MySpace.com - Republic of Loose - Dublin, IE - Rock / Funk / Soul

Come join Republic Of Loose; a band as well named as this, their second album. A collective of like-minded souls with a loose aggregation of influences and inspiration. But they’re not some funkateers from LA, Memphis or Philadelphia. This is a bunch of white Dubliners on the musical razzle. And if you have a problem with that, then frontman Mick Pyro, he of the gorgeous white soul voice, will cheerfully stick two fingers in your direction, but in the most academic manner

It all originated from when I was in college, in bands, and going through all kinds of torture about authenticity and what it meant, and trying to find proper voice for the person I was. I started educating myself and reading a lot of shit and I realised that – I know this sounds highfalutin – but authenticity was a construct. And a bogus construct at that, invented by a bunch of wack-jobs outta their heads on opium and nature in the nineteenth century. Once I’d made that revelation, I felt completely liberated. I just stripped down my brain for all the things I liked in music, which all came down to James Brown and The Rolling Stones; they were the cornerstones I could build a foundation on

Pyro used the Stones as iconic role models. They were listening to contemporary music, the hip shit. Even in the early 1960s, stuff like Howlin’ Wolf would only have been ten years old, so it wasn’t this ancient, archetypal canon of music; it was fresh and immediate. I wondered why can rock’n’roll bands still don’t draw from that source of American music? In England, a whole narrative and self-contained mythology has developed about rock music so it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. To me, the Stones went straight to the source, and the fact that they were from such an alien environment to what they were trying to engage in, it made for this weird, new hybrid. We’re not throwing ourselves at the wall and going goofy with it; it’s just fuck the irony and the parody of it, and why not completely immerse ourselves in the music that we love and block out all bullshit and fashion, and create our own values? We know we didn’t look right for R&B, which spurred us on even more! Plus the women at rock gigs are non-existent or bet-down. Its good to watch women dancing!"

By going their own way, Republic Of Loose have forged their own originality and naivety, with a hip-swinging centre that women – and yes, you men too! – love. In any case, the music has its own authenticity because it’s forged from passion and empathy, not from style and careerism, and it’s already paid off; when released in Ireland, Aaagh! reached number two in the charts and garnered two nominations apiece for the prestigious Meteor and Choice Awards. Meanwhile, mesmerising live performances led to tour supports with The Neville Brothers, The Thrills, The Zutons, Scissor Sisters, Alabama 3, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Snow Patrol, The Roots, and Dilated Peoples, plus festival appearances at Glastonbury, T In The Park, The Fleadh, Oxygen and the Transmusicale, Nice Jazz and Furia Sound festivals in France

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