Fontaines D.C.

Fontaines D.C. are an Irish post-punk band formed in Dublin in 2014. The band consists of Grian Chatten (vocals), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor Deegan III (bass), Tom Coll (drums) and Carlos O'Connell (guitar).

The band members met while attending music college and bonded over a common love of poetry. They began self-releasing singles and performing live regularly, signing to Partisan Records in 2018. The band's debut album, Dogrel, was released on 12 April 2019 to widespread critical acclaim. It was listed as Album of the Year on record store Rough Trade's website, voted Album of the Year by presenters on BBC Radio 6 Music, and nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize.

The band's second studio album, A Hero's Death, written and recorded in the midst of touring to promote their debut album, was released on 31 July 2020. A Hero's Death was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Their third album, Skinty Fia, released in 2022, was the band's first to reach number one on the Irish Albums Chart and UK Albums Chart and contributed to their winning the Brit Award for International Group. The band's fourth album, Romance, was released on 23 August 2024. Romance won The Album Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2024.

Carlos O'Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan, Grian Chatten and Tom Coll met while attending music college at BIMM in The Liberties, Dublin. They bonded over a common love of poetry and released two collections of poetry called Vroom, inspired by the Beat poets (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg) and Winding, inspired by Irish poets Patrick Kavanagh, James Joyce, W. B. Yeats. None of the published poems were translated into songs, but the track "Television Screens" on their debut Dogrel began as a poem and was turned into a song.

Lead singer Chatten is half-English (his mother is English and his father is Irish). He was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, but grew up in the coastal town of Skerries, north of Dublin City. Before starting Fontaines D.C., Chatten played in local indie rock bands Gun Runner and Thumbprint as drummer and guitarist/singer respectively. Coll and Deegan are from Castlebar in County Mayo, Curley is from Emyvale in County Monaghan, and O'Connell grew up in Madrid, Spain. Deegan is regularly seen wearing Mayo GAA clothing during live performances.

The band took their name from Johnny Fontane, a character in the movie The Godfather portrayed by Al Martino, who was a singer and movie star and godson of Vito Corleone. The band was first called The Fontaines, but the initials "D.C." were added when they found that a band in Los Angeles had the same name. The initials stand for "Dublin City", to reflect the city of their formation.

Fontaines D.C. started out self-releasing singles. In 2015, they were going to release their debut with music journalist John Robb's Louder Than War label. In May 2017, the band released the single "Liberty Belle", followed by "Hurricane Laughter"/"Winter In the Sun". "Liberty Belle" was written in homage to the Liberties, a neighbourhood in Dublin where some of the band members lived.

In 2018, Fontaines released the single "Chequeless Reckless"/"Boys In The Better Land" and "Too Real". Stereogum, who premiered "Chequeless Reckless" in early 2018, described their sound as "a synthesis between post-punk, garage rock, and a kind of gritty, urbane sense of rhythm and narrative" and named them a 'Band To Watch'. In May 2018, Fontaines played an in-studio gig at KEXP in Seattle. In November 2018, the band signed with Partisan Records. The band toured the UK as support act for fellow post-punk band Shame.

They released music videos directed by frequent collaborator Hugh Mulhern. The video for 2018's "Too Real" was inspired by The Pogues's 1985 song, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" and the band Gilla Band. The 2019 video for "Roy's Tune", co-written by Conor Curley, was directed by Liam Papadachi. It was inspired by Curley's late night walks home from a job at a burrito shop.

Fontaines received tour support from Irish Arts Council which allowed them to tour internationally. They also received grant funding from RTÉ 2fm.

On 12 April 2019, the band released their debut album Dogrel on Partisan Records. The title was a homage to Doggerel, working class Irish poetry – 'poetry of the people' – that dates back to 1630 and was popularised by William McGonagall and later Ogden Nash. The record was recorded live on tape.

The NME said that "Dogrel proves that early-days pinning as punk’s next great hope was perhaps premature – there's far more to Fontaines D.C. than your typical thrashed-out, pissed-off young rebellion." The Guardian gave the album a five-star review, hailing it as a "perfect debut", and commending Chatten for embracing the Dublin accent. The Times said that "Shouty post-punk bands are making a surprise comeback in 2019, with this brutal but articulate Irish bunch emerging as one of the most captivating. Capturing the feeling of living in Dublin as it balances historical weight with financial upheaval, the singer Grian Chattan makes his statement of intent by announcing in a monotone rant on the opener, Big: “Dublin in the rain is mine, a pregnant city with a Catholic mind.""

In 2019, the band toured 50 cities throughout Ireland, Europe, and North America. They have toured with Shame and Idles. They played nine sets at SXSW 2019 over the course of five days, selling out venues, and count Gilla Band as a major influence. They were the musical guests on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on 1 May 2019, performing "Boys in the Better Land".

