Dirty Epics

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Dirty Epics
OriginGreystones
County Wicklow
Ireland
GenresPop, punk rock, new wave
Years active2006–2014
LabelsSCAR Records
MembersSarah Jane "SJ" Wai
Richie Power
Darren McCoy
Gary Nethaway
Past membersCormac Farrell
Vince Lim
Alan Delaney
WebsiteMySpace

Dirty Epics were a four-piece Irish new wave band formed in Greystones, County Wicklow, before relocating to Dublin. They were composed of vocalist Sarah Jane "SJ" Wai,[1] bassist Richie Power, guitarist Darren McCoy[2] and drummer Alan Delaney and were managed by Nadine O'Flynn. They have performed at numerous festivals and on television shows.

Dirty Epics are best known for songs such as "The Cure",[3] "We're Coming Up" and "White Out". Their debut album, Straight In No Kissing, was released in 2008 and the band signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group for it.[4] In 2009, they competed in The Raw Sessions, progressing to the final. In 2010, one of their songs featured in British teen drama Skins and the band returned to SXSW.

Musical style[edit]

The sound of Dirty Epics has been described as "a mix of the New York Dolls, Joy Division and the Pixies with Bob Dylan". They are known for their "buzzing guitars, powerful vocals, and a driving drum and bass section".[5] The Irish Independent described the effect on the pulse of a combination of "urgent drums and guitars" alongside the "scattergun screech" of Sarah Jane Wai O'Flynn.[6] SJ Wai counts her stylistic influences as including Debbie Harry of Blondie, describing her as "a true original who perfectly balanced a punk rock image with glamorous beauty".[7]

Career[edit]

Foundations[edit]

The band formed during their school days, when Wai, Farrell and Power first made collective use of their skills as musicians and songwriters. Delaney resided in a town "far far away" but met his three future bandmates and after which Dirty Epics were formed. New Yorker Vince Lim joined the band in late 2009 as guitarist. Darren McCoy joined then in late 2010 as guitarist. Darren, an old friend of the bands from Roundwood, County Wicklow.[8]

Dirty Epics started writing and recording in 2005 where a demo of "The Cure" was reviewed in Hot Press by Jackie Hayden.[citation needed] They had their "Launch Gig" at Crawdaddy in April 2007. This was voted “Gig of the Week” by The Irish Times's weekly music supplement The Ticket. They have also supported The Rapture at Tripod in Dublin and performed with Republic of Loose in The Academy,[9] as well as The Coronas at the same venue.[10] In early 2009 the band embarked on a tour of the United States, performing in destinations such as New York City, Texas and Los Angeles.[11] In a piece for independent.ie, the band perhaps jokingly said that they have used several cost-saving initiatives, including buying less batteries for their guitar effects pedals, less guitar strings and have also stated that they have restricted themselves to two strippers each per show.[12]

Festival appearances[edit]

Dirty Epics performed as the second act (between myokhotel and The Milk Teeth) on the New Bands Tent at Oxegen on 7 July 2007.[7][13] They returned the following year where they opened the Green Room Stage at 17:00 on 11 July 2008 just before The Kinetiks.[14][15][16][17] Dirty Epics performed at Indie-pendence in August 2008.[18][19] On 16 August 2008, the band played the Solas Stage at Solas Festival in County Carlow.[20] They have also played Hard Working Class Heroes and Miss Ireland.[21] They participated in the Arthur's Day events in Dublin on 24 September 2009 and in 2011 they played an open venue concert in Dublin to celebrate Chinese New Year.[22]

On 19 March 2010, Dirty Epics performed at the Irish Breakfast Showcase held at SXSW.[2] It was around this time that the single "I Heart You" was released and new guitarist Vince Lim joined the band.[2] They returned to Dublin to support OneRepublic.

Dirty Epics performed at Guinness Arthur's Day 2010 in Whelans with Brandon Flowers and in The George Pub with the Hoosiers.

