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The Infomatics are five talented Dublin MCs and musicians, who mash up hip-hop, electronica, soul, jazz and reggae, use it as a sound-bed for an Irish story and play it out live. They are the loudest voice in the revolution of Irish hip-hop.
BOC, aka Barry O'Conaill, The Infomatics producer and electronic sage, began on piano, decided the bass was cooler and began jamming with his 14 year-old mate Graham 'Bugs' Birney, in his back yard shed. Their first foray into live performance was at house parties in their late teens, when everyone had a go off whatever instruments were lying around. Graham's kid brother Ado, aka Mr. Dero, lover of all things rap, started hanging out and introduced BOC to the brighter side of hip-hop - Mos Def, The Roots and the like. Connecting with what he heard, BOC and Mr. Dero started recording tracks and vocals on a newly acquired 8 track.
Stephen 'Steo' Gunn, aka Konchus Lingo, Infomatic producer and MC, couldn't escape the music growing up. His big brother was lead singer with eighties band Tokyo Olympics. His sister moved to NYC with her American fella and at the tender age of 12, on a two-week family visit to the Big Apple, Lingo developed a massive crush on the city and it's hip-hop soundtrack. Lingo drowned himself in everything hip-hop, with Yo MTV Raps Fab 5 Freddie assuming the mantle of 'total idol' for many years. Trying his hand at rhyming, Lingo concocted raps about his mates, to much appreciation and at times, indignation. The natural progression was to write music to go with the lyrics and general life experiences provided good material.
It was at Dublin's Colaiste Dhulaigh, that Konchus and BOC met. Legend has it that the boys took up telesales jobs in their spare time to pay the rent. Though hugely stimulated with their task of advising clients on safeguarding their families' future (accidental death insurance), they would often hit the rooftop car park together for a smoke while their supervisor was engrossed in Pigeon Fanciers Weekly in the corner office. It was during one of these random illicit smoke breaks that the lads met Mr. Dero, who unbeknownst to them was also peddling the same overpriced 'you might be hit by lightening' packages. Having agreed to meet up the following week for a jamming session, the trio got together at BOC's shed and lo, The Infomatics were born. BOC ..s, Konchus Lingo and Mr.Dero MCing and Bugs on bass.
The band began writing and recording as a group in 2003, talking their way into support slots around Dublin, learning the ropes, trying to find a structure for the group. Two years later, following a challenging gestation period, a prolonged labour and some fine fiddling and tweaking by Bugs, Kill or Create, The Infomatics first born, hurtled into the world kicking and rapping.
Ever evolving, the band wanted to bring a proper live feel to their music. Vocals, keys and bass were in place, all that was needed now was a percussion man. Up stepped Spanish drum-merchant Jorge 'Ugoluna' Laguna, who came along to a jamming session, hit it off with the Infos and completed the collective.
The Infomatics live experience is a raw, lyric spitting affair, crammed full of relentless energy. Their performance credentials include numerous support slots with the best of hip-hop talent including The Point Depot with NAS, Soul II Soul in The Village, Fingathing, ICE-T, The Jungle Brothers and The Cool Kids in CrawDaddy, Naughty By Nature in Tripod, EDAN in The Tivoli ?uestlove in The Voodoo Lounge and Rodney P in the Hendrie Hall in Wales.
Outside of The Infomatics, each band member is well recognised in their own right. Konchus Lingo has had nine of his tunes signed to top UK drum n' bass labels, with his tracks featuring on constant rotation on the Fabio and Grooverider show on BBC Radio One. He's also featured on the Zero Tolerance album due out this year and has been working on the new A.I. album. As his alias Jeeves Blackfield, he's also a well-known name in beat production with both established and emerging acts. Bugs was part of well-known Irish band Kingsativa and released two critically acclaimed albums and had the honour of opening for Bob Marley's backing band The Wailers. Bugs also works as a sound engineer and has worked on albums with numerous Irish and international artists including Paddy Casey, Republic of Loose, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Special's Neville Staples. All band members are currently working on individual albums.
Gig history : SOUL II SOUL - The Village. ?UESTLOVE - Voodoo Lounge. RODNEY P - Hendrie Hall, Wales. FINGATHING - Crawdaddy. JUNGLE BROTHERS - Crawdaddy. ICE T - Crawdaddy. LLOYD BANKS - Red Box. NaS - The Point Depot. THE COOL KIDS - Crawdaddy. NAUGHTY BY NATURE - Tripod. EDAN - The Tivoli, Saul Williams - The Button Factory, Saul Williams - Cyprus Avenue Cork. |
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