Cork duo Fish Go Deep: From the dancefloor to the chill-out couch
Greg Dowling and Shane Johnson of Fish Go Deep. Picture: Jed Niezgoda
From Taylor Swift to Charli XCX the lockdown has provided artists with the opportunity to tear up the rule-book and chase new sounds. That has likewise been the experience of Cork-based production duo Fish Go Deep, whose latest album is not, as some might expect, a collection of floor-shaking house bangers.
This Bit Of Earth blends dub, trip-hop and the sort of sweeping soundscapes that would feel at home soundtracking a Christopher Nolan movie.
The brooding ambience represents an engaging shift in tone for the partnership of Greg Dowling and Shane Johnson. Their biggest hit, 2004’s The Cure and the Cause, was an old school club classic (featuring Kerry vocalist Tracey Kelliher). The pair can also claim an iconic place in Cork nightlife as instigators of Sweat, which blazed at trail at Sir Henry’s through the 1990s.
“There was never a formula for the Cure and the Cause,” says Johnson, of the hit single, which peaked at 24 in the UK (and topped the dance and indie charts in both Ireland and the UK).
“Whenever you go into the studio with the intention to follow something up, it never pans out. It’s a common experience for musicians: you can’t be too calculating, can’t be too predetermined. The Cure and the Cause was one of those things that just struck a chord with people. We’ve never tried to repeat it: I don’t think we ever could.”
This Bit of Earth is the tonal and spiritual opposite. It is a record that grasps you firmly by the hand and leads you down a rabbit hole. It comes as no surprise to discover, for instance, that the track Back Trace Dub was inspired by Kevin Barry’s 2011 gothic fantasy novel City of Bohane. (Coincidentally, Barry himself would have been a regular at the Sweat nights in the famed South Main Street venue).
Just like that book, the LP draws the listener into a fully-realised, slightly baroque but completely fascinating parallel universe.
“With no distractions we were able to go deeper and deeper into it,” says Dowling. “The lockdown gave us an opportunity. I’m seeing that with a lot of artists actually. Stuff is coming out and you’re going ‘woo, I didn’t expect that’.”
Fish Go Deep are not an albums outfit, as they are first to admit. Most of their success has been with singles and EPs. However, on This Bit Of Earth they embrace the potential offered by the format and take the listener on a journey into the unknown.
“I grew up in the 1970s,” says Dowling. “The album was king back then. There was always that track at the end you initially weren’t sure about – and it turned into your favourite. In my mind I always wanted to make an album rather than a collection of singles with some fillers. A whole record of house tracks? I don’t think it works. Maybe you could have the odd house track. That’s about it.”
This Bit of Earth was largely finished as the pandemic hit. Yet, the sudden lull in touring gave Dowling and Johnson the opportunity to tweak the recording remotely in their home studios. This contributed, they feel, to the unhurried and spacey tone. It’s a cosmic chill-out LP shaped by the void into which the whole world was plunged 12 months ago.
“We usually work on ideas separately. And then, under normal circumstances, we might come together into the studio,” says Johnson. “Being in lockdown and two different places – we were sending stuff back and forth. It gave it quite a different sound compared to what we would have ended up with in normal circumstances.”
A tripped-out, dubby sensibility is threaded through the project. That’s a reflection both of their personal tastes – they’ve always layered dub into their DJ sets – but also a testament to Cork’s long history with the genre.
“Cork has always had an attraction to reggae,” says Dublin-born Dowling. “When I moved to Cork first in 1984, there was a huge reggae scene here. It wasn’t just a surface thing. They were deep into it. And then you had Belsonic Sound – a reggae band. Somewhere deep inside of Cork is that reggae vibe.”
Fish Go Deep had a busy summer of DJ gigs lined up when lockdown struck. Dowling is confident the scene will come roaring back. “I suspect it will bounce back once things open up,” he says. “It will be like the live sector – people can’t wait to be in a room together and having that shared experience. You’re in a room and a song you love comes on – the joy of that is something we’re all missing.”
That said, they acknowledge the lockdown has devastated live music. “Loads of venues have closed in Cork. The Kino is gone, Dali is gone,” says Johnson. “A couple of place in Dublin where we used to play have gone – one in Galway too. I presume initially there will be a lack venues. On the other hand, there will be new spaces; buildings that won’t be used anymore. If there is demand it will be filled.”
They are understandably frustrated at the country’s archaic licensing laws and supportive of Give Us The Night’s Campaign to liberalise regulations around clubs and venues.
“It would be a huge help if we had more European-style opening hours,” says Johnson. “It gives businesses a chance to make money over a longer period. It’s almost embarrassing: we used to bring guest DJs over fairly regularly and they were all scratching their heads: ‘why are you closing at a quarter past two? None of these people want to go home. They’re all adults’.”
To clubbers of a certain generation Dowling and Johnson will be forever synonymous with Sweat, the influential house night which they began at Sir Henry’s in 1988 and which transformed Cork into Ireland’s clubbing mecca. They’re proud of that legacy. Yet they are wary of leaning too far into Henry’s nostalgia. They want to look to the future rather than have one foot in the past.
“We have both acknowledged how important Sir Henry’s was in our lives and lots of peoples lives,” says Johnson. “We’ve never played that down. But for us the excitement is in playing new music. That was the appeal of Henry’s – here are 10 new records you have to hear. And that’s still the primary thing. You want to introduce people to new stuff. That is what keeps it exciting – always finding that new track and sharing it.”
- This Bit Of Earth is released Friday, May 28
Shane Johnson: "When you’re putting all that time and effort into making the music you can’t just stick a stock photo or half baked idea on the cover. As a fan I love when the artwork chimes with the music.
"The cover was designed by John Foley at Bite and we couldn’t be happier with it. His original concept played on the Japanese art of Kintsugi - the idea that something can be repaired rather than discarded and can become even more precious in the process.
"It ties in beautifully with the ideas we tried to work into the album. Of course, the cover also looks like a dancing gold man in space, which is always good!"
