Fontaines D.C. are an Irish post-punk band formed in Dublin in 2014. The band consists of Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O'Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan III (bass), and Tom Coll (drums).
The band members met while attending music college and bonded over a common love of poetry. The band began self-releasing singles and performing live regularly, signing to Partisan Records in 2018. The band's debut album, Dogrel, was released on 12 April 2019 to widespread critical acclaim; it was listed as Album of the Year on the record store Rough Trade's website, voted Album of the Year by presenters on BBC Radio 6 Music, and was nominated for both the Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize.
The band's second studio album, A Hero's Death, was written and recorded in the midst of extensive touring for their debut, and was released on 31 July 2020. A Hero's Death was later nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Their third album Skinty Fia, released in 2022, became the band's first to reach number one on the Irish Albums Chart and UK Albums Chart.
History
Formation
Carlos O'Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan, Grian Chatten and Tom Coll met while attending music college at BIMM in The Liberties, Dublin. They bonded over a common love of poetry and collectively released two collections of poetry, one called Vroom, inspired by the Beat poets (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg) and another called Winding, inspired by Irish poets (Patrick Kavanagh, James Joyce, W. B. Yeats). None of the published poems were translated into songs, but the track "Television Screens" on their debut Dogrel started out as a poem and was turned into a song.
Lead singer Chatten is half-English (his mother is English and his father is Irish) and was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria but grew up in the County Fingal coastal town of Skerries, north of Dublin. Prior to starting Fontaines D.C., Chatten was a part of local indie rock bands Gun Runner and Thumbprint, serving as a drummer and guitarist/singer respectively.
Coll and Deegan hail from Castlebar in County Mayo, while Curley is from Emyvale in County Monaghan, and O'Connell grew up in Madrid, Spain. Deegan is regularly seen wearing Mayo GAA clothing during live performances.
The band got their name from a character in the movie The Godfather called Johnny Fontane, a singer and movie star portrayed by Al Martino. Fontane was godson of Vito Corleone. Originally they were called The Fontaines, but they added the initials "D.C." when a band in Los Angeles had the same name. The initials D.C. stand for "Dublin City".
Early career
Fontaines D.C. started out self-releasing singles. In 2015 they were going to release their debut with music journalist John Robb's Louder Than War label. In May 2017, Fontaines released the single "Liberty Belle" followed by "Hurricane Laughter"/"Winter In the Sun". "Liberty Belle" is in homage to the Liberties, a neighbourhood in Dublin where many band members lived.
In 2018, Fontaines released the single "Chequeless Reckless"/"Boys In The Better Land" and "Too Real". Stereogum, who premiered "Chequeless Reckless" in early 2018, described their sound "a synthesis between post-punk, garage rock, and a kind of gritty, urbane sense of rhythm and narrative" and naming them a 'Band To Watch'.
In May 2018, Fontaines played an in-studio at KEXP in Seattle. In November 2018, the band signed with Partisan Records.
They released music videos directed by frequent collaborator Hugh Mulhern. The video for 2018's "Too Real" was inspired by The Pogues's 1985 song, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" and the band Gilla Band, among other concepts. The 2019 video for the song Conor Curley co-wrote called "Roy's Tune" was directed by Liam Papadachi and was inspired by Curley's late night walks home from a job at a burrito shop.
Fontaines received tour support from Irish Arts Council which allowed them to tour internationally. They also received grant funding from RTÉ 2fm.
Dogrel
On 12 April 2019, the band released their debut album Dogrel on Partisan Records. The title Dogrel is an homage to Doggerel, working class Irish poetry – 'poetry of the people' – that dates back to 1630. It was popularised by William McGonagall and later Ogden Nash. The record was recorded live on tape.