The Republic of Loose boys are on a roll, taking their unique blend of rock, soul, blues, rap, funk and reggae from the suburbs of south Dublin all the way to New York. Oh yeah, and they've stolen his keyboard player, writes Kevin Courtney
'Sorry, man, I can't do the gig. I have to go to the States to support Snow Patrol. Can you find a dep?" That's Dec Quinn, ace keyboard player with The Madchester Experience, telling me why he's not available to play a gig we had pencilled in for late March. Dec's been pumping out the baggy organ sounds in our little tribute band for the past four years, but he's also found time between our (sporadic) shows to lend his considerable talents to his mates Republic of Loose, being the shadowy "sixth member" of Dublin's baddest, most kick-ass rock-funk collective. Up to now, the two bands have managed to avoid a clash of dates - the nearest we came to overlapping was when both bands were playing the same day at Witnness, and Dec had to quickly move his gear from one stage to the other so he could fulfil his double duties.
But now Dec has to make a choice between living the rock'n'roll dream for a week in New York and Boston, complete with American girls, hotel rooms, backstage parties and - most probably - baby sharks, or doing another Friday night fandango at the Sugar Club, complete with one free beer and a lift home in the van. Frankly, I can't believe that he chose the former. Still, peeved and all as I am, I'm determined to remain professional as I head off to interview guitarist Brez, bassist Benjamin and singer Mick on the eve of their whirlwind jaunt on the US east coast.
Republic of Loose are about to release their second album, simply titled Aaagh!, and Dec has been bumped up to full band member, so he's probably going to miss a few more Madchester gigs over the next few months. The Loose have enjoyed enormous success at home, thanks to their ever-growing posse and never-flagging penchant for getting the party started wherever they play. The only problem they seem to have is working out how to stop the party.
"We're a bit punch-drunk right now," apologises Brez, ordering a hair of the dog that bit him repeatedly the previous night. "We finished the album only last night and there was a bit of a celebration."
"We've been working on it for the past 14 months, at our own pace, but when it started getting near the release date, we had to work flat out," says Benjamin. "You're kind of tied to the release date - RMG had the poster sites and the ad space already booked, so there was real pressure of time."
The Republic of Loose story is steeped in suburban legend, but the band's origins go back to when singer Mick and guitarist Dave were fronting swampy rock monsters Johnny Pyro and the Rock Coma. Mick was also writing girlpunk tunes for his sister Annie's band, Chicks. Pyro's influences rarely strayed too far away from the blues, but when Mick and Dave joined up with Brez, Benjamin and drummer Coz Noleon to form Republic of Loose, a whole panorama of pop touchstones began to open up. Look at a typical "band members wanted" ad in Dublin, and the list of influences will usually feature variations on Radiohead, Led Zeppelin or Jeff Buckley. Republic of Loose's rap sheet reads, in no particular order of preference: Sly and The Family Stone, Mahalia Jackson, Wu-Tang Clan, The Rolling Stones, Howlin Wolf, Al Green, Michael Jackson, Slick Rick, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot, Timbaland, Mystikal, Petey Pablo, Cee-Lo and the Neptunes.
"We wanted to capture the spirit of those old funk and soul records we liked, but with a contemporary production and sound. We'd get bored just playing guitar music. We enjoy it more when we can blend all the styles we love from the past with some of the sounds from r'n'b and hip-hop of today," says Benjamin.
What it adds up to is a bitches' brew of rock, soul, blues, rap, funk and reggae, all tossed together into a meaty salad and served up in some tuneful, bite-sized shapes. Radio loves their sound - you already know such Irish chart hits as Comeback Girl, You Know It and their latest single, Shame. The tunes are distinguishable by their booty-shaking beats, souljacking guitars and the dirty, bluesy voice of Mick, one of the few Irishmen who can rap, sing the blues and do a perfect Prince falsetto - all in the one song.
Our star vocalist still hasn't surfaced after last night's album-wrapping celebrations. As the band's chief party animal, Mick has a bad reputation to keep up, but he eventually shuffles in, orders a Bloody Mary, and adds his two cents' worth to the interview. Meanwhile, Brez and Benjamin tell me about their mixed fortunes in the UK, where they've been touring regularly to increasingly receptive crowds.
"We've gotten good response from the UK shows, but not much radio action yet," says Benjamin. "Hopefully, when the album comes out, we might get some airplay in the UK." "The problem is we don't really fit in with a lot of the UK rock bands," says Brez.
"The scene there is very NME-driven, and their favourite bands tend to have a certain indie rock sound. That's why a lot of well-known British rock bands tend to sound the same." "I think there's a turning point coming in the UK music scene, though," reckons Benjamin. "There's more variety now - people have wider tastes. I think it'll be a good climate for us to do well. We never go over with any big expectations, we just hope that each time we go over we'll have more fans than before. I'm looking forward to our next tour there - I think we'll definitely see changes."
The band also feel that they've widened their palette since their debut album, 2004's This is the Tomb of the Juice. Where before it was all heads-down, no-nonsense rap and funk, with a teenchy weenchy dab of good ol' hair metal, with the new album you can hear that the Loose are more confident in their ability to assimilate other musical styles and filter them back with authentic authority. Shame, Comeback Girl and You Know It would sit nicely on UK radio beside hits by Outkast, Black-Eyed Peas and Kanye West, while album tracks such as I'm Greedy, Mary Caine and The Parasite are down and dirty enough to satisfy the gutter cats. You suspect that all it will take is one tune to click with UK radio - and the Republic will be firmly established in Britain.
"We've got a song on the album, called Break!, that we think is in a different league from stuff we've done before. It's got a kind of reggaeton beat, and we're really pleased with it. We're not making records for their commercial appeal, though. We're just taking music that we listen to and love, and mashing it up a bit."
The boys in Republic of Loose grew up on the mean streets of Terenure and Rathfarnham, where having the wrong hairstyle or liking the wrong records might get you a right slagging from the self-appointed cool set. Where the idea of middle-class kids from well-to-do suburbs of Dublin doing rap, gospel and soul was atonement to treason. Why couldn't they just do guitar-based alt. rock like any normal Irish band? Or just sound like U2?
"I wasn't sure at first if it was a good idea for us to be doing rap," admits Mick, "because we didn't exactly grow up in Compton. I was worried that people would laugh or, worse, compare us to Goldie Lookin' Chain. I was afraid people would say, who do you think you are, you can't be doing this stuff. I was thinkin', we're just a bunch of idiots from Dublin - we're never gonna sound black. It took us a while to feel confident that we could pull it off."
"But there's always been a tradition of Irish artists adopting blues music," says Benjamin. "Look at Rory Gallager - no one could ever question his authenticity. But there's this idea that, because we're Irish and white, we're not allowed to do this music. That's bullshit."
Aaagh! is released today on Loaded Dice, and distributed through RMG
