The last few months have been hectic for four-piece Indie rock band Forge and they are now set to play Electric Picnic.
It began by them winning the Auld Shebeen Battle of the Bands competition which gave them the opportunity to play the main stage of the Greenfields Festival in Athy.
They then went on to perform at the Soundhouse in Dublin before going on to feature among the four winning acts in Electric Youth’s contest which will see them entertain at Electric Picnic.
They will play the Hazelwood Stage on Sunday from 1pm.
The other three places at the recent Electric Youth competition finals in the Dunamaise Arts Centre were taken by The Porter Boys’ Social Club; Becca Mitchell and Oisin O’Reilly, and Cillian Brennan.
Forge consists of guitarist Jesse McEvoy from Ballylinan, bassist Rory Grufferty from Barrowhouse, singer Fiacc Brennan from Knocknagee in Carlow and drummer Oisin Cummins from Straboe in Carlow.
The lads are all past pupils of Knockbeg College and speaking to LaoisToday, guitarist Jesse McEvoy explained how they came together.
“Forge started in our last year in Knockbeg College. We were four lads in a music class of six altogether and after spending some time shying away from the idea of playing together as a band, our teacher brought us together to play,” said guitarist, Jesse McEvoy who is currently playing senior football with Ballylinan.
“After performing for our Leaving Cert graduation, we started to meet weekly and thought it would be good to get out officially as a band.
“The name ‘Forge’ basically came from the first letters of our names: Fiacc, Oisin, Rory and Jesse, but we avoided naming it Forj and opted for Forge instead.
“Forge also means coming together to create something stronger so I liked the idea of it,” he said.
“Our musical influences are vast but the most notable ones would be Kings of Leon, Sam Fender and Wunderhorse,” he said.
Up until now they have played in a number of pubs locally such as Ramsbottoms, Stradbally; Flemings, Ballylinan; Tullys, Ewings and Brennans in Carlow; Vibe Bar, Kavanaghs, Ramsbottoms and the Square Bar in Portlaoise, and Andersons, Athy.
“The standout ones would be playing on the main stage at the Greenfields Festival in Athy after winning the Battle of the Bands and also playing The Soundhouse in Dublin,” Jesse said.
This was their first time entering Electric Youth, a programme run in conjunction with Electric Picnic.
“After hearing about the competition early on in the summer, we said we’d give it a go.
Photo: Alf Harvey.
“Obviously the prize of getting to play at Electric Picnic stood out to us at first but after meeting with the crew involved in Electric Youth and all the exceptionally talented musicians, the prize goes to the back of your head and the enjoyment of it all was what stood out.
“To actually be part of the four winners and to perform this weekend at the biggest festival in Ireland is quite literally a dream come true for us all.
“The four of us have been going to Electric Picnic for years and have made some great memories and laughs.
“To think we get to do it this year actually performing on the Hazelwood stage is wild. None of it wouldn’t have been possible without Youth Work Laois which we want to thank again,” he said.
After Electric Picnic, Jesse says that the band have many more exciting projects lined up.
“We have so many things coming up which is exciting. Part of the prize for winning the Auld Shebeen Battle of the Bands was a chance to record a five-song EP in which we have been working away on all summer.
“Before that, we only played covers and the idea of actually sitting down and writing our own material was evident but nothing ever pulled through.
“The studio time has really pushed us over the summer to write some songs that we are extremely happy with. These songs were played over the course of the Electric Youth competition and got some good reactions,” Jesse said.
Fiacc (20), a student at University College Galway, is currently studying maths; Rory (20) attends Dublin City University and is studying maths and science teaching; Oisin (20) attends Maynooth University and is studying biotechnology.
Jesse is also a student at Maynooth University, doing an arts degree, specialising in English, music and psychology.
“I would say we’ve all grown up into music crazy families, and guitars were never that far away from us,” laughed Jesse.
Winning the Electric Youth competition and being lined up to play at Electric Picnic is by far the pinnacle of their experiences to date.
“To be honest, there haven’t been many lows in our year being together. Once we are playing, writing or even listening to music together, we are four very happy lads. We do it purely because we love it,” Jesse remarked.
“There definitely is a level of pride there that these songs we came up with got us a gig at Electric Picnic.
“Going forward, we want to be a band that writes and performs our own music.
“We really have had a great summer delving into original pieces so we’ll definitely keep writing for the foreseeable future which is exciting,” said Jesse whose other passion is football.
“I’ve been involved with Laois ever since I was 12, competing in the development squads all the way up to U-20.
“Football has been a huge part of my life and I’ve made some great memories and friends within my club, county and school teams over the years.
“There definitely are some nights where it’s hard to balance training and gigs but that’s just the way it is.”
