Lost Lane programmer Úna Molloy talks to the Last Mixed Tape about the venue’s plans for 2020, the Irish music scene and creating a space for artists.
“Having worked as a tour manager for more than fourteen years, and having had some of the good and bad experiences with live venues on the road, I wanted to use that experience to help create a space that makes artists feel welcome as well as being a music fans dream.” Molloy states, reflecting on the ethos behind the creation of Lost Lane as well as going forward, with the Grafton Street venue’s first year in business proving a success with the inclusion of several stand-out headline gigs, brand new DJ nights and hosting Ireland Music Week 2019.
Commenting on Lost Lane’s place within the ever changing landscape of the Irish live music scene and the myriad music coming out of it, Molloy says “We’re open to all genres and have been lucky enough to have acts like Saint Sister, Delorentos and John Spillane alongside club nights like Mother, Nialler9, Sally Cinnamon, and Hidden Agenda, who are bringing in some very exciting DJ’s next year”
“With so many places closing” Molloy continues. “we wanted to open somewhere that’s open to creatives from all types of genres and that’s a bit special for music fans whatever their vibe is.”
Indeed, the opening of Lost Lane has contrasted with the recent closure of several venues of late, resulting in less and less events spaces. Speaking about the impact on the cultural aspect of the city as a whole, Molloy comments, “ I think its important to build up new spaces. The music scene is an ecosystem. We need grants and incentives from the Government to support musicians as well as these sort of spaces. And now, with the 13.5% Vat on tickets now its going to become harder and harder for artists to make money from their gigs which means less artists are going to perform. There needs to be a complete overhaul of the way these tings work.”
With 2020 now upon us, Molloy also spoke to the Last Mixed Tape about what Lost Lane has planned going into the new year. “We want to showcase the space even more now that we have both the main venue and the Singers Room up and running. We’ve put a lot of work into Lost Lane and Porter House as well and we want to make use of the entire building with quirky festivals, non-genre specific programming, new club nights and different types of events like Jim Carroll’s Banter, Ireland Music Week and Vinyl & Wine.”
For more information on Lost Lane please visit lostlane.ie.