Six piece neo-psychedelic band from Dublin, Fat Pablo, are this month's guests at OSLO x GoldenPlec's event at The Workman's Club. Influenced by modern hip-hop, 60's psych rock and post-punk, the band's sound and vision is truly unique.

Ahead of the show, we spoke to Fat Pablo about their beginnings and the importance of the visual aspect of their group.

// GP: How did the six of you come together to make music?

Some of us (Dave, Alex, Adrian) met in college back in 2013. We were called Beach back then and had another guy Bernie playing bass. Simon (Keys) and Ross (Visual Artist) joined a few years later around the same time. Bernie left the band and then we got a new bassist in named Jack. We decided it was time to change our name and Fat Pablo seemed like a nice avenue to head down. Dave had known Jack and Ross for years before from the local vicinity so it’s a pretty tight familia.

// GP: So, you have made music together before but only recently as Fat Pablo?

We started putting out tracks this year as Fat Pablo. We spent a lot of time last year writing and recording so we’d be in a position to release songs freely throughout the year.

// GP: And how did that recording process going?

Last year, we recorded six songs down in The Meadow in Delgany with Rian Trenchi and Scan Scanlon, absolutely lovely place to be. They’ll be out over the coming months. In February of this year, we went back down to The Meadow and recorded another four songs that’ll be out once the first batch of songs have been released.

// GP: Does that mean you have a few songs ready to release?

At the moment we’re sitting on about eight songs to be released. ‘Ganki’ is out today and ‘Percolator’ is out on 5^th July.

With six of you in the group, how do you go about getting music together?

 Our recording and writing process has developed over the past year or so, but is dependant on the kind of song we’re writing together. The releases we’re currently putting out were written for the most part in a room together with everyone present, especially 'Ganki' . Our process now usually starts with Dave (Songwriter) and Adrian (Drums/Production) recording a basic guitar or synth arrangement with beats in Ableton, and adding vocal and synth ideas on the spot. The rest of the guys Alex, Jack and Simon have a listen and if it gets their thumb of approval they lay parts down later that evening.

 We chop the arrangement together up in different ways until we’re all satisfied. It’s a consistent demoing process that really seems to work for us. We’ve found that most of our songs that get pro studio treatment will always maintain elements recorded on the day it was written originally. It helps to hold that cathartic energy we get from writing in the finished product.

// GP: Your wonderful videos for 'Shambala' and 'Darts' are both very cinematic, was creating an intricate visual representations for your videos something you had always planned? 

Yeah absolutely creating a visual journey which is as rich as the music is always a goal we have in mind. As a band we are really interested in how we can blend music and visuals together to create unique and impactful experiences whether that be in a live setting or for music videos. The next video in production is a fully animated one, not sure if it will be the next release as of yet but we’re excited to share it with the world.

// GP: What were the processes behind both videos?

'Shambala' was a crazy production, it took two years from conception to completion, a shoestring budget for it’s scale and many many favours called in. It was a complete passion project for all involved and we were lucky to get production support from Algorithm and Motherland who believed in the video idea and helped us see through it. Just to note though that Ross didn’t direct this video, it was directed by a very talented director named Hugh Mulhern. Ross was the VFX artist on it.

'Darts' was aimed to put the viewer in the headspace explored in the song. It begins with a melancholic gaze out the window of the Dart as the sights of Dublin zip past, culminating in a chaotic expression of a burdened mind, thoughts swirling round with no resolution.

// GP: You have a 'Visual Artist' in Fat Pablo, Ross Ryder, which is an interesting aspect of being a group - what exactly does that entail?

It’s definitely interesting having Ross as part of the band. He’s responsible for creating all the visuals which accompany our music. The actual creative process is effortless and makes a lot of sense to us. He is often in the studio with us jamming live visuals for the set or getting inspired by new music and imagining ways to visualise the music. We think in the technological world of today its never been easier to embellish and expand on music visually so having a visual artist in the band is a no brainer.

// GP: What do you think the biggest challenges facing musicians are?

// GP: And lastly, festival season is upon us, are there any that you are particularly looking forward to? 

We really enjoyed going to Another Love Story in recent years. The atmosphere is really intimate and magical.  

Every festival has it’s own personality  and there are always new festivals popping up so you’re kinda spoiled for choice.

 

OSLO x GP is a monthly event at The Workman's Club featuring some of the most exciting bands on the circuit at the moment. Doors are at 11PM and it's free in (!!) so be sure to get down early to avoid disappointment!