On The Radar: Ethereal Skies

Ethereal Skies is a Dublin-based collective that recently popped onto people's radars after their first event in November 2022. Their carefully curated lineups place a heavy emphasis on bringing a fresh sound to the Dublin electronic music scene. 

We spoke to Ethereal Skies founders Mark Davis and Sean Murray ahead of their next event to discuss their ethos, musical inspirations, and what the future holds for Ethereal Skies.

Sean and Mark playing their first gig.

Firstly what pushed you to create a space that focuses heavily on avant-garde electronic music?

Mark: I think it was probably our tastes and noticing that for so long, many parties in Dublin focused on "House and Techno" which is great of course. We both love, play and listen to those genres but our real passion is the weirder sides of dance music. We both raised ourselves on Trance, Clubland, and Happy Hardcore which later formed into an obsession with experimentalism and weirdness in electronic music by listening to artists and labels such as SOPHIE, Aphex Twin, Board of Canada, Warp Records, PC Music, etc.

We feel that all of the above styles for example are quite under-represented in the club scene and along with many other amazing parties now bringing different sounds, we want to be a part of it and focus on the unusual sides of dance music traversing many genres from pure experimentalism to hyperpop to trance, to broken beats and experimental techno, to grime and even to gabber. We have both travelled abroad to many parties with different offerings such as 'Evian Christ Trance Party', 'Creamcake Berlin', 'YEAR0001 Rift', 'Harlecore', and more with different sounds all programmed together in one night and these parties always felt very inclusive as a lot of queer people have always gravitated to weirdo and uplifting dance music. So with the headliners, we book we want to bring a piece of this to Dublin outside of the genre norms. We also of course get inspiration from those in Dublin doing it way longer than, and wouldn't do it without going to their parties first too, namely 'Club Comfort', 'Bitten Twice', 'Thrust', and more. 

Sean: We noticed that a lot of spaces in Dublin catered towards techno sounds that had been around for a while. We had been to many different events over the course of the summer - Primavera in Barcelona, Berlin, London - where the sounds we were hearing had a more avant-garde bend to them which we really liked. Both of us were heavily influenced by PC Music, Trance Party, and other groups within that space too, so we tried to synthesise those styles within an event, which is really the basis for Ethereal Skies.

Dark0 Playing at Ethereal Skies.

In what way do you help to implement an inclusive safe space for your attendees?

Mark: As a queer-run party, we have sought and do seek to have balanced lineups representing local artists from the queer community who are doing bits and also through our international headliners too. We are not exclusive to that, but it generally works out as a more queer-centred party when hosting artists outside of the normal realms of dance music, and those not from always understand the vibe, space, and audience they are in. We understand that one needs to have to feel at ease in a club space and we implement that by working with venues we trust and are inclusive of all. 

What do you find is the biggest challenge facing promoters in Dublin at the moment?

Mark: I think a big issue is finding venue availability in such a busy city with little venues and working with people outside of Ireland who don't understand the constraints that we have here compared to cities like London and Berlin. I'm optimistic and excited for the future though, there is also just so much popping off in Dublin, and the work of 'Give Us The Night' has been incredible. I think social media platforms changing their goal for the kind of creators they favour is a tough one to gauge too. 

Sean: Finding spaces in which to hold events is a challenge, especially with the sort of thing we do. I think there's a very limited number of venues that we have to make do with for the moment. The style we're aiming for also requires a space that's a bit more dark and intimate.

From checking out your Celestial Sounds playlist it is clear you have delved into a wide variety of genres. What artists do you think people should check out if they’re looking to broaden their musical horizons?

Mark: Obvious legendary experimental choices would be SOPHIE, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Autechre, Squarepusher, Arca, Hudson Mohawke, Bjork, Rustie, the back catalogue of Warp Records, PCMusic, XL, etc. Right now I'm loving Swedish label YEAR0001 and their new Rift 2 compilation, an amazing release full of everything from hip hop, ambient, trance, and hyperpop with artists such as Dark0, Malibu, TDJ, Lokey, Mechatok, Namasenda, and more. I really like Shygirl, Bladee, Ecco2k, and of course Yung Lean for my weirder hip-hop fix. Always love old skool trance and hard house sounds such as Tony De Vit, Signum, BK, and ATB. I really think over the past year we've seen such a cool turning point from VTSS with making her recent avant-pop EP. I also loved releases from Nkisi, Kelela, Lyzza, and Two Shell too. Local choices would be ELLL, Asa Nisi Masa, Rory Sweeney, E The Artist, Julie Louise Knifefist, Doubt, and Tommy Holohan's new sounds he's pushing! I could go on for ages with suggestions tbh.

Sean: Dark0, Taahliah, Slikback, Doss. :)

Talk us through your process for curating your lineup for March 11th, what can people expect from TDJ, Mercorn, and Pauline.

Mark: I think we can expect a big musical journey throughout the night. We love Mercorn and Pauline as they are both stellar local selectors. Pauline will provide a mixture of genres, some pop edits, trance, electro, and breaks, we're buzzing to see what she provides as the perfect opener. Mercorn will be an amazing handover too, I think we can expect a tonne of uplifting trance, progressive, and hard house in her set before TDJ. TDJ, who has made waves as a neo-trance / Eurodance revival act will put on an unreal show full of her own reworks of the classics, her big trance releases, pop edits, and of course some gabber from the heavier side of her music to finish. 

What do you see in the future for Ethereal Skies? 

Mark: We see more parties across Dublin venues, hopefully in other cities soon too! More to come tba etc. More mixes on our 'Celestial' series and expansion to a label with VA and EP label releases both digitally and eventually on wax. 

Huge thanks to Mark and Sean for all they are doing to push the boundaries of sound and bring some much-needed versatility to the Irish Electronic music scene. 

Tickets for Ethereal Skies upcoming event on March 11th can be found here.

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