Looking back at two decades of ‘Other Voices’ with founder Philip King
Set in the picturesque town of Dingle on the west coast of Ireland, Other Voices has become an institution since its incarnation in 2001. Every year, they welcome a series of exciting artists at the intimate St. James’ Church, a string of performances that are later broadcast on RTÉ. The experience is unlike any other arts festival in the world, and it’s a breeding ground for the next generation of superstars.
Over the years, artists who’ve made the voyage to Dingle include the likes of Amy Winehouse, The National, St. Vincent, Florence + The Machine, Little Simz, Fontaines D.C, Sam Fender and countless others . For the festival’s latest edition, Inhaler, Loyle Carner, The Big Moon, Paolo Nutini, and Gilla Band were among those who took to the stage at the tiny church. As Carner said during his show, it was the first time he’d played to such a small audience since he last stepped foot in Dingle five years prior. During his set, Carner was reduced to tears after being overcome by emotion, a moment that encapsulates the beauty of Other Voices and explains why artists continue to return.
When Phillip King dreamed up the festival, he had no idea of what it would eventually blossom into and just how important its role would become in Irish culture. Every year, the reputation of Other Voices has enhanced further, and thousands trek to Dingle to simply soak in the Other Voices Music Trail without tickets to see the established acts at St. James’ Church. While large-scale events typically carry a number of safety issues, King proudly notes that 9,000 people attended the most recent edition of the event, and there wasn’t a single case that required security assistance during the entire weekend.
“It’s a place that is naturally musical,” King tells me over the phone of Dingle. “I think when artists arrive there, they sense this is a good place for music, and you can end up in the back room of the bar at 2am playing away. It’s that sort of atmosphere. I remember when The National came here first, and Elbow, everybody wanted to stay that little bit longer because they knew they were in a place with a sort of magic about it, and for a creative person, it’s an alluring place. This year, Fontaines D.C. decided on their one day off from touring, they’d hang out in Dingle, it’s that sort of thing.”
Curating the festival is a job which takes up 365 days a year for King and his team. At the time of my conversation with King, the music producer of Other Voices was at EuroSonic in the Netherlands scouting for potential talent, and there’s not a place in the world where he and his team are unafraid to explore. Their work ethic and understanding of culture is the sole reason why Other Voices continuously platform talent shortly before they break into the mainstream.
This year was my first taste of Other Voices, and the only minor hiccup was facing a delay at Dublin Airport, but even that allowed me to interview Inhaler, who were on the same flight. For the entire weekend, music cried out of every fibre of Dingle, and no matter where you were or the time of day, there was a live performer adding yet more art to the ether. King has created a completely unique festival, which has garnered an immense reputation not only with fans but also with artists.
Fortunately, they are now also in a position in which artists are also recommended to visit Dingle by other musicians. However, the booking process is never straightforward, and it took until 2022 for Paulo Nutini to finally perform at St. James’ Church after years of failing to book the singer-songwriter. “We admired him from day one,” King says. “He can really carry a song and has that compelling voice, but schedules, and Covid-19, and all sorts of things impacted him previously coming.”
In 2006, Amy Winehouse came to Dingle in what now appears to be an obvious landmark moment. Her performance at Other Voices is hailed as her best live show and has been viewed tens of millions of times on YouTube. The show was Winehouse in her natural habitat, in a tiny venue which acted as the perfect vehicle for her voice and allowed the full extent of her talent to flourish. Shortly afterwards, her fame skyrocketed, and Winehouse never again played a venue as small as St. James’ Church.
“She was absolutely wonderful,” King reminisces. It was very cold, forbidding weather, and she flew into Cork with her guitar player and bass player. So, there were just three of them, and the drummer didn’t make it. Her performance was just riveting and magical because she could sing anything. The interesting thing for me musically was that there was no drummer there to keep her square, that floor of rhythm.”
King adds: “She was entirely present and fully intact in our conversation afterwards. It was wonderful. We talked about her influences, people like Diana Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and all of these people she had absorbed in our household growing up. I know it to be true that she was very happy being there and being with us in Dingle. It was Levon Helm who said of Elvis Presley in 1956, ‘We saw him get into a car and drive away, and we never saw him again.’ When Amy headed away for home, we never saw her again, and we never saw her again in such brilliant, wonderful form. She disappeared into a different world.”
Festivals have never been more corporate than they are now, and major events have become increasingly unaffordable for many. Yet, Other Voices has retained the same set of principles which King implemented when he founded the festival in 2001, and its soul remains intact. Equally, King is still as passionate about platforming the world’s most exciting artists and continuing to make Dingle a Shangri-la for creatives.
Other Voices returns to RTÉ One in Ireland at 11pm on February 16th. The first episode features performances from Paolo Nutini, Sorcha Richardson, and John Francis Flynn. Other performers in the series include Inhaler, Loyle Carner, Biig Piig, The Big Moon, Just Mustard, and Gilla Band.
