Kormac

"One of Irish Dance Music’s most inspirational and unique producers and DJs."

"One of the ultimate feel-good festival bands"

"Much-loved Kormac perhaps achieves this feat because his broad palette of sounds results in a long player that sounds as good at home or in the car as on the dance floor." - The Star

The pairing of Snarky Puppy and Kormac's Big Band turned the Festival Hub into late-night party central on the festival's final weekend. The standing-room Hub was the perfect venue for this double bill, as sitting still is simply not an option when either of these bands takes to the stage.

DJ Kormac and his seven-piece outfit from Dublin offered a brief but thoroughly entertaining set, melding hip-hop with buoyant ska and industrial funk beats. Kormac thrust his torso in time to the music as he manipulated his audiovisual mash-ups, incorporating sung or spoken samples from Bajka (on Wake Up) and Irvine Welsh (Another Screen). MC Little Tree joined the band for two numbers, his rhythmic raps locking into the heady pulse supplied by bass, drums, guitar and three-piece horn section.

The crowd clearly relished every minute, imbibing the energy radiated and feeding it back with cheers and whoops of delight. - Sydney Morning Herald

In 2010, Kormac impressed with a debut that was forward-thinking but steeped in the past, as the Dublin button-twiddler turned vintage snippets and samples into hugely original creations. For this long-overdue follow-up he’s looked to the here-and-now for inspiration, harnessing an unlikely selection of names. Most prominently, lead single Another Screen features Scottish author Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting, Filth), who rails against the tech takeover through a distinctive spoken-word piece. With its throbbing bass and big horns, Superhero is more in-line with Kormac’s existing repertoire but overall, this is an altogether richer experience than what’s come before. The Vyvienne Long collaboration sounds like a sexed-up lost cut from Portishead’s Dummy, while White Noise provides a platform for the silky flow from Mercury Prize-winner Speech Debelle. An album buoyed by the diversity of its source material. - The Metro

It’s O’ Halloran’s way with songwriting and arrangements that stand out. O’Halloran has shown himself more than capable of hitting the mark. And you can bet it will sound fantastic live. - The Irish Times / The Ticket

They may only be two little letters, but the title DJ (or rather lack of it) when it comes to Kormac and his studio work is a crucial one. Always as much a musician as a player of other people’s records, his move from the cut and paste sampling approach of debut album Word Play to his all singing, all dancing Big Band – en route taking in his AV show – indicates an artist with a genuine vision. Doorsteps backs up that theory and then some, a record that will surely emerge as one of the most inventive releases this year.
This time the approach has shifted to a collection of guest vocalists performing against a backdrop that mixes live and sampled sounds. The guest list is varied, from Speech Debelle and Micah P Hinson to Irvine Welsh and Vyvienne Long, the mood of the record shifting accordingly. Hip-hop is clearly a major influence but Kormac never lets himself be painted into a corner, equally as happy providing a subtle soundtrack to Welsh’s lecture on modern life and a quiet / loud / quiet dynamic for Long’s ‘Drown Me’ as he is a cheery big beat riff on ‘Superhero’.
The album stands out, however, due to Kormac’s masterful use of the resources at his disposal. When lovely opener ‘Wake Up’ breaks down midway through, the last thing you might expect to hear is a tuba yet that’s just what you get and, what’s more, it sounds completely natural. Those brass flourishes throughout give Doorsteps an energy and life all of its own, driven by the perfect combination of humans and machines. Clever enough to sound dumb in parts, the record builds layer upon layer – with each listen revealing a new dimension. A traditional DJ he may not be, Kormac nevertheless is a superstar in the making. - State Magazine

Toast Magazine

This was an unexpected surprise to follow Kormac’s debut ‘Wordplay.’
While his first outing was full of bounce and youth ‘Doorsteps’ quells the fairground ambience of its predecessor and takes the fair to more mature territory.
This EP features some deft performances from well-sourced collaborators but Kormac is never overshadowed.
Having sampled bargain bins aplenty on his earlier work, Kormac took to the road to build his own source material for this record, and, while he has retained his trademark sound of the past, there are elements of purpose and the future present on this record. In all, a must. - Toast Magazine

Kormac’s second album becomes more and more impressive with each listen. It’s packed guests such as Irvine Welsh and Speech Debelle, but the real pleasure comes from O’ Halloran’s musical suss. - The Irish Times