Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

It has been a typically busy period for Shark School – and even a quick glance at the Galway three-piece’s social media profile will quickly give you an impression of how hard they work. Since the release of their debut single 411 in April, the Sharks have been flat out gigging around Ireland and the UK. This week, though, may see the most significant date on their summer touring schedule.

Femme Fest is a Shark School takeover of the Róisín Dubh this Thursday night, featuring four other women and women-fronted acts. It is a cherry-picked list of some of Ireland’s most exciting young bands, with tickets for the full lineup priced at €10.

“This is literally the best lineup I’ve ever been a part of, and I just want to go to watch the other bands,” says singer and guitarist Nora Staunton.

“Opening the night, we have Affection to Rent. They’re a five-piece band from Dublin with just the most beautiful noises that come out of their instruments and/or mouths. We’re very excited for them.

“And then we have Cruel Sister. Those guys are just like a wall of noise and they’re so good. Then the midnight gig, we have Red Sun Alert and Vernon Jane. I feel like they’re going to accidentally explode the Róisín Dubh and that’s okay because it’s the end of the night.”

Nora has found herself enjoying the administrative role required in the planning of Femme Fest. It was a new challenge to work around so many moving parts in a short time period, but she thrived under the pressure.

“The last headline we done, we just booked one band from Galway and that was very straightforward,” she says.

“And another band from Dublin and it was just very easy… This one was much more tricky because it’s so many bands to book and we kind of done it with very little time. I’ve learned so much from this – how to book bands and how to organise everything.

Pictured: Busy time…Nora Staunton of Shark School.