TheCity

Tag: clubs

  • Label Lockdown: Running an independent record company during Covid-19

    Label Lockdown: Running an independent record company during Covid-19

    Watch Johnny Welfare speak to David Doyle about Róg Records

    Music venues are closed and independent artists are struggling to make ends meet. 

    With no definite date for a reopening, hip-hop producer and co-founder of independent record label Róg Records Johnny Welfare speaks about the struggles of running a label during the pandemic.

    Róg Records was founded in 2018 by Johnny Welfare alongside the hip-hop trio of Smokey, Bazigos, and Mory. Since the label’s inception, six artists have enrolled on Róg Records. With the addition of hip-hop artist Phev and psychedelic guitarist Chilli Flake, the label has grown considerably.

    Róg Records logo courtesy of Róg Records

    ‘’In our music module in college, I and three friends had the choice of doing a presentation, an essay, or setting up a record label. It was a no-brainer for us,’’ Welfare tells The City.

    The effects of Covid-19 have had a major impact on the label, as it has had to cancel numerous shows for the artists involved.

    ‘’We announced our biggest headline gig in the city centre on the day lockdown was announced. It was a nightmare for the label,’’ Welfare says.

    The future of the music industry is in a corridor of uncertainty, but Welfare insists that Róg Records will return ‘with a bang’ when live music has its eventual return.

  • Closing time: too early or too late in Dublin’s pubs?

    Closing time: too early or too late in Dublin’s pubs?

    There has been a lot of debate in recent years surrounding the closing times of pubs and nightclubs in Ireland.

    Much unlike a lot of our neighbours on the mainland, closing times for nightclubs especially in Ireland are quite early, around 2 to 3am. This often leads to a bottleneck of people leaving at once, creating a multitude of problems in managing club-goers.

    There are many who would rather see the closing times extended to between 4 and 5am, as well as introducing gradual closing, which would ensure that a massive, hard to organise group is not leaving all at once. However, there are also some people who think that the current closing times of pubs and clubs is acceptable.

    The City took to the streets to ask people around Dublin what they think of the current situation surrounding pub and club licensing laws.