set and turfed out for being underage. There was also the small matter of their Leaving Cert which needed to be dispatched of in between rehearsals.
Spines take their musical cues from acts such as The White Stripes, The Kills, Savages and Dublin’s own Girl Band, and their spirit from 70’s heroes The Slits and The Runaways. They are instinctively drawn to bands and artists who have forged their own individual path. These queens of noise are ready to make a statement and they’re just getting started.
The Temps
The Temps are a young three piece indie band from South Dublin. Formed 3 years ago in school, the original purpose of the band was just to explore their love of music, both listening and playing.
But after 2 years of gigging in numerous venues in Dublin, they found their sound and released a 5 track EP on Soundcloud, which saw them increase their fanbase significantly.
Through the success of the EP, they made it into The Top 20 emerging music acts of 2015 as chosen by the RTÉ John Murray Show panel. Building on this, they featured on Balcony TV Galway and played Sober Lane in Cork as part of the music festival 96/1. The Searchlight gig at the Button Factory will be their biggest performance to date.
