The Rubberbandits

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The Rubberbandits
Origin Limerick, Ireland
Genres Comedy hip hop, hip hop, satire, prank phone calls
Years active 2000–present
Website therubberbandits.com
Members
  • Blindboy Boatclub
  • Mr Chrome

The Rubberbandits are an Irish comedy hip-hop duo from Limerick. They were formed by Blindboy Boatclub (real name Dave Chambers) and Mr Chrome (sometimes Bobby Chrome;[1] real name Bob McGlynn).[2][3] On stage and in interviews, they conceal their identities with masks made from plastic shopping bags. The unofficial third member of the group is Willie O'DJ (real name Paul Webb), a Spin South West disk jockey who wears a mask caricaturing local politician Willie O'Dea.[4] The group have described themselves as artists, and have referred to their movement as "Gas Cuntism".[5]

Chambers and McGlynn met while attending Ardscoil Rís, Limerick. Primarily a satirical stage and television act, they have performed throughout Ireland, the UK and the US with shows at events such as Electric Picnic,[6] Oxegen and the Bulmers International Comedy Festival.[7] The Rubberbandits first rose to prominence in December 2010, when their music video, "Horse Outside", went viral on YouTube.[8] They have since won awards for both their music and comedy. In 2011, the duo were declared "Best Irish Act" at the entertainment.ie awards, beating competition from such acts as Villagers, Fionn Regan and The Script[9] and also won an IFTA award for "Horse Outside".[10]

The duo have also been involved in television, creating sketches for RTÉ, MTV and Channel 4, writing and starring in a Channel 4 comedy pilot, and writing and narrating the ITV2 series The Almost Impossible Gameshow.

History

Formation and initial recognition (2000–08)

Formed in the early 2000s, the Rubberbandits initial exposure arose from recorded prank phonecalls. These prank calls featured on a number of Irish and international radio stations,[11][12] and became something of a memetic phenomenon in Ireland in the early 2000s. In fact, phonecalls were their primary content until they became a musical stage act in 2007,[13] though they continued to use the prank recordings of as part of their stage act.

The Rubberbandits developed a comedic style that is satirical, surrealist and crude, drawing comparisons to satirist Flann O'Brien.[14][15][16] The track "Up The Ra",[17] employs the literary device of the unreliable narrator to lambast the Irish phenomenon of armchair republicanism.[18] Their work explores a number of themes that are of significance to Irish urban youth, including drug abuse, interaction with the Garda Síochána,[19] and violence.

Nialler 9 of State magazine included one of their tracks in his top 20 albums of 2008,[20] and listed the Rubberbandits as his number two "international act to watch for 2009".[21]

Television and YouTube exposure (2010–11)

The Rubberbandits' 2010 appearance at Electric Picnic was cited as one of the top picks of the event in The Dubliner supplement of the Evening Herald.[22] This show followed their Friday night headline slot at the Little Big Arena. In September 2010, they were invited to speak at the Trinity College Philosophical Society – following previous guests such as Jonathan Swift and Nelson Mandela.[23] They were also later listed by the website Cracked.com as the top "most misunderstood" satirists.[24]

In October 2010, they began a weekly slot on the RTÉ Two television comedy show Republic of Telly where their first clip "The Rubberbandits' Guide to Limerick" received over 100,000 YouTube views in the 7 days after broadcast.[25][26]

Their music video "Horse Outside", featuring Irish model Madeline Mulqueen, was released on 8 December 2010 via iTunes. The video premiere was on Republic of Telly that night, and within 72 hours, it had reached 530,000 views on YouTube and became the top rated YouTube video in Ireland. In just over two weeks the video reached more than four million views. International press (such as the Spectator and CNBC)[27] picked up on the phenomenon running blog pieces on the video and its content. Paddy Power placed the track at 8/11 and as favourite for Christmas number one single in Ireland.[28][29] However, the effort fell short, losing to The X Factor winner Matt Cardle by over 25,000 sales.[30] The Bandits single was hampered by weather affecting deliveries and demand for physical stock which the distributors struggled to keep up with, as many stores were sold out of the existing stocks.[30]

The Rubberbandits won an Irish Film & Television Award in 2011 for "Television Moment of the Year". Not appearing at the awards ceremony, the Bandits did an acceptance speech from "the moon" which was cut back from live broadcast on RTÉ but went viral on YouTube.

A subsequent single was released in February 2011.[31] The single, "I Wanna Fight Your Father", focused on forbidden love and the lengths to which one might go to win over the disapproving family of a would-be lover. The video was posted on the Rubberbandits YouTube channel and went on sale in February 2011.[32] Within 24 hours the video had garnered 170,080 YouTube views. The music video for an alternative version of the song as Gaeilge (in Irish) was released on YouTube on 3 March to promote Seachtain na Gaeilge. A new video Spastic Hawk emerged from the pair in October 2011, followed in November 2011, by the single Black Man.[citation needed]

UK and festival appearances (2011–present)

The Rubberbandits have headlined large student events such as the NUI Galway Arts Ball,[33] and as the closing act at the Trinity Ball in Dublin – where they performed after acts such as The Streets and Jessie J.[34] Sold out shows at Irish venues such as the Tripod in Dublin, Pavilion in Cork and Black Box in Galway and appearances at UK Festivals, Relentless NASS, Reading, Latitude and Leeds followed throughout 2011 before a sold out show at the Olympia in Dublin in October. In November 2011 they embarked on a 9 date UK tour playing venues such as King Tuts in Glasgow, the 02 in Oxford and XOYO in London.[citation needed]

An appearance at the Oxegen festival in July 2011 saw a crowd of over 20,000 gather.[citation needed]

The Rubberbandits wrote and performed three shorts for Channel 4's Comedy Blaps, with Sideline, who produced the shorts, becoming the first Irish production company to have a scripted comedy commissioned by the British TV station.[35] These gained over a million views on line and were aired on Channel Four TV on Friday 18 August 2012 as part of the "Funny Fortnight" season.

