Cellar’s showcase night for emerging talent unearths some jewels

Date Published: {J}

For the past year and a half, Citóg has been running in the Cellar every Friday in the basement of the Eglinton Street venue in Galway. It’s a night of new music run by Jay Burke and David Boland, and seeks to showcase emerging local and national talent.

“It was just something that was bred out of necessity,” says Jay. “Myself and my buddy Ray, who helped us start it up, we just knew a lot of bands who wanted to play gigs in Galway. Mostly bands from Cork who couldn’t get a gig in Galway to save their lives.”

David Boland then joined the Citóg crew, after Ray moved on to other projects.

“I wanted to create something where young bands could hang out and listen to each other,” he says. “It wasn’t just that ‘there’s gig here and there’s a gig over there’. There’d be a place where unsigned bands and people from around town could perform. When Ray was leaving, I said I would jump in and help out.”

When you walk into a Citóg night the first thing you’ll notice, before a chord is even struck, is the stage. Wine coloured curtains are draped across the back and there are quirky lampshades and a gramophone. Vintage LP covers run across the stage. They’ve done a lot with a small space.

“We redesigned the stage an

d made it into a reborn kind of thing,” says David. “I thought that was important, that bands would feel comfortable. Your mind can wander to one of the album covers.”

Boland then goes on to explain where they found the props.

“It’s mostly second hand stuff. The curtains came from my friend Emma. She’s very artistic and was encouraging us. She got her Mam to send down some old curtains. It all came together the day before we re-launched it.”

“You can get so many deals around town,” he adds. “We go in once a week to every second-hand shop and pick out something cool.”

Having to book at least three bands a week means Citóg is not tied to one genre, as the lads are keen to point out. Folk, indie, electro – anyone’s welcome.

“Everything goes like,” says Jay. “You’ll never see the same thing week in, week out.”

The next Citóg will feature Dublin band I Phoenix and Galway’s Young Kodiaks, who both fall into the indie-rock category.

“We do try to make the night cohesive in a way,” David explains. “We try to put bands that would enjoy each other, to make contacts with other people. Philosophy wise, it’s just about connecting people.”

“Just giving everybody a chance as well,” adds Jay. “There’s no

judgement here. If you come to us, we’re most likely going to give you a go at some point down the line. There’s no snobbery here.”

“We’ll answer every e-mail,” says David. “Everyone who sends us a link, we’ll listen to it, try to put them with someone that might suit them. It’s proper hands-on kind of stuff.”

There is no cover charge for Citóg; as Jay says they’re doing it for ‘the love of the game.’

“We don’t get paid,” says his co-Citóg David. “It’s basically because we know that, down the line, it kind of works for everyone. Instead of sitting back and waiting for someone to notice you.”

With all the bands coming through their night, the lads must have a fairly good notion of the state of the national, and local, music scene?

“In Ireland it’s great,” enthuse Jay. “There’s a load going on. Like there’s so many different bands out there, and all these genres coming to the fore – post-rock and instrumental stuff. You’ve got lot of great foksters and all this indie coming around.”

Now that the music industry has moved online, nights like Citóg are ever more important as it allows punters to see new music in the flesh.

“The vast majority of bands are going to be unsigned now,” says David. “It’s just natural. Because of that no one’s getting an easy ride. People are doing it themselves. If they want to do it that much there’s some heart there, there’s some reason why.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.