The archly named Asylum Speakers is generating quite the buzz with his debut four-tracker, Empathy In G Minor, which is available now for your streaming and digital download delectation.
It’s the first release in ten years from Daragh Dukes who previously traded as Headgear and many moons ago was a member of They Do It With Mirrors, a Limerick outfit who signed to Setanta Records and were sufficiently impressed by young whippersnappers The Cranberry Saw Us that they handed them a support slot in Cruises Hotel!
A composer and producer who’s worked with people as diverse as John Boorman, Pat Shortt and rising star Allie Blunnie, we've always been perplexed that Dukes isn't a lot better known than he is.
The equally impressive debut album, Omphalos, drops in October and is informed by everyone from The Beatles and Stereolab to The Cure and Queen who he saw as a pre-teen.
“The drama of that has always stayed with me,” he enthuses. “Nine-year-olds don't get over that sort of thing very easily. My attitude is I've always wanted to use as much as possible of what I've liked and heard. I like to play with it, bend it around and put it through my own filter and get a song that way. This approach stops me settling into any genre or style, as I feel connected equally to so many of them, so it makes sense that my music should always fall between genres, or at least invite them all to part-take.”
We like his style!