Dublin Zoo first opened its doors in 1830; the Republic of Loose first combined their individual talents and personae into a musical endeavour in 2001. In the succeeding years both institutions have produced mixed feelings amongst the general populace of the city. Controversy has followed celebration like skin bruises follow rough necking and both the Zoo and the Republic of Loose have seen their names dragged through the elephant manure on a number of occasions. In July 2006, Dublin Zoo made headlines when a young attractive couple accidentally found themselves beyond the public perimeters and one security fence away from a tiger. As familiar as most Irish people are with tigers, the girl extended her hand in friendship – as she might have done to a person of foreign extraction whom she met on a bus or train or in a kebab shop. The tiger responded by ripping her arm off.
According to San Francisco Zoo more humans die in tiger attacks than by any other animals. Tatiana, a four-year-old Siberian tiger recently jumped out of her cage and killed a man and mauled two others before being stopped by five rounds from .40-caliber handguns.
The Republic of Loose went down a treat in liberal South Africa where their song Break was banned as the lyrics promoted bum sex without a condom; strange for a country whose head honcho finds it hard to believe AIDS exists. Yo Mbeki, are those quarter of a million people dying each year from boredom?
Chimpanzees from West-Africa are affected by a Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), widely believed to be the forerunner of HIV.
Last year Dublin Zoo exceeded their expected attendance by over 150,000 people. At fifty blips for a family ticket that’s not bad going. Coupled with a huge dig-out from the State, the Zoo has become one of Europe’s leading centres for animal conservation and has almost buried the ghosts of 1990s African elephant outbreak when much of Chapelizod was destroyed.
Next month sees the release of Republic of Loose’s third album. This is the biggie. Any money they made from their second record Aaagh! has been put back into this, on top of which, they’re bringing the record out on their own label. If the first two albums and subsequent tours helped fulfil a dream, then this album needs to wedge that dream into reality. It’s squeaky bum time for the Republic of Loose.
Male zebras regularly engage in anal sex between each other; it is seen as an act of dominance, competition or at times a simple greeting.
It’s mid-term break when we meet in the Zoo for what from this day forth will be the only place Totally Dublin ever does interviews. Surrounded by yummy-mummys, buggies and little humans going “Ma, Romeo Patrick said I look like a monkey,” we begin our interview with the type of question most rock journalists could only dream of popping: If Republic of Loose were an animal, which one would it be?
Brez: An abandoned pet.
Mick: A syphilitic hyena.
Brez: Yeah a diseased hyena.
Hyena disease is currently regarded as a disorder of skeletal development, mainly localised in the pelvic limbs. Some investigators consider it a metabolic disease. There are no known instances of syphilitic hyenas in the wild.
The children in the African Plains zone stare at the zebras, then the giraffes then the six musicians wandering off in different directions responding to the calls of the wild. So far today the Loose have only made one child cry, and she was an ugly little shit so she’ll be shedding plenty more tears as she gets older and meets cruel boys. Mick managed to confuse a few other children when he commented – correctly albeit inappropriately – that the Bornean orang-utan perched on a stick was “sitting on her gee.”
The female porcupine uses a stick as a vibrator, holding one end of it between her paws while walking around, straddling the stick as it bumps against the ground and vibrates against her genitalia.
The Republic of Loose are pretty broke at the moment.
Brez: We were worried that we’d have to pay in to the zoo. Any money we made on the last record got put into this one.
Benjamin: We’re so broke we’re not even on the dole. We’re too lazy to sort it out. We’re all alive and we pay rent but we’re still broke. Smaller bands with less members probably do better but we invest so much in bringing people on the road with us and getting original artwork that all the money goes back in to the band.
Decisions aren’t made any easier when there are seven opinionated people trying to get their point across on what they think the music should sound like.
Benjamin: This record was the hardest thing to do.
Brez: I suppose it’s easier than someone painting a picture but when seven people are trying to get their point across it’s really difficult.
Saharan invertebrates can go for as long as five years without eating food or drinking water, while they wait for sporadic rains to come.
It’s maybe harder still to keep tempers at ease when your manager is a character like Dermot Doran. The last time we tried to get in touch with him for an article we were told he was in Paris taking care of the band but hadn’t been seen in 48-hours, and, in a strange reversal of roles, the band were looking for him.
Mick: He does all the crazy party stuff. He’s more rock ‘n’ roll than us. We try and keep him in check.
Benjamin: He’s fine, apart from the pizza toppings.
The Republic of Loose too, have a reputation for being messers on tour, but today surrounded by future generations of young Dubliners and the glories of the animal kingdom, they’re all on their best behaviour. The only reference to substance abuse all day is when Benjamin suggested that zebras were invented the same day God made mushrooms.
The Colorado River toad or Sonoran Desert toad contain 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin in its glands. When milked and smoked it has the same effect as a psychoactive drug.
If the Irish music scene were Dublin Zoo then Sinead O’ Connor would surely be the zoo’s prize Asian Elephant, Jasmin. Last month, after 22 months in labour, Jasmin gave birth to a beautiful female calf. Jasmin is an intimidating female, headstrong and unruly. No male can tame her. The Republic of Loose recently recorded a duet with Sinead.
Benjamin: We’d never met her before. Everyone was shitting themselves. But we did the track before we met her and when we did meet her she was sound. Really nice.
Mick: We went out after the Meteors. She doesn’t drink or anything but she gets stoned. She just sits around ripping up…
Benjamin: Beermats.
Brez: And pictures of Vishnu.
Benjamin: She’s sound.
Africanized bees are more likely to attack a perceived threat and, when they do so, attack relentlessly in large numbers. This aggressively protective behaviour has been termed by scientists as hyper-defensive behaviour earning them the nickname ‘killer bees’.
A big inspiration for the Republic of Loose are the Wu-Tang Clan. Musically you wouldn’t pick up on it but as far as professionalism, discipline and group structure go, the Wu practically created the template.
Mick: I met Rza. I was out of my mind. I was always fantasising about what I’d say if I met him, and then I just went ‘wuwuuwuuwuw’ and he was, ‘yeah man go away’. I met Ghostaface Killa he was more amenable.
Benjamin: He signed my bass. We followed them around T in the Park for two days. Yeah, we actually followed them. Listening to them freestyle on their way to the stage, just freestyling a conversation was incredible.
Mick: The way they are disparate people who come together to form a group is inspiring.
So have the Loose got a five-year plan and a clothing brand coming out soon?
Mick: Yeah, except none of ours come true.
Benjamin: After the first five million records get sold. I’ll sell anything.
Brez: It’d be great to work with anyone who designs.
Mick: I work with homeless people, give them tips to look more like a vagrant.
Giant Galapagos tortoises can live for up to 177 years. Bowhead whales make it right up to 211. And swans, those romantic little mischief makers along the canal who would rip your fingers off as soon as you look at them live to 100.
How long then can the Republic of Loose keep going considering they’ve been together, recording, touring and partying hard for seven years?
Mick: Seven and a half.
Brez: Yeah, Mick’s leaving next week.
The Republic of Loose are doing a one month residency at the Academy in April. Their new album ??? is released in May.
Dublin Zoo is open Monday to Sunday 9:30 to 18:00
Video Link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg0t-y7Wd70
Website – http://www.republicofloose.com/
