Road to fruition

The Road Relish singles club was formed as a kind of indie cooperative: whilst promoting unsigned bands via a collection of split 7" singles, the label has played an instrumental role in motivating local artists by helping to create a community at home that can be promoted en masse abroad – in turn forging a route of progression for the individual bands concerned.

"The singles have gone all over the world – even Japan!" recounts Hapi – drummer with post rock combo Daemien Frost and the brains behind Road Relish. "We’ll sell 100 or 150 copies in Dublin and the remaining 250 – 300 go through Cargo Distribution in the UK. We even got a play list sent to us from Russia – someone in Siberia was playing a Road Relish single! But that shows how important the distribution is. It’s all very well recording something and mastering it and having a mate who’s good at the artwork, but distribution and actually getting rid of the records is the hardest thing."

Distribution glitches conquered, the first Road Relish single appeared in October 1999 – a split between The Redneck Manifesto and the now defunct The Idiots. Subsequent releases have boasted names such as Glen Hansard, David Kitt, The Jimmy Cake, Nina Hynes, The Connect Four Orchestra and Estel.

"There’s 12 singles out now," Hapi adds, "so that’s 24 acts we’ve had on Road Relish. Before we had a singles club, each band would put out their own thing individually. But people are much more inclined to spend 4 quid on a single where they get to hear two bands they’ve never heard of rather than spending 15 quid on the CD of one band they’ve never heard of.

"There are bands who were worth hearing who maybe don’t have the knowledge to do it for themselves," agrees Redneck Manifesto guitarist Niall Byrne. "Bands think it’s a massive step to release a record of any kind, even though it’s just one song on a 7" and in reality, it’s not that big of a deal. But many are afraid to take the step themselves, or they just can’t afford it."

Dublin’s much-loved live scene can be overly comfortable for well-established groups, hence bands’ tendencies not to venture too far from home. However, no less than six Road Relish-affiliated bands will be monopolising the Irish contingent at this year’s South By Southwest festival in Texas.

"A lot of Dublin bands seem to get stuck in the Irish scene," says Grainne Donohue, guitarist with Estel. "Like once you’ve filled Whelan’s, you’ve reached the highest you can go and I think it’s a big mistake to think like that. Most bands won’t even tour England nowadays. There are dangers of the scene imploding, but not as long as there are set ups like Road Relish and people who can see outside of Dublin to set the pace."

The self-sufficiency of many alternative bands comes from a combination of sheer necessity and an attitude unreliant on the favour of popularity.

"Because we look after ourselves, we’re pretty much an independent band," says Niall. "We manage ourselves, we book and promote our own gigs, record our own songs and release our own records. We don’t rely on anyone to do anything. We didn’t decide not to go the typical industry route, we didn’t even think about it. You’d never see us sending off demos, going ‘Please give us a record deal!’ We just wouldn’t be bothered."

"If you’re simply looking to be a successful musician, the trick is to emulate as best you can exactly what everyone else is doing right now," adds The Jimmy Cake’s Diarmuid MacDiarmada. "The other side of it is to try to find whatever it is that’s totally unique about yourself and your place and time, everything that you bring together and your influences, and distill it completely to find something you’re absolutely convinced by. You run the risk of being so ahead of your time that you’re dead before anyone else catches up, but with the ground you’re on, you can either give people what they want or you can do what you want to do. I rest firmly in the latter."

Next Road Relish single: The Chalets & Neosupervital. Launch date: February 26, Whelan’s; ThingsYoureMissing tour: Daemien Frost, Connect 4 Orchestra : The Zoo (Kilkenny) Feb 27; Daemien Frost, The Coldspoon Conspiracy: Whelan’s (Dublin) Feb 28