Irish Music Week will take place next month with concerts and events highlighting some of the latest independent music success stories. One very noticeable thing is the growth and creativity of artists’ merchandise.
Worldwide, the art business is a multi-billion dollar industry. This was especially true during the shutdown, when fans were unable to attend concerts, fans wanted to connect with and support artists in other ways. While rich stars producing expensive limited edition t-shirts and the like are just an additional income stream, merchandising is now an important source of income for independent artists.
One piece that recently gained attention was the full GAA collection by artist Ahmed, With Love. The Dublin rapper, who wears scrubs when we speak – “I work in a pharmacy,” he explains – sees his business not just as an extension of his music, but as a form of his creativity.
“I always want my heart to be in whatever it is, whether it’s music or something – a good representation of who I am,” he says. “I want my personality in it. I want someone to look at a piece of my business and go, ‘Oh, of course Ahmed, he did it with love.’
He says the GAA kit, with his name spelled out in Irish – Ahmed, Le Gra – was a version of “making a joke”. When I think “isn’t it funny to do so and so?” so I must do this: submit to a little, see it well. I also made some GAA cards. I mean you can’t have GAA kit and not have GAA trading cards.”
Ahmed, With Love featured on one of the standout tracks – Walk to Blackrock – on Curtis’ album What Was the Question. He is now set to release his debut project, the Comma mixtape, FullStop. This is October 11. Eight days earlier he will be playing at the Button Factory as part of Irish Music Week.
“I just like to be true to myself,” she says of her creative decisions. “When I like something, for example, how can I like someone else?”
In some ways this new commercial wave of Irish artists started with Soft Boy Records t-shirts. Its iconic Soft Ice Cream T-shirt was already a hit. Last winter the label collaborated with Dublin high street brand Emporium. Kojak, who co-founded Soft Boy, also remade the F*** Schillaci shirt made famous by Colm Meaney’s character in Vans, renaming the Italian footballer after himself.
Interestingly, one of The Scratch’s t-shirts is emblazoned with Requisite Celtic Soul, a reference to Minnie’s character in the movie Intermission.
My criticism of the business scarves I saw was that they were too short. Once they tie it around your neck. The scarves we have are very long
– Molly King, Other Voices
Led by Mary Nally, the Drop Everything festival’s collaboration with Berlin designers Starstyling has resulted in shirts emblazoned with images of Inis Oir, the island where the event takes place. Dreamtime, a Drop Everything commercial line from the pandemic, to sleepwear and inner journeys many have experienced during that period with pillows, eye masks, incense and more.
Artist Classquatch has created a deck of tarot cards to represent each track on the Lethal Dialect album Songs of a Dead Dreamer. For her album Smiling Like an Idiot, Sorcha Richardson released a coloring book of pictures. Another great piece of merchandise is Gemma Dunleavy’s Up De Flats soccer jersey, a collaboration with Bodibro and designer Zoe Redmond, who also designed a commercial line for Lancum.
Other highlights include Orla Gartland’s Freckle Season cap and carabiner, CMAT I Make Country Music Without the ‘O’ silk scarves, and Øxn’s perfectly minimalist long-sleeve t-shirts. Recently, Fontaines DC released a series of beer mugs to accompany their new album, Romance. Ispíní na hÉireann’s You Couldn’t Thuld a Shax County T-shirts riffs on the endless memes that appropriate the DVD anti-piracy public service announcement.
One of the most ubiquitous items of business among music fans in Ireland is the Other Voices scarf. Molly King, the festival’s head of development, says its popular annual scarf drop was partly due to “the hordes of people descending on Dingle every year with voluminous scarves”. I remember that a bartender said that there was a joke among the local people – “Oh, the handkerchiefs have arrived!”.
Another Voice was already in business, “but there was definitely bag fatigue. Mary Nally is credited for finding the right scarf. She works with us and consults on the aesthetic and design aspects of Other Voices. She found an amazing supplier in Germany. My criticism of the scarves I saw at the time was that they were too short. They were in the style of a football scarf. The scarves we have, too are long.”
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The scarves were designed by Sarah Moloney. “We’ve only had one year off,” says King. “They are really good quality. People know that they are buying something that will last. There is something inherently wasteful in producing something that is not of the highest quality. This is not a good prospect. And with Irish fans, their standards are very high with what they expect from the business. “
Merchy Christmas, the annual craft market, is also “such a big thing,” according to King. “Conor Cusack, who started it, has done such an amazing job. You can directly support bands when they need your money and buy all your Christmas presents… After all, business is not just fun for artists. This is an important revenue stream. It’s a financial livelihood for these artists.”
For more information on Irish Music Week, visit irelandmusicweek.com. To purchase Ahmed’s With Love GAA kit, visit ahmedwithmerch.com
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