Borderline festival brings top class music
MUSIC booker Simon Merriman makes it his job to see some of the best new acts before they even break through. As a regular attendee at the likes of South x Southwest in Texas and Eurosonic in Holland, Simon, who is one third of promoters Singular Artists, determined to make a festival just like that for Ireland. And on February 15 and 16 at the Workman’s Club, Borderline will bring the best of new international and homegrown music to the stage.
‘I don’t think Ireland has many showcase type events to give new artists a platform where it’s multi-bills and takes the pressure off,’ he explains. ‘Because that’s kind of one of the hardest things for new artists having to sell tickets as: they’re not really known. So put them on a bill together and create a kind of buzz or a good vibe around it, you have a better chance of being seen.’
The first line up is an impressive one, with Antony Szmierek and Miso Extra on a line up of 15 acts across two nights in Dublin’s Workman’s Club.
‘I want Borderline to be something where we can actually announce a festival where even if people haven’t heard of the bands, they will trust me and Singular Artists enough that they know we will have booked really good acts,’ says Merriman
Post-booking the bands, some have already become the hot new tickets with Szmeriek being named one of BBC 6 Music’s artists of 2023 and Fat Dog recently signing to influential label Domino records.
‘When booking, I am trying to look ahead and pick acts that have a good chance of breaking and turning a lot of heads in Ireland, the UK and globally.’
With Ireland in a healthy position at the minute outside of the country as well as inside, there are homegrown bands on the bill who are likely to follow the likes of CMAT and Fontaines DC to stardom.
‘We have Cardinals, an amazing band from Cork,’ says Merriman.
‘They’re quite new, but they’ve already ones to watch. Efe is from Dublin and she plays soulful guitar pop and then we have the trailblazers from Belfast, Enola Gay, who are just absolutely smashing it at the minute across Europe and the UK. Spider is from Ireland but based in Manchester and making edgy guitar music. And then Mount Palomar from Belfast who recently collaborated with Enola Gay as well. We want to put these acts in front of passionate music fans and I am one of them.’
Borderline takes place on February 15 and 16 in the Workman’s Club. Tickets cost €25 for both nights and €20 for single nights, see borderlinefestival.com for details.