Tom Dunne: Are you a 6Music Dad? Take the test and find out
Mark Bowen of Idles mixes with the crowd at one of the band's gigs. Presumably, there's a fair contingent of 6Music Dads present. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
“Hello, my name is Tom. I am a 6Music Dad.”
I’d always thought I was an individual, but sadly no, it turns out I am as unique and full of cutting-edge originality as a blue-tipped, ballpoint pen. But this is not about me. This is about you, my 6Music Dad friend.
The term 6Music Dad, I’m sure there is some Irish equivalent, was coined by Self Esteem. For those who don’t know who Self Esteem is, I will explain. For the rest of you, “Look up, lean back and be strong,” Oh, and get a pen, there’s a test.
Self Esteem is the stage name of Rebecca Lucy Taylor. She had laboured for little reward in a Sheffield Band called Slow Club before the new identity seemed to open up new vistas of creativity. A debut album, Compliments Please, arrived in 2019 but it was the follow-up that changed everything.
Prioritise Pleasure, released in October 2021 was quickly voted Album of the Year by both the Guardian and the Sunday Times. Its lead single, ‘I Do This All the Time’, was, for many people, the song of 2022.
Sell-out tours followed and a Mercury Prize nomination, but it was the 2023 tour that broke records with multiple sell-out nights and extra dates. This culminated in the support slot to Blur at their triumphant, sell-out, July 8 gig at Wembley Stadium, where it was once again 1995 forever.
It was during this tour that Self Esteem clocked the presence at her gigs of a certain grouping: men of a certain age, music fans all, and informed music fans at that. “6Music dads” quipped Rebecca and laughed.
And with that, a cohort was born. The phrase was scarily accurate. These men were dads and they listened to BBC Radio 6 Music, known for its mix of classics and new music. They owned these classic records but also loved Self Esteem, possibly Boygenius and definitely Fontaines DC.
A baseball cap saying “6Music Dad” was soon a best-selling piece of Self Esteem merchandise and was worn with pride. I will be in the UK next weekend, and I plan to return with one. Because, even without the 6 Music bit, I know I am one. The question is: are you?
To help you on this voyage of self-discovery, I have arranged a quick quiz. Be as honest as you can, they are all simple Yes or No answers.
You’re a male who came of age in the 1970s, ’80s or ’90s.
You were once very musically informed, and loved bands, live shows, albums, late nights.
Family arrived.
Your children are a little older now and you still love music.
You like all the older stuff, but you love new artists too.
You still like gigs, festivals, indie music, and vinyl.
You think you still dress quite well; cool denims, designer runners, a well-informed T-shirt or two.
You love alternative comedy.
You are mindfully respectful of gender politics and the issues facing women in music.
You don’t want trouble.
You might well be seen at the back of an Idles concert.
So how did you get on? I suspect many of you will have gotten many, many Yes answers to the point where trying to pretend you are not a part of this fabulous new club is just pointless. Smells like a duck, and walks like a duck: probably a 6Music Dad.
So, is this a bad thing? Generally being a part of a cohort is a one-way ticket to being easily dismissed. “Okay Boomer” ringing any bells? But honestly, I don’t think this is that bad.
6Music dads, or whatever the radio equivalent is where you live, are veterans.
They have experienced first-hand all the hope and optimism in the music of acts like The Cure, Tim Buckley and The Go-Betweens that inform so much of the indie music of today.
They’ve lived a lot since buying those records and yet are still just a little enthralled by that early 20s search for the meaning of life, in music.
The only difference is they can’t continue that debate into the small hours, over drinks, with like-minded souls. School run and all that, but still.
BTW, Daughter#1: I left €20 in your jacket for a cab. Don’t wake the house on your way in. Be strong, etc.