In January 2020, the band headlined the Rockaway Beach Festival - notable as being one of the only live events to happen in the UK that year. The band was also expecting to perform at the Glastonbury Festival in 2020, which was to have been the festival's 50th anniversary, but the event had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 14 July 2020, Fontaines D.C. performed a live set from Dublin's Kilmainham Gaol as part of the live television series, Other Voices. A recording of the performance was released on vinyl as a limited edition release for Record Store Day on 12 June 2021 and later as a surprise digital release on 26 November 2021.

The band released their second album, A Hero's Death, on 31 July 2020. The title track was released on 5 May 2020 with a video featuring actor Aidan Gillen. Chatten described the single as "a list of rules for the self". It was a tribute to one of their fans who died of COVID early in the pandemic. Three further singles were released from the album: "I Don't Belong", "Televised Mind" and "A Lucid Dream". A Hero's Death debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart after Taylor Swift advanced the release date for Folklore when the midweek charts had Fontaines D.C. on top by over 10,000 copies. Swift's manoeuvre resulted in Folklore remaining at number one by 3,500 copies.

The band returned to The Tonight Show as musical guests on 28 January 2021, performing "A Hero's Death". The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards.

In January 2022 the band announced their third studio album, Skinty Fia, which was released on 22 April 2022. To coincide with the announcement the band shared the lead single, "Jackie Down the Line" with accompanying video. They also advance-released the singles "I Love You", "Skinty Fia" and "Roman Holiday" from the album, with one described by Chatten as "the first overtly political song we’ve written." Skinty Fia debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the Irish Albums Chart. In the summer of 2022 the band played European music festivals, including Primavera Sound and Glastonbury.

In June 2023, Chatten released a debut solo album, Chaos for the Fly. In December 2023, the band announced a collaborative EP with Massive Attack and Young Fathers titled Ceasefire to raise money for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza.

On April 17, 2024, the band announced their fourth album, Romance, to be released on XL Recordings. The band released the single "Starburster" at the same time and made the album available for pre-order. For Romance, the band worked with producer James Ford. Romance was released on 23 August 2024. It debuted at No. 2 in the UK, where it doubled the first-week sales of Skinty Fia, as well as in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, while reaching the top 10 in a total of 12 European countries. It was also the band's first album to chart in the United States, where it reached No. 97 on the Billboard 200. The singles "Starburster", "Favourite" and "In the Modern World" reached No. 57, No. 69 and No. 52 on the UK Singles Chart, respectively, the band's first.

The band's music was featured throughout the 2024 feature film, Bird, directed by Andrea Arnold. The music video for "Bug", starring Barry Keoghan, was composed of footage from the film, with the band stating, "Andrea Arnold was kind enough to cut up a sequence to our tune "Bug" featuring Barry Keoghan playing the character Bug in her latest movie Bird. Big thanks to Andrea Arnold for letting us in so close to her visionary universe. She’ll be remembered how we remember Bacon or Goya." Multi-instrumentalist Carlos O'Connell made his acting debut in the film, with the Institute of Contemporary Arts describing his performance as "playing a pivotal role in perhaps the film’s most memorable musical moment."

The band received two nominations at the 2025 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album for Romance and Best Alternative Music Performance for "Starburster". On February 21, 2025, the band released a stand-alone single, "It's Amazing to Be Young", which was recorded during the same sessions as Romance, but left off the album to keep it "concise". Regarding the track, bass guitarist Conor Deegan III noted: "I’m glad it got to see the light of day, because it a special song to us. More so for the way it was written than the song itself, in a weird way. It started life in the presence of Carlos’ newborn and it’s just a message for her, you know. It was really heartwarming. Sometimes as people we can be a bit cynical. The world around us can make you that way if you’re paying attention it. Sometimes optimism feels like a necessary delusion, but with the birth of a new child we were introduced to a really pure and deep beauty and hope that can’t be debated away by anyone jaded or even by ourselves." The single will be released on a limited edition "neon yellow" vinyl on April 25, 2025, with a second unreleased track, "Before You I Just Forget", written by guitarist Conor Curley.

• Grian Chatten – lead vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar, accordion (2014–present)
• Conor Curley – guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, bass guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
• Conor Deegan III – bass guitar, baritone guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
• Tom Coll – drums, percussion, guitar (2014–present)
• Carlos O'Connell – guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals (2016–present)

Current touring musicians

• Chilli Jesson – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, guitars, bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals (2023–present)

Former members

• Josh O'Connor – guitar (2014–2015)

Former touring musicians

• Cathal Mac Gabhann – guitar (2023; substitute for Carlos O'Connell)

• Vroom (self-published) – poetry chapbook
• Winding (self-published) – poetry chapbook

• Fontaines D.C. – official site
• Fontaines D.C. Archived 7 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine at Partisan Records
• Fontaines D.C. discography at Discogs