Barry Donovan and Andy Doyle have been stalwarts on the Dublin clubbing scene for many years. Having cut their teeth as regulars at the City’s seminal club night Electric City they successfully set up their own club and record label called Lunar Disko. This year the lads celebrated five years of quality parties by bringing over Chicago House legend Tyree Cooper and finished off 2011 with one of their best releases to date the Battlestar EP by Raiders of the Lost Arp.
Intrigued as to how Barry, a Liverpool fan and Andy, a Manchester United fan, have managed to get this far without killing each other Michael Black caught up with the lads and chewed the fat about their influences, the label and their plans for 2012.
Delicious Labels | Lunar Disko Records
How did you hook up together? Come up with the name?
Andy: We’ve been hanging out for as long as I can remember at this stage. Started off playing football outside Barry’s house, then progressed onto under-age discos and clubs.
Aido ‘Funboi’ actually came up with the name. A few names were thrown about but his was the best. It’s taken from Alden Tyrell’s ‘Disco Lunar Module’ track.
Barry: Met Andy through a mate at school, he was in a different school to me, but used to come up to my area to play football and sink a few sneaky Dutch Golds 
Aido O’ Connell came up with the name which is influenced by Alden Tyrell’s ‘Disco Lunar Module’.
What clubs or DJ’s have influenced you the most?
Andy: Definitely Electric City over the years had the biggest influence on us, the days when they were at the Metropolitan especially. Getting to see Dave Clarke, Legowelt, Alden Tyrell, etc. in such a great little venue on a Thursday night was amazing. Work on a Friday was not so good.
When we started getting into techno & electro Dave Clarke was definitely the main influence. As I started listening to Italo & the CBS, Intergalactic Gary became the man, and still is.
Barry: Good oul’ Electric City for sure. First start going back in about 2002/03. I remember seeing a listing online for The Hacker in the Metropolitan on a Thursday night, couldn’t believe it. Was crazy into his electro stuff at the time, headed down and it quickly became a weekly routine. Don’t think there will ever be a regular night like Electric City in Dublin again.
First DJ influence was Dave Clarke, his World Service mix and Red Box sets from back in the day got plenty of play time when started getting into techno. Then discovered Dutch electro through Dave Clarke’s electro World Service mix, and got hooked on everything Dutch really. Clone, Creme Organization, Bunker, CBS etc…
How do you rate Ireland as a clubbing country?
Andy: I think we’ve got a great community going on here. There’s always something to go out to, if maybe a little too much at times, very good up and coming producers, excellent local DJs, good record shops & labels and a lot of people doing it for the right reasons.
Downside – bad late licensing laws and people not coming out early to see the warm up.
Barry: Obviously the licensing laws are a joke. But I reckon we have a pretty good scene here – plenty of good acts coming over to play too, so think Ireland is pretty decent when it comes to going out clubbing, considering our size. One thing that I think could improve would be having more suitable venues for electronic music.
Andy Doyle & Barry Donovan of Lunar Disko Records
How did the label come about?
Andy: Sort of a pipe dream for me for quite awhile but something I never thought would happen. We started to make a bit of money from the nights so we thought instead of spending it on booze and records; we’d spend it on putting out records.
Barry: I think we just started talking about doing a label one night after a Lunar Disko party. Then I suppose we just stopped talking about it and went and done it. Sneak-Thief sent us on tracks for the first EP, and that set the wheels in motion as they say…
What are the ingredients for a successful label?
Andy: Depends what you mean by successful, I suppose. Are we a successful label? Financially, no, but that’s not what it’s about for us, and who is these days? Do we put out quality underground electronic music, on a format we love, with good art work? I like to think so. That for me is the success and what I will look back on.
Barry: Well, I think the most important factor is to put out top quality music. I know that probably sounds obvious, but plenty of labels don’t follow that. With so many labels around, you need your label and its music to stand out from the crowd. Ideally you want to create a ‘buy on sight’ buzz around your label. I think if you can create that, then you’re on your way to having a successful label.
What do you look for in a track before it gets signed to Lunar Disko?
Andy: Do I like it and is it worth pressing. We’re not looking for any particular sound or anything. It started off by asking artists who we love & respect and had played the club. We’ve found or come in contact with other artists through different avenues. There’s really so much out there we could put out without going back to artists who’ve previously released with us, which we would like to do also. Next year it’s looking like it’ll be all new faces to Lunar Disko again, apart from Automatic Tasty.
Barry: I suppose the same thing you look for when buying records yourself. Both myself and Andy have always had the same taste in electronic music. We’ve always been into the same records, so when it comes to listening to tracks for the label, we’re looking for the same sound. But there have been times when we’ve been sent tracks that we wouldn’t have went looking for, but the track(s) have taken our fancy. So, we’re pretty open-minded when it comes to selecting tracks for the label.
Have you produced any tracks yourselves?
Andy: I haven’t, yet.
Barry: Yeah I’ve made a few bits and pieces. Not good enough to see the light of day yet though!
What’s in the pipeline for 2012?
Andy: Automatic Tasty 12″ & 10″, to celebrate our 10th release, and lots, lots more up our sleeves. It’s not all completely boxed off just yet but you can expect more of the same – new, upcoming & LD heroes.
Barry: Another exciting year ahead, looking forward to 2012. Our 10th release should be out early in the year, which will be a nice landmark to reach. Couple of unknown producers will be debuting also later in the year; alongside some Lunar favourites….watch this space
Many thanks to Andy and Barry for taking the time out for the interview.
Raiders of the Lost Arp – Battlestar EP is out now on Lunar Disko Records and can be purchased direct from the label website here.
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