Dirty Epics also appeared at Electric Picnic in 2013, playing in the little big tent

Media appearances[edit]

On 29 March 2008, Dirty Epics appeared on The Once a Week Show alongside guests Leanne Moore, singer and Pamela Flood, model and television presenter. They performed "The Cure".[23] On 30 October 2008 the band appeared on The Cafe alongside guests George Lee, economist and Lucy Kennedy, television presenter. They performed the song "Way Too Pretty".[24] On 17 December the band performed at Whelan's as part of Alison Curtis's Christmas Special on Today FM.[25][26][27] On Monday 9 February 2009 they performed on the podge and rodge show, taking part in their competition Rocin' Roulette. They also performed on UTV's Live at the Limelight on 25 February 2009. Dirty Epics also appeared on RTÉ Two's The Raw Sessions,[28][29] progressing to the final with their song "All Time Favourite".[30]

The song "We're Coming Up" featured in the final episode of the fourth series of British teen drama Skins on E4 on 18 March 2010.[2]

Members[edit]

SJ Wai - vocals
Darren McCoy - guitars
Richie Power - bass
Alan Delaney - drums

Discography[edit]

Dirty Epics released the singles "The Cure" (released 7 March 2008[31]) and "Way Too Pretty" (released 3 October 2008). They also garnered recognition through their songs "Overrated" and "Pony". Their debut album, Straight In No Kissing (produced by Dave Morgan and Gareth Mannix) was released on 31 October 2008.[32]

They contributed to the 2009 charity album, Sparks n' Mind, released in aid of Aware, performing a cover version of the Portishead song, "Glory Box".[33]

They also played at Presentation College, Terenure's Fashion Show and Design Competition in February 2009 for the Marie Keating Foundation for breast cancer.

Studio albums[edit]

Year Album details Peak chart positions
IRL UK
2008 Straight In No Kissing — —
2013 One-Way Mirror — —

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Dirty Epics" Archived 2009-02-06 at the Wayback Machine. Oxegen 2008. Accessed 26 December 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d "Dirty Epics to rock Skins tonight - and Austin tomorrow!". Hot Press. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010. "We've got a new guitarist Vince Lim, so we've been bedding him in," Sarah reveals. "It's worked out really well. We wanted to get recording immediately and so we went straight into the studio and recorded 'I Heart You', which has just been released as a single.
  3. ^ "UPDATED: Dirty Epics release single, plan tour". Hot Press. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  4. ^ "Dirty Epics sign Universal distribution deal". Hot Press. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  5. ^ "Dirty Epics rock out during home performance". Bray People. 29 October 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  6. ^ "Music: Dirty Epics * * *". Irish Independent. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Punk Blondes have more fun". Irish Independent. 6 June 2007. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  8. ^ "Dirty Epics to play Traffik". The Munster Express. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  9. ^ "Dirty Epics". Waterford Today. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  10. ^ "The Coronas announce Academy show". Hot Press. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  11. ^ "Dirty Epics plot US tour…". Hot Press. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  12. ^ "'I've planted my own fruit and veg patch'". Irish Independent. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  13. ^ "Final Oxegen bands unveiled". muse.ie. 22 June 2007. Archived from the original on 31 May 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  14. ^ "Oxegen announce full stage line-up…". Hot Press. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  15. ^ "Oxegen 2008 – Festival's Full Line-Up Revealed…". Today FM. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008. [dead link]
  16. ^ "Show times released for Oxegen 2008…". Hot Press. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  17. ^ "Oxegen 08 Line Up…". Phantom FM. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008. [dead link]
  18. ^ "The Blizzards among acts for Indie-Pendence '08". Hot Press. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  19. ^ "Gemma Hayes, Giveamanakick for Indie-Pendence '08". Hot Press. 18 June 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
  20. ^ "Solas Festival lineup released". Hot Press. 14 March 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  21. ^ "Dirty Epics zone straight in for the kill". Limerick Independent. 10 December 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  22. ^ "Guinness Announce Arthurs Day Line Up, Entertainment.ie Chat to Noah and The Whale". entertainment.ie. 16 July 2009. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  23. ^ The Once a Week Show - 29 March 2008. RTÉ. Accessed 24 December 2008.
  24. ^ The Cafe 30 October 2008. RTÉ. Accessed 24 December 2008.
  25. ^ "Today FM's Christmas show at Whelan's". Hot Press. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  26. ^ "December 15th". Today FM. 15 December 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  27. ^ "The Alison Curtis Show Christmas Special". Today FM. 18 December 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2008.[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ "Dirty Epics, R.S.A.G. and more for The Raw Sessions With Sony Ericsson". Hot Press. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  29. ^ "Dirty Epics Go through to second round". Hot Press. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  30. ^ "Catch the Raw Sessions live final tonight!". Hot Press. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  31. ^ "Dirty Epics" Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine. The Back Room. Accessed 26 December 2008.
  32. ^ "Dirty Epics return to Traffik". The Munster Express. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  33. ^ "Springsteen, Pixies & Portishead covered for Irish charity album". Hot Press. 25 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.

External links[edit]

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