Irish rap trio Kneecap have spoken about meeting Noel Gallagher at Glastonbury, as well as the health of Irish music.
Gallagher caught one of Kneecap’s performances at Glastonbury last month, before meeting the band backstage and revealing that he “couldn’t believe how enjoyable it was.
Speaking to NME backstage at Mad Cool festival this month, Kneecap’s DJ Próvaí reflected on the moment of meeting the former Oasis member turned solo star, joking that he’d “been a massive fan of Blur my whole life”, before adding: “Growing up I just thought I want to meet this fella.”
Paying tribute to Gallagher’s Irish heritage – his mother Peggy was born in County Mayo– Próvaí continued: “He’s an Irishman. Mayo people are generally decent spuds, as we would say in Ireland.
“It was lovely to get chatting to him, he said he’s a massive fan. He came backstage for a wee kiss and a cuddle. It was good to meet him.”
Bandmate Móglaí Bap then jokingly added: “Very well said. That’s when we met Noel Gallagher. Now we’re all best friends”.
The band also spoke of the wealth of Irish talent that was on the line-up at this year’s Glastonbury festival.
“I think it’s good to see authentic, original Irish music being played at Glastonbury,” said Bap. “None of this U2-kind of shit, making music for America: sad men singing in American accents. We have Lankum, The Mary Wallopers, Kojaque, Fontaines D.C. – everyone doing authentic Irish music in their own accents with their own subject matter.
“I think that’s why Ireland’s having a moment now; they’re actually doing stuff for Irish people, and that’s resonating with people all around the world. They’re not making music for export, and you could see that at Glastonbury. All the Irish acts were the talk of the town, as we say in Ireland.”
The Irish rap trio played two gigs at Glastonbury; an 11.30am set and another at 1am. Their late-night gig at Glastonbury’s Shangri-La area was named one of NME‘s most magical moments of Worthy Farm in 2024.
Speaking to Matt Morgan’s podcast, Gallagher praised Kneecap’s performance.
“We went to see this Northern Irish street kids called Kneecap…they’re kind of pro Republican rappers,” he said. “We get there and the tent is absolutely fucking smashed packed – you couldn’t get in. These three lads walk out, one of them is in a balaclava and they rap in Gaelic. They’ve got a song called ‘Get Your Brits Out’. There’s a lot of humour to it…I mean I couldn’t believe how enjoyable it was.
“Being of Irish heritage I found that quite funny and they were really, really good.”
Having recently released their acclaimed debut album ‘Fine Art‘, Kneecap will next month celebrate their self-titled feature film hitting cinemas. The movie sees the band play themselves, along with Michael Fassbender playing Bap’s father, an exiled IRA member.
Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, the film won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
“Based on the origin story of the riotous and ground-breaking Irish-language rap trio Kneecap, the film stars the band’s Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí in their acting debuts,” an official synopsis reads.
“Set in West Belfast in 2019, it chronicles how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to ‘change the sound of Irish music forever’.”
The band’s recent NME cover feature saw the film has been described as: “A runaway romp of sex, drugs, music and politics. A clash of 8 Mile and Trainspotting with a dash of Steve McQueen’s Hunger.”
The film has already received praise from Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, who described it on social media as “absolutely fucking phenomenal”.
“We love the movie, but we weren’t sure if it would ever go beyond Belfast,” Bap recently told NME. “It’s very colloquial. It’s kind of like Trainspotting in that way. Then we went to Sundance and got the audience award. It’s similar to our music; people just get the energy and the craic out of it. I don’t know think Americans know what a tout is, but it didn’t stop them enjoying it.”
Last month they unveiled the official trailer for the biopic, which is due to arrive in Irish cinemas on August 8, before hitting the big screen in the UK on August 28.
Kneecap are currently in the midst of a festival tour, before playing shows in the US, UK and Europe in September through to the end of the year. Visit here for tickets and more information.