‘But For The Honour Of The Pen’ sees Nigerian-Irish poet FELISPEAKS (Irish Women In Harmony, Poetry Ireland Board of Directors). Join 1000 Beasts on this unique collaboration, an electronic artist/producer & an exciting spoken word artist, resulting in a beautiful electronic offering from his debut album.
The use of the zither & guzheng create a mellow atmosphere on this heartfelt piece, tackling a topic that so many experience, but have so few words to describe.
1000 Beastsis the alias of Cian Sweeney, an Irish producer/artist who collaborates with different artists on every track (they are the “beasts” behind the name) to make soulful, indiepop & hip hop inspired tracks. His production work has seen him garner over 15,000,000 streams on Spotify for collaborators songs and his own artist project, and he’s a platinum selling producer thanks to his work on the 2020 hit song ‘Fake Fine’ by Robert Grace.
His debut EP ‘On A Different Page’ was released in July 2020 through Unity Group (Paris) followed by the runaway success of his remixes for Elaine Malone (You) and Joshua Burnside (Noa Mercier). 1000 Beasts remix of You by Elaine Malone has been featured on the new Cafe Del Mar album Cafe Del Mar XXVII as well as heavily supported on DSP playlists.
Recent releases from his forthcoming debut album have been ‘For You & I’ feat Alex Tierney, ‘NYCBB’ feat regular
Soft Boy Records collaborator Célia Tiab, and most recently ‘Sugar High’ feat TOUCAN.
All tracks have seen support from radio, press and the DSP’s.
Support including Greatest Track In The World on BBC ATL Introducing, Track OF The Week on 2FM and multiple Spotify editorial additions.
1000 Beasts sits at over 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
2021 will see 1000 Beasts release his debut album through Jawdropper Records who are backed by worldwide digital distribution via the Universal Music owned InGrooves.
FELISPEAKS is a Nigerian-Irish Poet, Performer, Playwright from Co. Longford; currently living in Dublin.
No stranger to the Irish literary and performance space, FELISPEAKS was nominated for ‘Best Performer’ by Dublin Fringe Festival Sept 2018 Judged for her performance in ‘BOYCHILD’, a co-written play by Dagogo Hart and herself.
As well as being a Member of the Poetry Ireland Board of Directors, Felicia is a member of the Poetry Collective, WeAreGriot.
Her poem: ‘For Our Mothers’ is in the Ordinary Level English Leaving Cert Curriculum for the year of examination 2023. FELISPEAKS performed her commissioned poetry at CONCERN’s 50th Anniversary in Dublin Castle in September 2018.
It included speakers such as UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, President Bill Clinton and Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.
Felicia has also been honoured with an award by the (APNI)African Professional Network of Ireland for her unique contribution to the art scene in Dublin City, December 2017.
FELISPEAKS is also part of Irish Women in Harmony on a recent remix of ‘Only A Woman’, and is a member of WeAreGriot, a poetry collective consisting of herself, Dagogo Hartand Samuel Yakura – curating poetry/rap events – Talkatives and writing plays.
FELISPEAKS is currently enjoying creating poetry and performance pieces that always promise to introduce her audience to the journey of emotion in every story. Honoured to share her thought processes about life’s experiences and her passions on stage; FELISPEAKS hopes to inspire thought, excitement and perspective.
Over the last three years, FEISPEAKS has graced some prestigious stages such as the Tommy Tiernan Show, National Concert Hall, Dublin Castle, opening for THISISPOPBABY’S RIOT show and Kate Tempest in Vicar St, opening for Saul Williams in the Sugar Club and the Olympia Theatre in response to Repeal the 8th. Felispeaks has also participated in festivals such as Mother Tongues Festival (Talkatives, February 2020 Tallaght), Women and Children First in Ghent, Belgium March 2020, St. Patrick’s Festival, First Fortnight Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival, Wexford Literary Festival, Cuirt International Galway Festival, Electric Picnic, O’Bheal Winter Warmer Festival Cork, and Waterford Writers Weekend.
1000 Beasts on ‘But For The Honour Of The Pen’, “Almost two years ago I was working on a session arranged by RTE celebrating Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries at Camden Recording Studios in Dublin. It was there that I first met FELISPEAKS.
I was floored by her performance that day and thought to myself that I have to collaborate with her in some capacity. We were chatting for a bit and I expressed that I was really interested in working with her on a musical piece, something she had never done before at that point.
I went home and worked on a few instrumentals and sent some beats over to her – she came back very quickly with a gorgeous poem – ‘But For The Honour Of The Pen’ – and that was it. I believe it was an older piece that she re-worked and set to the music.
The whole process was incredibly easy, FELIPSEAKS is such a wordsmith that the recording process was very organic and natural. I just put up the mic, pressed record and let FELIPSEAKS do her thing.
I wanted there to be a moment of dead air at the end as well, where FELISPEAKS’ words are left to hang in your ears before the music finishes, to give the listener a chance to contemplate her words. I did this by stripping everything back and just leaving a single pad texture play out the last few seconds of the track. It’s one of my favourite moments.
I’m incredibly happy with both the results of this piece and the video, I think it’s easily the most unique track on the album which is important because I wanted there to be pieces in there that would both challenge the listener and challenge the stereotypes of what music a producer should and shouldn’t make. It’s definitely a genre and area of production that I would love to explore more in the future.”
FELISPEAKS on ‘But For The Honour Of The Pen, “The poem is about the plague of depression while you’re trying to figure out who you are, your artistry and it’s value. It’s a dark place that only illuminates by pushing through it. You find the tunnel has an end when you keep going. I kept moving.
The collaboration was a beautiful thing. I wrote the piece in 2019 and I wouldn’t have shared it if Cian didn’t have the perfect music for it. I wouldn’t have shared it at all actually. But it fit, it challenged me to tell an old truth in a new way. I thoroughly enjoyed the process! Here’s to sharing old wounds and finding new ways to heal them! “
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FELISPEAKS
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Photo: Paul Mahon
