The door of a double dwelling house opens up to Jude Forester on the other side, more commonly known as Mr Wobblin Jude, presenting a vibrancy, not just through his own sense of character, but through his self-presentation and mannerisms, indicating he’s suited for the limelight.  

A rollie sits on his ear like a fella on a surfboard, but still neatly tucked under his cap. The sound of folk songs and the coffee maker whirring emanates in the background. He’s wearing a carefully put-together outfit, indicative of him as a person.  

Wobblin Jude is a Dublin-based artist whose renown has grown through his collection of original songs, most notably ‘Trickle Down Economics‘, a 2025 track that brought Jude an understanding of success. 

“My earliest memories of getting into music was when I was nine years old, but I think I picked up the guitar around age 11. Music is all I’ve ever done. There was a point where I thought I was going to be an art teacher but I’m half colour blind so!”

When Jude was 14, he started a band. “I knew exactly what I wanted it to sound like; these are the vibes, these are the influences, but because you’re 14 you don’t have the resources. So instead of sounding like a really cool indie-folk group, you end up sounding like an Arctic Monkey imitator who only plays original tracks.” 

Despite these challenges, Jude would continue to explore the world of music, from forming multiple other bands to his time spent in BIMM, he would grow not only as a person but importantly his musical identity was reshaped.  

He started to go by Wobblin Jude in 2024, and his image would continue to evolve alongside his musical career. 

 “Wobblin Jude has changed over the last three years. Originally, I just used it as an Instagram account. For a long time, it was an expression of freedom and getting the most out of life, taking it the furthest you can go as a form of brinkmanship. While now it’s self-expression but as an observation of life.”

“The biggest topic of my writing has been Dublin; the city, its people, how they are affected by things, mainly stories about the people you know and how they leave you, so you write that into your life. How emigration affects you and the people you know, it’s about love and hurt and friends leaving and coming. It’s a revolving door of people. That’s what Wobblin Jude can be. It’s about understanding your relationships to everyone and everything around you.”  

The North Dublin artist has emerged as a formidable presence on the scene but has still stayed true to being a Dub, and a very proud one at that. This sense of pride can be seen on him, it’s something tangible. He explains his reasoning behind his beliefs, likewise all of us can look ourselves in the mirror and see if we can recognise each part of ourselves. But especially a part of Judes growth, “Wobblin Jude became a character, you can disassociate and subtract yourself from it and become someone else. You can get lost in other people’s perceptions of you.  Right now, it’s a recreation of myself with my new music that’s coming out soon. It’s this new path that I’m taking, going down this folk route, getting back in touch with myself, the real Wobblin Jude.”

“The next aim with Wobblin Jude is to downplay the previous humour that people want to see and get to the real nitty gritty of it all. So take these stories, these melodies, and put them into a new world of folk music, which is my biggest love.” 

“It’s about getting people’s attention again but not with ‘Hey, look at me!’ Its more like, ‘Hey guys…  sit down, take a second to just listen to this and have a few pints while ye do it.”  

Getting to further understand Jude, he offered his own interpretation of recent events. “Trickle Down Economics was the craziest part of my life and I still don’t fully understand it, it took me by the reins and on a trip around the wilds of Alaska. I was just one of the dogs on a sleigh pulling a random fella, and he didn’t know where he was going.” 

“It was a song I made two years before it released, on a guitar with lyrics I just thought were cool. Then all of a sudden, it was just out there in the world and people latched onto it. I still get people coming up to me, it’s a weird kind of thing to be known for, weird to have an identity like that spread across Dublin as kind of a cultural thing. It was a strange thing to be catapulted into, a world I wasn’t ready for and I just try my best to keep up with myself. Keep up with the world.”  

 

 

“It was a funny time of my life people, were coming into and leaving my life, but I met so many people and it was a blessing. I feel I’ve really impressed on people through that song. Although, it’s a funny one because you get your choice taken away from ye, the choice of who you are or your first impression. From then on its not, ‘Hey I’m Jude Forester and I make music’, it’s ‘Oh, you know who I am’. So then you start to subtract yourself, and when you’re not trying to convince people you’re Wobblin Jude, you convince them you aren’t Wobblin Jude. Then you have to make the choice of is Wobblin Jude is a character or not?.” 

It’s a key process for an artist to really look at what they are doing and see if it fits the current image and beliefs they stand for. The old Wobblin was brilliance but the new Wobblin is truth.

“The new Wobblin Jude is still the old Wobblin Jude, it’s just a different font. It’s the contrast between saying , ‘Look World, here I am!’ and ‘Hey, do you want to get to know me a little bit?’” 

“Wobblin Jude is the guy you see in the pub or at a party outside their comfort zone, Jude Forester is the guy at the back of his own garden having a smoke and a coffee. He’s the guy that’s writing these songs, Wobblin Jude is the guy singing it.”