Jenny Greene on Cork, no-phones policies and 2FM: 'I’m really lucky to still be there'

Ahead of a gig in the Marquee, Jenny Greene talks to Marjorie Brennan about her Rave Cave, why she feels lucky to still be at RTÉ and feeling at home in Cork

Sat, 08 Jun, 2024 - 02:00

Jenny Greene looks right at home in the penthouse of the Imperial Hotel in Cork, her rock-chick vibe fitting in among the sophisticated surroundings.

Her personality is very much down-to-Earth, however. As she settles into a sofa, she admits to being a little apprehensive ahead of our interview.

Greene is one of Ireland’s most accomplished DJs and a much-loved presence on the airwaves, always giving off an air of cool and calm competence as a presenter on her RTÉ 2fm shows. But, she says appearances can be deceptive.

“I’m quite a shy, introverted person. Sometimes I do think DJing is a very kind of lonely, weird thing. I grew up teaching myself how to mix in my bedroom when people were out playing on the road. So to go from being on your own in your bedroom to standing on stage, it doesn’t really follow.”

It makes absolute sense though when you see or hear Greene in action. She has been in the business for 25 years, leaving school in Dublin at the age of 17 to work full time as a radio presenter and DJ.

She says that getting behind the decks still gets her adrenaline pumping.

“I always get really anxious and nervous before I go on, no matter what. In some ways, that’s a good thing. You need that to keep you going.”

That adrenaline hit extends to the audience of her live shows with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the combination of Greene’s pulsating beats and the majesty of all those sweeping strings drawing dance music fans in their thousands.

Next week, they return to the Marquee, the Cork venue they first played in 2017, an experience she was convinced would be a one-off.

“It’s a dream gig,” says Greene.

“I remember that first year we played there, you could feel the energy and excitement backstage. I remember walking out on stage and thinking I’m going to enjoy this because we will probably never do it again, this is as good as it gets. Maybe it’s not a good thing, but I’m always in any moment going ‘this is probably it, soak it up’, for 25 years, I’ve said that to myself, and it’s still happening.”

Greene expresses awe at the talents of the orchestra and what they bring to the whole experience.

“They’re just so unbelievably talented, all of them. I’m lucky to be there and I know it every time I get up there. They’ve been playing for years and they rarely do gigs where they’re getting screamed at. I remember we did a gig, and there were people running after them to get photos with them. It is lovely seeing them getting the recognition they deserve. They work so hard, I don’t know how they do it.”

This modesty and self-deprecation is typical of the Dubliner, who suggests that her success is down to happenstance, downplaying the obvious tenacity and determination required to get so far in her industry.

“I was very fortunate to get in exactly at the time that I did. I nearly put everything down to that. I made a few decisions along the way that didn’t seem to other people the right decisions at the time, but they paid off. I was working on FM104 for eight years and it was a really good training ground for me. But it got to a point where circumstances changed and I knew it wasn’t a good move for me to sign another contract. So I made the choice not to and to leave with nothing. And everybody said ‘you’re an idiot’. I thought I needed to take a gamble.”

It was one that paid off, and Greene was almost immediately offered a slot on RTÉ 2FM, where, with a few moves around the schedule, she has been ever since.

RTÉ has faced many trials and tribulations in recent times, but Greene says she appreciates the opportunities it has given her.

“I’m really lucky to still be there. I still feel that all the time,” she says.

“I didn’t do my Leaving Cert, I didn’t go to college. And I always felt like I don’t have something to fall back on. But I adore music. So that’s my drive really.”

Jenny Greene performs at day three of Indiependence Music and Arts Festival. Photo: Kieran Frost

Although she needs to stay ahead of the game when it comes to music, there is something refreshingly old-school about Greene.

She wistfully recalls the halcyon days of raving with abandon and laments how dancing now often takes a backseat to the chase for social media likes.

“I remember going to Ibiza years ago with [fellow DJ] Al Gibbs, when I worked in FM104. The whole atmosphere was different because there were no influencers, there were no smartphones, everybody even looked different. They went out to rave. They didn’t spend two days getting dressed and spray-tanned and all of that. You got sweaty the way people did in Sir Henry’s all those years ago.

“People go to gigs so they have something to put up on TikTok or Instagram and if they couldn’t do that, they probably wouldn’t be bothered going. It’s awful.”

Greene says that younger people now don’t know a life without smartphones and more venues should encourage a ‘no phones’ policy.

“That’s who they are, but I’d love to take them out of it. There are some clubs that don’t allow any phones, like Berghain in Berlin. I think the more people start saying ‘no phones’, the better. When I’m DJing, sometimes someone will stand right in front of me with their phone. I’m like, ‘what are you doing? You’re not dancing, you’re not smiling, why did you buy a ticket?’ It’s infuriating. It has taken so much of the soul out of what it used to be. I feel like a relic when I say things like that. But I’m so grateful that I grew up before that.”

Greene built up a career when opportunities for female DJs were thin on the ground, something that thankfully has changed.

“There is a huge amount of women now who are headlining. There are so many big DJs and people are flocking to see them — Peggy Gou, Charlotte de Witte, Helena Hauff, The Blessed Madonna. It’s great that it’s not about being a token name. There is probably still more that could be done but in general it’s certainly better — when I started it was a novelty. I think we have gone past that.”

The therapeutic benefits of dancing were literally brought home to Greene during Covid, when many people rediscovered the simple pleasures of the kitchen disco.

She broadcast shows from the home in Clontarf that she shares with her wife Kelly, who is a medical social worker.

They completed renovations on the house, which was built in 1890, during the pandemic, when their newly installed ‘Rave Cave’ came in handy as an impromptu club broadcasting to thousands.

“We all needed something. You’d actually forget how bad it really was. It was Kelly who came up with the idea to do a gig from the Rave Cave and to put it on YouTube. Then it just kind of grew legs. It was stressful, because we didn’t really know what we were doing. But we always felt great after it because people were messaging us from everywhere. It was a real connection that we were so desperately missing. Kelly was going into work in PPE gear every day, and then she’d be dancing in the window getting people going. I thought, ‘if people knew the day she’s just come home from’.”

Another reason Greene is so at home in Cork is that the rest of her family are living in the county. When her parents retired, they moved from Dublin to Nohoval, while her sister, a former chemical engineer, lives in Kinsale.

A brunch with them is on the cards before she heads back to Dublin the day after we chat.

“They’re in heaven, they just garden all day,” she says of her parents.

It sounds like it will be a while before Greene considers taking to long days in the garden.

She says there should be no age limit to clubbing — or DJing. She nods approvingly when I mention the recently announced over-30s disco in Cyprus Avenue in Cork, tickets for which sold out immediately.

“I think that’s great ... although it’s a shame that there has to be something specific. I’m 42, but I feel like I’m 22. But there’s always these hang-ups, especially in this industry, and you’re thinking ‘God when I get to whatever age, will I be able to still do that?’ Sure, why wouldn’t I? You get this paranoia. But I’m at this point now, I’m loving what I’m doing, I’m very lucky to be doing it and I’m enjoying myself.”