087: The Funnel Generation (Irish electronic music 1994 to 2009) - a podcast by Jon Averill

Shock World Service 087:
The Funnel Generation: Irish electronic music 1994 to 2009By Kate Butler&the Golden Maverick
23/7/2019 Dublin, IrelandThe Funnel, a 300 capacity venue in Dublin, was open for the blink of an eye: 1997-99. The magically desegregating effect of rave – where everyone and anyone was welcome on the dance floor – had come and gone. The Funnel arrived at a time when rave had been fully co-opted by commercial interests.

Rave music had become delineated with hardline positions taken on genres. Your music alignment gave a lot away about where you saw yourself in this world: techno uptown, trance downtown, house for the beautiful people, jungle for the fringe.But there were lots of us floating around, looking for a community. Alan O’Boyle and Dennis McNulty of Decal, along with their manager/promoter Paul Timoney of Ultramack, found the place: the Funnel, 24 City Quay, Dublin 2. A long room on the first floor, with low ceilings and no frills. After a while, a bar was built downstairs with a fancy picture window looking out onto the Liffey.

Ultramack started the Phunk City nights there, bringing over people like Autechre, Alex Patterson, and Mike Paradinas, but also promoting Irish acts like Ambulance and Deep Burial.With some limited exceptions, this became the pattern at the Funnel: Irish promoters with Irish labels, club nights with homegrown collectives of DJs and producers. The Fear collective, purveyors of freaky beats, started a Thursday night event, while Eamonn Doyle of the D1 Recordings techno label moved in with his Model One club, as did jungle/dnb crew Bassbin, which started its label while the Funnel was open.

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