This took some work: The car was so old that they had to connect their phones to an FM converter to create their own radio station, which the sound system could then tune in. The band's debut opens with a furious, hypnotic chant ("Dublin in the rain is mine / A pregnant city with a Catholic mind"), before doubling down on that sense of entitlement ("My childhood was small / But I'm gonna be BIG"). They would drive along one bank of the Liffey, the river that runs through the Irish capital, and back down the opposite side, playing the songs over and over again-a defiant unit, closed off from the outside world. "We were driving in a square; really, really high on our own genius," singer Grian Chatten says now, deadpan. "The system was so bad you couldn't tell that the demos were really bad."
It was 2018; they had just got an agent, signed their first record deal, and quit their jobs. But beneath the outward bravado, there was some self-awareness. After guitarist Conor Curley handed in his notice, he went to the café where his girlfriend worked to tell her the news. She said she was quitting too. "I was like, 'Oh, no, you should definitely keep your job.""
It's the humid crush of mid August, a week before the release of Fontaines' fourth album, Romance, and I've come to meet the band in Charleville-Mézières, a small town that sits between France's Champagne region and the Belgian border. They're in town for Le Cabaret Vert, a festival they first played back in 2018; three appearances here and as many albums later, they are now near the top of the bill.
Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av GQ US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av GQ US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
SHABOOZEY THE BIG SHA BANG
Shaboozey spent months at the tippy-top of the charts with a hit song about dealing with hard times the easy way: by hitting the bar. He sang on a couple songs with Beyoncé too. So we asked the one and only SHANIA TWAIN to help country's biggest new star make sense of his explosive year.
HANNAH EINBINDER BORN STANDING UP
With her star turn on Hacks, the comic turned actor has established herself as one of Hollywood's most exciting young talents-much to her own surprise.
Katt Williams The Man Who Opened The Portal
In January, the comic delivered an instantly iconic podcast interview that threw pop culture into crisis-and seemed to predict all manner of messy celebrity gossip to come. At home on his farm, Williams explains why he said what he said— and why he'd do it again, and again, and again....
JOHN DAVID & MALCOLM WASHINGTON A NEW HOLLYWOOD DYNASTY
The Washington brothers built their careers apart—until an irresistible project drew them together. In The Piano Lesson, they tackle a father's thorny legacy.
FUTURE & METRO BOOMIN'S HISTORIC Hit STREAK
What happens when the best rapper alive reunites with the hottest producer of the moment? You get a back-to-back-to-back run unlike any since the Beatles.
PHARRELL WILLIAMS Designer of the Year
Riding along from Paris to Hollywood to New York with the Louis Vuitton *men's creative director, whose prolific and often prophetic contributions to fashion, film, and music have once again thrust him to the center of the pop culture Venn diagram.
JOHN MULANEY. KID GORGEOUS GROWS UP
After immortalizing the whirlwind of the past four yearsrelapse, intervention, recovery-in his awardwinning standup special, John Mulaney has emerged as one of the most popular comedians on earth. For his next trick, he's embracing his surprising new role as a suburban dad.
DWAYNE JOHNSON THE WORLD'S BIGGEST Actor
It's hard for Dwayne Johnson to hide. Wherever he goes, there he is― as conspicuous out in the world as he is on the silver screen. But after two decades of playing a version of himself in huge movies, suddenly Dwayne Johnson is ready to do something entirely new: vanish.
How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports
Caitlin Clark! A'ja Wilson! Angel Reese! This year, women's hoops emerged as a dominant popcultural force. But the road to sports-league supremacy has been long and winding. This is the inside story of how the W finally broke through.
A Companion for Your Wrist
Audemars Piguet's new release with artist Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS, brings high-art hype to the world of pop-watch collabs.
