The music scene in 21st century Dublin is changing — and this group is proof of that

You wanna know where Irish music is at these days?

Well, last week there was a talent showcase in Dublin called Hard Working Class Heroes that promoted young indie acts.

On the bill was the band Hare Squead. Their name, by the way, is an anagram of the word "square head." They say they were just playing around with the word. 

Their music is a really cool mixture of soul, hip-hop and UK grime. The band wouldn't be out of place in Detroit or Brooklyn. But it's Dublin where they're from. 

The trio (Jessy Rose, E-Knock and Tony Konstone) met while skateboarding in a park in Dublin. According to Konstone, they "almost literally crashed into each other and said, OK, let's make a band."

In addition to their music, their backgrounds represent a new, 21st-century Dublin. Rose and E-Knock are from Belgium and Congo. Konstone was born in Egypt. 

They all have musical backgrounds, but it's since they met in that skate park and formed Hare Squead, that their careers have really taken off. And fast.

"We've been together a little over a year now, but things picked up really quickly," Rose says. "We put out a music video kind of as a joke and then we were getting phone calls from labels and stuff, and managment and stuff, like right from the get go." 

Perhaps Hare Squead stands out in the Dublin music scene because as Rose admits "there's not a lot of competition … there's not a lot of people doing what we're doing right now." 

As good as Dublin has been to the band though, they have their sights set higher. They want to tour the world and not "limit [themselves] to Ireland."

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