Fontaines D.C. Artistfacts

2017-
Grian ChattenVocals, accordion
Carlos O'ConnellGuitar, keyboards, piano
Conor CurleyGuitar, keyboards, piano
Conor Deegan IIIBass
Tom CollDrums
Fontaines D.C. was formed in Dublin, Ireland, in 2017. The band members - Grian Chatten (vocals), Carlos O'Connell (guitar), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan III (bass), and Tom Coll (drums) - met while attending music college in Dublin. They bonded over a shared love of poetry.
The first time Grian Chatten wrote a song, he was 9 years old, at a music camp. "We went into little groups, and we had to write a song and perform it at the end of the week," he recalled to Uncut magazine. "And my ma, my da and my granny came to the show."

The song was called "Underestimated Hero" and it's not one he cares to share now. "That is between me and the fireplace," he said.
"D.C." in their name stands for "Dublin City," reflecting their deep connection to their hometown. The "Fontaines" part was inspired by the character Johnny Fontaine from The Godfather, though the band has admitted they later realized the character's name was spelled differently - it's really Johnny Fontane.
Although often associated with Dublin, only one of the band members is from the city. Grian Chatten was born in Barrow-in-Furness, England, to an English father and an Irish mother, before moving to Dublin at a young age. Coll, Deegan and Curley all come from other parts of Ireland, and O'Connell grew up in Madrid, Spain.
The band is heavily influenced by Irish literature and poetry. They've cited writers like James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, and Patrick Kavanagh as significant inspirations.
Their 2019 debut album, Dogrel, received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The album has a raw, energetic sound and sharp lyrics, capturing the essence of modern Dublin.
All five Fontaines D.C. band members moved to London in the summer of 2020 during the pandemic to pursue their careers and take advantage of the city's music scene.
Grian Chatten wears blue every single day. "I do just like blue," he told The Irish Times . "I'm kind of one of those people who decides very early on in life what kind of clothes they like. And then that's it, I'm like that's me now."
Grian Chatten deliberately avoids writing lyrics in anything that feels permanent. He told Later's Jools Holland he likes jotting words down on the most disposable surfaces possible - even toilet paper - because knowing the writing is destined for the bin removes pressure. His thinking is, if you write in a nice notebook or "on a slab of rock," it feels too final, "cast in stone," and can stifle ideas.
Chatten's earliest lyrics were written at around age 9 and consisted entirely of the line, "I'm running and I'm running and I'm running and I'm running." He still considers it "pretty brilliant."
Chatten's father incentivized the young Grian to memorize poems by promising packs of football stickers as a reward. Chatten later realized those poems subtly reshaped how he viewed the world, even if, at the time, the stickers were the real motivation.

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