Stomptown Brass return for festival warm-up show at Button Factory
+ guests TBA
Button Factory, Dublin
Saturday 15th April 2023
Tickets €16.95 Incl. booking fee on sale now from ticketmaster.ie
Doors 19:30 | Over 18's | ID Required
8-piece urban funk brass act Stomptown Brass have shocked and delighted audiences
across Ireland and abroad since their inception in late 2014. Through countless festival
appearances and a number of wild and wacky productions, they have built a reputation as
one of the Ireland’s most unique and dynamic ensemble acts. Blending sweeping
soundscapes, relentless rhythms, groovy drops and captivating visuals, the expansive band
line-up of two Drummers, two Trombones, two Trumpets, sixteen hands, one Sax and one
big filthy Tuba are known to blow a serious racket that’ll get any crowd on their feet.
Aside from performing raucous slots at festivals like Electric Picnic, Beyond the Pale,
Another Love Story, Kaleidoscope, Sea Sessions, Indiependence or old-Longitude, the band
are known for some unique and spectacular theatrical productions that have beguiled
audiences across all ages.
It all started in early 2015 when the band decided to unofficially march the route of Dublin’s
St. Patrick’s Day parade after the last float had departed. What resulted was a crowd
gathering the likes of which they did not expect, following their every step and creating a
series of manic street parties across the city. After a few friendly discussions with the
authorities, the band decided to take their show to the stage first before hitting the road,
and embarked on the ‘Locomotive’ tour in 2016 to promote their debut EP of the same
name.
Cutting their teeth on the nationwide live circuit and finding their feet at the end of their
legs, they opened for some of the modern great brass bands such as Hypnotic Brass
Ensemble, Soul Rebels Brass Band, and Hot 8 Brass Band. With their debut tour selling a lot
more tickets than they expected, they finished up with a sell-out headline show at The Sugar
Club in Dublin, a stage which to this day they call home.
Eager not to stagnate in an annual routine of bouncing between summer festivals and
autumn tours, the band explored new pastures in 2017, developing an immersive theatre
show in the style of a New Orleans jazz funeral…for the truth. ‘Requiem for the Truth’,
produced alongside Collapsing Horse Theatre Company, sold out back-to-back shows at the
Dublin Fringe, Norway Fringe, Cork Jazz and Waterford Imagine Arts festivals, before
returning home for two nights at Dublin’s Pepper Canister Church. Each show featured
guest eulogies delivered by a diverse range of academics, poets, actors, musicians, and The
Viper ™, before concluding with audience members carrying the coffin to its final resting
place at nearby location, where the Stomptown street party would commence.
2019 saw the band develop a show for their tiniest but most importat demographic, those
aged 2-9 years old. Through their project ‘Curious Eyes & Ears’, they produced a multi-
faceted kids show that demonstrated the foundations of music theory in a fun, creative and
interactive way. To top it off, the band hosted a nationwide callout for a young brass whizz
to perform with them on stage at the Meeting House Square in Temple Bar, Dublin.
Basking in the feel-good glow of a successful all-ages production and positive media
reception, the band got back to business later that year with the release of ‘One Last Time’ ,
where a darker, more texture-driven sound emerged. Combining their second-line jazz roots
with a more eclectic mix of styles and sounds, ‘One Last Time’ brought more modern jazz
forms to the forefront, incorporating different electronic musical elements previously alien
to the band.
In collaboration with Javier Longobardo, freelance artist and animator from Granada, Spain,
the band released a visceral animated music video which was shortlisted for awards at the
New York Independent Film Festival, the Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival, Mexico’s Cut Out
Festival, Sick‘n’Wrong Film Festival in Florida and the Oviclip Festival in Asturias.”
Under the wicked sorcery of their musical director, composer, arranger and trombone
enchantress James B O’Leary, Stomptown Brass have their sights firmly set on a host of
wacky new unannounced projects taking the band into 2025 and beyond.
Connect with Stomptown Brass
Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
For bookings contact: stomptownbrass@gmail.com