On 2 December 2011, their debut album Serious about Men was released. It was reported on the Today FM Ray Darcy show as being the biggest pre-order Irish album of the year.[citation needed]

In August 2012 they performed a series of 12 shows at the worlds biggest Arts Festival, The Edinburgh Fringe, and gained traction with sold out shows, an appearance on BBC3's "Best of the Fringe", and a number of favourable reviews.[36][37] On 25 August 2012 they were presented with the Malcolm Hardee "Most Original Act on the Fringe" Award.[citation needed]

In April 2014, a new theme tune for Russell Brand’s web series The Trews was created and performed by the Rubberbandits.[38]

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart Positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
IRL
[39]
2011 Serious About Men 16

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Album
IRL
[40]		 UK
[41]
2010 "Horse Outside" 2 160 Serious About Men
2011 "I Wanna Fight Your Father" 6 —
"Spastic Hawk" — —
"Black Man" — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Television

The Rubberbandits have contributed sketches and music videos to the RTÉ comedy series Republic of Telly, including the "Horse Outside" video.[42] In 2011, they created a series of webisodes for MTV.[43] They also created a series of shorts titled Comedy Blaps for Channel 4, directed by Declan Lowney.[44][45]

A half-hour Rubberbandits television pilot, also directed by Lowney, aired on Channel 4 in November 2012. However, the network did not order a full series.[46]

In 2015, the Rubberbandits wrote and narrated the six-episode series The Almost Impossible Gameshow for ITV2. In December, a second series was announced.[47] On 31 December, RTÉ2 aired The Rubberbandits Guide to 1916, a one-off documentary on the Easter Rising written and performed by the duo.

Art movement

The Rubberbandits have described themselves as artists rather than comedians,[48] and have referred to their movement as "Gas Cuntism" - which they have described as "Dada and Fluxus on a horn".[49][50] Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Blindboy Boatclub stated that the "movement is now funded by the Arts Council of Ireland".[5]

Writing for the Irish Independent, Brendan O'Connor noted the dark undercurrent and Situationist elements to the Rubberbandits' work, suggesting "Limerick Gothic" as a label for their aesthetic, to contrast with the "rural Irish gothic" of Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy.[51]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Irish Independent – Jokers unmasked as middle-class lads – 17 December 2010. Independent.ie. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ The Entertainment.ie annual awards. Entertainment.ie. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Winners of the Irish Film & Television Awards IFTAs | Irish Film & Television Academy | Irish Film & Television Awards. Ifta.ie. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ NewsWhip Ireland | What’s trending, right now. Newswhip.ie (9 February 2011). Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ My ones to watch for 2009 | Nialler9 Music Blog[dead link]
  22. ↑ Hallinan, Cian (2010). Giggle Gigs. The Dubliner, Evening Herald 2 September 2010, Issue 113, p. 48.
  23. ↑ Limerick Leader – Rubberbandits and Oscar have a Wilde time at the 'Phil' – 21 September 2010. Limerickleader.ie. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  24. ↑ 5 Satirists Attacked by People Who Totally Missed the Point – January 2011. Cracked.com. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  25. ↑ RTÉ Television – Programmes – Entertainment – The Republic of Telly. Rte.ie (20 October 2010). Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  26. ↑ The Rubberbandits Guide to Limerick. YouTube (21 October 2010). Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  27. ↑ News Headlines. Cnbc.com (10 December 2010). Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  28. ↑ Christmas No.1s Betting. Paddypower.com. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Muldoon, Molly (25 December 2010). The Rubberbandits lose out on Christmas number one to X factor winner. Irish Central. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  31. ↑ New Rubberbandits song to debut on Late Late Show. Joe.ie. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ [1][dead link]
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ >> IRMA << Irish Charts – Singles, Albums & Compilations >>. Irma.ie (1 September 2011). Retrieved on 23 January 2012.
  40. ↑ >> IRMA << Irish Charts – Singles, Albums & Compilations >>. Irma.ie (1 September 2011). Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  41. ↑ CHART: CLUK Update 25 December 2010 (wk50)
  42. ↑ Connecting with The Rubberbandits on the Republic of Telly. connector.TV (12 December 2010). Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  43. ↑ The Rubberbandits Are Taking Over New York on MTV Iggy|Mole Empire. Molempire.com (29 August 2011). Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  44. ↑ Channel 4 website – Comedy Blaps Concert
  45. ↑ Channel 4 hires Rubberbandits · The Daily Edge. Thedailyedge.thejournal.ie. Retrieved on 7 September 2011.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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