Vision Collector: Interview with Darragh & Alex
The Dublin music scene is always shapeshifting before our eyes, and we want to get under the skin of this cool, fast paced and collaborative community. We sent the lovely Charlotte Grenson to chat the the boys at Vision Collector, two of the eminent movers and shakers of Dublin music.
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure to meet and interview the duo behind Vision Collector, a renowned Record Label and Events Company. Personally I always enjoyed their events and their ability to introduce and promote quality home DJ’s to the music lovers of Dublin. When you attend these events you are guaranteed to be surrounded with the nicest and most down to earth party people around, while listening to phenomenal electronic music. In this interview we are able to get an insight into who Vision Collector really are, to discover how they first came about, who and what influenced them most and finally what plans they have for the future.
Hi Darragh & Alex, can you tell me a little about yourself guys? Let’s start with you Alex:
Alex: I have been interested in music for the past maybe 5 years; travelling & music & science/physics are probably the 3 things I am most interested in, the 3 things I focus pretty much all of my attention on. Music has played a big part in my life over the last few years, shaping the person who I am today. Over the last year I went through a huge change in music, I was listening to a lot of electronic music a lot of jazz, afrobeat jazz, spiritual jazz, swing box music & blues, and then I completely lost interest and re-found a new interest in it. I am on that journey of rediscovery now.
Darragh: I have had an interest in music for as long as I can remember; playing instruments from when I was a kid coming up through school, then did two years in sound training centres studying sound engineering and music technology. Then I spent some time working in a recording studio as a sound engineer. This is how all this buzz started.
How were you introduced in to the music industry?
Alex: From moving to Berlin, and my two years living over there.
Darragh: Being surrounded by music my entire life.
What are your music influences and where does the passion come from?
Alex: My passion come from originally Rory Gallagher, Jimmy Hendrix, Dire Straits, Queen, Little Skinhead, Guns n Roses, Metallica, Arctic Monkeys. These were the artists that got me interested in music.
Darragh: My passion comes more from the people I’ve grown up with. From my brother introducing me to dance music when I was 12 years old, to being in a band when I was 16 years old where I played drums. I listened to a lot of different stuff to get an idea where my passion should be coming from or what direction it should be coming from. But all my interests are coming from experience in different things through music with other people, and knowing their stories.
Your record label is called Vision Collector. Where did the name originate from?
Alex: Vision Collector originated from watching a Ted Talk, there was a sociologist on talking about children and parents and there being too much of a generation gap between the mindset of parents and mindset of ids. This education system, and this parenting we have in the western world its kind of a stone age view and the sociologist said we weren’t collecting our kids visions, and he said the mindset of everybody is made of a collective of visions, and I said “that sounds like Vision Collector !”
What’s Vision Collector’s style?
Darragh: What I find is that a lot of the songs being released are a lot techier & more underground. And when we come across podcasts and stuff a lot of it can be turned towards house. But that’s not what we are releasing. It’s broader than what has been released.
Who are the residents on the label and what is your relationship with them?
Alex: First on is Nathan Jones; I’ve known him for years. He is a ridiculously talented DJ & producer. he’s focused all his time, every spare minutes of time he has, on making music or producing music & practising DJing. Next 2 are Niall Dunne & Doug Cooney, Niall Dunne, that I know for years, is one of the best DJs in the country & Doug, that I know only a few years, has a company called Real Sound and he teaches people how to use synths, how to make synth hardware, and how to DJ. He is teaching in colleges all across Ireland this year, he’s a seriously talented DJ.
Tell me more about the radio show and what it involves?
Darragh: The podcasts simply bring the DJs to play on a weekly basis. It’s a platform for them to bring their skills & talents on the show for everyone to see. It’s there for promotion for them. Everyone is free to come to the podcast, it’s there as a platform for intelligent DJs to play. Anyone is free to come and watch them to see what their doing for a living.
Alex: There’s too much talent in Dublin going unrecognised .everyone is always bringing in other artists in all the time. We are always outsourcing all of our artists instead of in-sourcing. It’s ridiculous, it’s a ridiculous attitude to have, it’s just to give people half an hour to start the beginning of something. We want to put focus and attention and spot light on the lads and everyone we know.
(All the podcasts can be found on Vision Collector’s Mixcloud and soon they will be streaming live sessions)
Cian Byrne Little
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Any future plans for the label?
Alex: The label will continue on it’s path of releasing records, Irish based records. We’re starting a new thing tonight called the “Genome Sequence” (the name refers to the process of tracking your DNA back to humanity’s roots in Africa, they can track your DNA back 250 thousand years so you can see your entire genetic history and where exactly you came from. It used to be 1.7 billion dollars to get it done but in the last 10 years it has dropped to €5000). We’re going to do a club night called “Genome Sequence” which will be two DJ playing every Wednesday, and whenever we have a gig in the future we will only have people play after they have done this podcast. every artist will have done a podcast and we can then branch out like a new family, growing and changing like genetics. The idea behind the night will be represented massively in the graphics, in the art work.
Genome Sequence is a new platform which will bring forward all the most fascinating and awe inspiring feats in life, whether it’s music or achievements or facts. It will be a forum for us to spread information and brighten people’s day and cause some knock on effect for people to grow and develop their own opinions on the world and everything that fills it.
If you’re interested in taking part in the podcast and DJ night Genome Sequence, you can contact Vision Collector here.
Words and pictures: Charlotte Grenson (Find me on Facebook under Chachøu Grensøn Photography and What’s on & Bang on – Dublin)