Music
Hare Squead - the 'Superweird' Irish hip-hop duo blazing a trail
The London-based Dublin group on their new EP, losing a member, recording in haunted studios and more
They're childhood friends who have become one of the hottest properties in Irish hip-hop.
The now London-based Hare Squead got an unexpected profile boost last year when their encounter with Conservative politician Rory Stewart made headlines – but they flipped the script and got a song out of it.
We met with Tallaght boys Lilo Blues and Tony Konstone when they were back in Dublin recently, to chat about their recent single 'Minor Gangsters (Gully)', how they lost a band member and their big plans for the future...
Tell us how you guys first met.
T: I moved into the same estate as him I was like, 12 and we just connected straight away, from the first day. We saw each other playing football and it was an automatic click – and we've been friends since.
L: We all had an interest in skating, because he skates, I like to skate, but I wasn't that good – and obviously Jessy [Rose, former Hare Squead member] skated, too. So we all shared that same interest, too.
So where did music factor into your childhoods and your relationship with each other?
L: My parents aren't musical, but I was going to church every Sunday, and my dad made me learn how to play the piano when I was about 12. I already knew how to play the drums, and then eventually I learned the bass and then the guitar. Before that, I'd always be trying to produce stuff at home. It was all self-taught, going on YouTube trying to learn; shout-out to YouTube (laughs). What was I listening to? Anything that was on MTV; anything and everything, really. Very much US and UK stuff. There was an Irish scene, yeah, but it was all indie music and U2.
T: I think there's always been music around me, but I was always a sportsperson. I used to skate and play football and stuff like that; even hurling. I was really into sports until the age of 12 or 13, when I moved into the same estate as him. He was just always into music, and he'd just pass the music on to me. Eventually, he asked me to jump on a rap song, 'Beautawful World' - that's when it was myself, Jessy, Craig [Roddy] and himself. That was the first Hare Squead song, and we just went from there.
So you were originally a four-piece?
L: We don't really mention this because it's never asked, and I think we forget, but there was a fourth member – a guy called Craig Roddy I went to school with at St. Mark's in Tallaght. Super-talented dude. Initially, Hare Squead was supposed to be like a collective type-thing, but we decided to make it a trio. It just felt better, looked better.
You're essentially a hip-hop act, but I know your influences are pretty diverse.
L: It's easier for us to be known, [as hip-hop] because I think if we were an indie band or something before, it wouldn't have been that easy. But we make indie music; we make rock music, we make jazz music, pop, electro, r&b – anything. Hip-hop has been the genre that we've been predominantly known for, but as time goes by I think people are going to see how leftfield we are. For example, 'Baeboo' in comparison to 'Minor Gangsters' – you see two completely different sides to us, they're different records. So I think you're gonna see a lot more of that.
What happened when Jessy left the band in 2017?
T: Unfortunately Jessy was going through a lot of stuff personally. It just got the better of him, really; he had to take a step back and then he [decided] that he didn't want to be in the band. We tried to allow him to calm down and get out of that mindset before he made the decision, but he made it and we kind of have to respect it.”
Was there ever a point that you thought Hare Squead might have been done?
T: In terms of us two making music and being in a band? Never, never. It was just about finding out who should stay and who should go, in terms of releasing music again. But in that two-year gap, (2017 – 2019), we continued to make music and some of the songs that are coming out now were written a year-and-a-half ago. Others happened two months ago. So the music never stopped.
L: I think people had that idea, but we never did. I think people thought 'Well, Jessy's gone, big personality – what they gonna do?' But we don't really care, it doesn't faze us. We know what we're good at and we're gonna continue making music. Those who ride along, cool. Those who don't ride along? Cool. It just doesn't bother us – we're gonna keep doing what we're doing.
You recorded at Grouse Lodge studios a few years back and had some interesting experiences, right?
L: It's such a creepy place. The facilities are amazing and the studio is great – but it's like, the eyes on the pictures move, the mirror's talking to you... those kind of things. (laughs)
T: It was a great place to go, and we enjoyed the experience and the people were super kind to us – but I think it was just the experience of being outside of Dublin for so long in such an isolated place. And we watched too many scary movies. We made some great music there, though – we made 'Pure' and 'Flowers', so it was a great experience. We slept in the studio, though. There were rooms, but we wanted to sleep near each other because we felt safe in the studio.
L: We were just so scared – but we made a happy song like 'Flowers'. We did ring our manager. I was like 'Fachtna, you need to come get us. We can't do this.' Would I go back? I'd go back and leave on the same day. No overnight stays.
Tell us about the Rory Stewart thing. Were you surprised at how it blew up?
L: I think he's just a funny dude, man, I just can't take him seriously. We didn't even know he was a politician. I'm not even trying to diss him, but I thought he was a comedian. He just looked very... quirky.
T: I think people cared more than we did, to be honest. We didn't take too much offence, but obviously it was not right; you shouldn't stereotype someone based off a 15-second interaction. We made a song about it that plays off that stereotype and makes it humorous - but at the end of the day, he shouldn't have said that.
He later referred to you as 'minor gangsters', which inspired your single of the same name. Have you experienced much of that stereotyping in London?
L: I would say because London is a very multicultural place, multiculturalism is a lot more accepted, maybe. Or maybe I can't see it, because there's a lot of diversity. I'd probably expect that more here [Dublin] than over there, I think.
Your new 'Superweird' EP is out now – what's the plan for the rest of the year, is an album on the cards?
L: I don't think you should ever rush an album. We're just building up to it – maybe after this EP, [we'll release] another EP, then an album. I think you should only put out an album when you have a very solidified fanbase and foundation. I wouldn't wanna put an album out just to please myself; I wanna put an album out that's gonna impact, y'know? Take this to the next level. We want a good fanbase for that.
What's the biggest difference between your debut single 'If I Ask', and your latest one, 'Baeboo'?
(both laugh)
L: That song, man...
T: No, I love it. I've been listening to the remix a lot lately, and that's doing really well. I enjoy the song. It was definitely a good experience writing it, and learning to write different styles.
L: Y'know we made that song, knowing it would get label attention? Tony wrote the hook, Jessy hopped on it, cool, boom. We did our verses, I produced the beat – and we knew 'Okay, this is gonna get label attention', 'cos at the time, there was a lot of records like that. But in comparison to 'Baeboo', the biggest thing I hear is growth. I hear a lot more structure in songwriting. We didn't really have pre-hooks before, and we started getting into middle-eights a bit, post-choruses... just the songwriting has just gotten a lot more broad. The composition has grown, it's matured, melodically. Our performance on records is better, too – you can feel our presence. Not that you didn't before, but that's what I hear. We've definitely grown.
'Superweird' is out now.
Check out more great premieres, stories and videos at RedBull.com/Music
