MJ O'Carroll hoping to be discovered at Hard Working Class Heroes
Myp Et Jeep, a Kilkenny four-piece, know exactly what they want from this weekend's Hard Working Class Heroes event, in Dublin. "We are hoping that some record company will give us a bag of money and send us to America," says MJ O'Carroll, the band's lead guitarist and backing singer. That's not asking for much.
The event - this is its fourth outing - is a chance for unsigned or independent bands to showcase their talents alongside more established groups, such as Future Kings of Spain. It has been a magnet for A&R heads searching for the next big thing.
O'Carroll is excited, if a little nervous. "Some of the bands that have played it before wouldn't see it as that big a deal. But for us it's probably the most important gig of our career so far. We are relatively new, so it's a great kick-start for us."
As well as more than 100 gigs at five venues - Pravda, the Hub, Temple Bar Music Centre, Meeting House Square and Spirit - Hard Working Class Heroes has panels and mentoring sessions with music and entertainment-industry representatives. O'Carroll sees this as a vital part of the weekend. "We'd like to get to as many as we can. There are a lot of people we want to meet: people from record companies, TV and radio. It's a chance to make some contacts."
Importantly for the band's profile, one of Myp Et Jeep's songs has been selected for the event's CD, based on downloads from the event's website. Everyone with a ticket will get a free copy of the CD. "That's massive for us," says O'Carroll.
To get this far, the band had to negotiate its way through a panel of 30 judges, who whittled down 800 hopeful bands to a lucky 90.
Incidentally, where did the group's name come from? "We initially called the band My Pet Jeep, for no particular reason. But we decided to do something a little different with it and came up with Myp Et Jeep. It gets a lot of comment. Some people think we are French." Michael Kelly
Myp Et Jeep play the Hub today at 8.40pm. See www.hwch.net.