Dublin interviews: Gilles Peterson, Kenny Hawkes, Shane Kelly of The Funnel

Here are three interviews from 1999 for Dubfly magazine.

Radio mainstay and long-term jazz head and DJ Gilles Peterson was in Dublin for a gig at The Kitchen, the basement club below the Clarence Hotel in Temple Bar, D2. I remember speaking to him in the club itself while the support DJ was playing… not ideal really.

Photo: Dony MacManus

The late DJ Kenny Hawkes spoke on the phone before coming over to play a gig at the (relatively) short-lived Funnel club on Dublin’s Quays (he later played at short notice for the Trust Weekender, a 40+ artist event organised by myself and Scott Macnaughton in The Globe and Rí-Rà which raised over €20,000 for charities. Nice chap). 

Lastly, an interview with Shane Kelly, former manager of The Funnel bar and club. This venue didn’t exist for long, but I hope this piece conveys its importance at a time when there was lots of choice for clubbers but with very little adventurous, magical music on offer. A lovely guy; a sweatbox of a venue; great memories.