Youth music · Ages 14-18
SubSounds
A music collective for young people aged 14-18 with a passion for songwriting, music composition and performance.
SubSounds is developed and managed by Alternative Entertainments in partnership with CONTACT Studio and Music Generation South Dublin. Its Tallaght strand runs annually from October to April at Rua Red Arts Centre: participants work with professional musicians, host their own gigs, take part in performances across the county, and record their work in a professional studio at the close of the programme.
The SubSounds Schools strand works in seven secondary schools across South County Dublin, where participants compose, record and release two singles per school between September and May, with performances each December and May.
Over the six-month course, participants work on individual and group projects, play an end-of-year performance at The Sugar Club, and produce an album recorded at Camden Recording Studios, Dublin 2. A team of mentors - experienced musicians and music industry professionals - delivers the main body of the course, with supplementary talks and workshops from industry guests. Every participant finishes having created, recorded and performed new work, released on Alternative Entertainments Records and streaming on Spotify, iTunes and all the usual platforms.
Applications for SubSounds 2027 are now closed. Applications for SubSounds 2028 open on 27 August 2027 and close on 1 October 2027, with interviews at Rua Red in mid-October.
How it works: the main collective runs October to April with sessions at Rua Red on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, plus midterm sessions in October and February. The group is selected by application and interview - forms are accepted from late August to the start of October, with interviews at Rua Red in mid-October.
What you’ll explore
Songwriting
- Crafting an idea into a song lyric
- Song structure and form
- Song arrangements
Music Tuition
- Instrumental and vocal workshops
- Ensemble and band playing
- Singing techniques
- Study and career paths in music
Production & Post-Production
- Sequencing a song arrangement
- Studio recording & performance techniques
- Mixing, EQ, compression, FX
- Composing for film and other media
- Live sound techniques
On the record
Class of 2026 - Volumes 1 & 2
Our first ever double album: two volumes of pop, rock, folk, punk, jazz and country written by the collective, recorded at Camden Recording Studios and CONTACT Studio, Rua Red, and launched live at The Sugar Club.
Class of 2024
Recorded at Camden Recording Studios and CONTACT Studio in Rua Red and launched live at The Sugar Club, streaming on Spotify and all the usual outlets, with the album available on Bandcamp.
Declare & Protest (2020)
Part of a larger project with Tallaght Community Arts celebrating the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the role popular music has played in the pursuit of human rights. Over two weeks in August 2020 the collective workshopped a longlist of 25 songs (from a playlist of 84) and chose the final ten - recorded live over five intense days, and released on Culture Night, September 18th 2020. All Bandcamp proceeds were donated to the Immigrant Council of Ireland.
JEMZ (2020)
A self-titled, 8-track album by four young female songwriters from South County Dublin - Jo-Ellen Donohoe, Eimear O’Neill, Megan McGarry and Zoe Lord Bisset - released for Cruinniú na nÓg 2020. Recorded entirely in isolation, it ranges from harp ballads to R’n’B jams, with past participant and mentor Domhnaill Corrigan mixing and recording additional instrumentation. Four live takes were broadcast on Cruinniú TV South Dublin. Supported by Creative Ireland.