by Eric FitzGerald
[email protected]
BRESSIE’S Teenage Kicks TV show has formed a new Rap/R’n’B group, all from Limerick City, called Urban Dreamers with an EP due for release after the final show in the series airs on RTÉ Two this Tuesday December 16. The three track EP called ‘Our Light’ includes the tracks ‘Renegade Radio’ and ‘Burn the Pictures’ as well as the lead track, ‘Our Light’. It is expected to be the best selling single in Limerick this Christmas. Urban Dreamers will announce a live show in the city next week.
Pre-publicity for ‘Bressie’s Teenage Kicks’ promised to give viewers “a contemporary snapshot of the experience of the people who live, work and play in Limerick’s communities”. The ex Blizzards’ frontman chose Limerick as the base to assemble together a music group made up of young people and with no preconceived notions about the type of band he wanted to create.
Casting calls for Niall Bresnan’s new music show came in February this year at Lime Tree Theatre. ‘The Voice of Ireland’ coach set himself the challenge of making a teenage band from the abundance of talent here in the city. This Tuesday viewers of the popular show will find out if his band stayed the course with him and completed their recording sessions in Dublin’s Windmill Lane Studios.
Bressie recalls, “I auditioned nearly 90 people through the Youth Services in Limerick. We didn’t necessarily pick the best people. We picked the people whom we thought would get the most out of the journey.”
Through the work of Music Generation in the city in recent years and the local youth services, young people in Limerick have used music to express themselves and the predominant form of expression in the city is rap and R’n’B music. So it came as no surprise that the TV show brought together rappers and R‘n’B singers from different communities in Limerick city: Nathan and Calvin (Moyross), Damien (Rhebogue), Kelsey (St Mary’s Park) and Sherisse (Southill).
After six months of writing, rehearsing and recording with the group, Bressie ascertains,
“We created something that I am very proud of. We put them together and we pushed them to the limit and they pushed me to the limit.”
Nathan Keane and Calvin McNamara are part of the Moyross Youth Crew rap group. They came to national attention last January when the then CEO of Limerick City of Culture, Patricia Ryan suggested they edit one of their raps before performing it at the City of Culture opening ceremonies last New Year’s Eve. The lyrics remained unchanged, but resignations of then City of Culture artistic director Karl Wallace and its CEO filled the newspaper columns for weeks last January.
The lyrics in question were, “The city’s looking rough when you’re walking on the bridge/ It’s the city where we’re tough, there’s no place you’d rather live…”
‘Bressie’s Teenage Kicks’ has, true to its promise, given a real world account of the lives of five of the city’s teenagers, not hyped up, and not sugar coated, just honest. Reaction on social media in the city has been hugely positive towards the project. Next Tuesday viewers will see if the group Bressie assembled records their first ever EP and plays a show together in Limerick.
Damien Doherty AKA Damz is one of the five in Bressie’s group. Being on the show has been a positive experience for the rapper/songwriter.
“Before I auditioned for the show, I didn’t have a bit of confidence. Being on the show made me a come out of my shell a bit, he told Limerick Post.
As well as working with the group featured on the TV show, Damz is also working on his own material with “best mate and fellow rapper” Steve Casey. Impressive tracks such as ‘Trapped InA Box’ are already online with more to be released in 2015.
‘Bressie’s Teenage Kicks’ will be broadcast on Tuesday December 16 at 10pm. And following this last show in the series, expect to hear some more exciting news from the group.
