Dublin Modular: The Perfect Space For The Queer Music Obsessive

What happens when you combine modular synths, queer spaces and a community of truly passionate music lovers? The best party in Dublin, of course.

Dublin Modular has grown from a friendship and communal love for music hardware into one of the hottest spaces for music nerds to congregate. Always inclusive and always left-field.

“Dublin Modular is a queer family, and we try to highlight underrepresented artists within the city and Ireland by hosting a series of events in alternative spaces. We’re all about inclusivity, accessibility as well, and just trying to promote everyone’s art and their artistry and their craft.”

Grassroots is the perfect way to describe it. Dublin Modular has always been, and always will be, by the people, for the people. Under the great banner of honing their musical talents, artists are given a platform to perform and practise across various spaces and stages throughout the city.

“Uplifting people, I think, is a huge part of it, whether that’s behind the booth, at the decks, or on the dance floor, in galleries, and all the different unconventional spaces that we use. DIY is a huge part of Dublin Modular and what we thrive in as well.”

Just because the concept has been built from the ground up doesn’t mean that the ambitions for Dublin Modular aren’t lofty.

“We very often bring up the word utopia and queer utopia, and we always try to create a very safe environment, both for the artists and for the people that show up in the community. As a utopic ideal, for everyone to feel safe and just to really be themselves.”

Queer spaces are essential for Dublin’s nightlife. Alternative queer spaces are even more coveted. Dublin Modular has queerness at the centre of its community. It provides a space for the intersection of queer culture and the fringes of music production and enjoyment.

This all stemmed from a summer in Berlin, where some of the collective’s members were introduced to modular synths. In Ireland, however, the community of those who utilised the hardware was fragmented and almost non-existent. Upon returning home, some members started meet-ups and began cultivating a community that appreciated the musical nuances a modular synth could provide.

This then evolved into the team taking it public for their first live performance. Conveniently, just a week before COVID.

Even from just one show, the public’s eyes were opened to what Dublin Modular had to offer. This became a self-sustaining cycle of recruiting volunteers, sharing knowledge and expanding a nightlife space.

“You share information, you share a dance and you’re like, smile. You might never talk again or anything, but at least for the moment that you’re there, everybody’s there for, like, one purpose, and that’s to have fun.”

As mentioned before, Dublin Modular is a confluence of queer nightlife and music obsessives.

“What I love the most when you come to a Dublin Modular event is that, first and foremost, what you’re gonna see is the queers and the girlies at the very front. Like, they’re there, they’re just holding down the front, they’re dancing. That’s the heart. But then, on the corner, on the side, you’ll see the big electronic music nerds that are there just to watch the live electronics. Then you see all these different types of artists from around Dublin and the country. So, normally, in a normal setting, all these people wouldn’t really fit together in a space, but for some reason, they do in our space.”

It’s obvious Dublin Modular is an ever-evolving concept. Non-hierarchical and with a foundation of radical acceptance, the members seem as if they are simply custodians of a wider mission: creating a queer space where queens and music nerds alike can descend onto the dance floor or fiddle with a niche piece of hardware.

This is part of our series with Jack Daniel’s where we scour the country looking for the figureheads who are contributing something different to Ireland’s creative landscapes. Stay tapped in to find out about the weird and wonderful corners of Irish music and culture.

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