Here Comes the Light

Tanya Sweeney talks to pioneering DJ, photographer and filmmaker Donal Dineen about his visual work from the early days of No Disco to his current audio/video collaborations.

Donal Dineen may be better known as the Kerryman who brings a bewildering array of obscure electronica and world music to late-night radio, yet in time he may be equally well-known for bringing a similarly unorthodox filmmaking style to the Irish industry table. Since hanging up his spurs as presenter of RTÉ's off-centre music show No Disco some years ago, he has garnered an adoring following of discerning listeners through his Here Comes The Night show on Today FM. Dineen is largely credited for being the man to break David Gray in Ireland, as well as a host of other artists. Ever the workaholic, he has recently branched out into music visuals, and has already participated in a number of multi-media events. The question arises, will his Midas touch transcend into his new passion for filmmaking?

'I think I'd be liable under the trade descriptions act if I called myself a filmmaker!' he laughs. Despite a background in radio, Dineen found that his Communications course in DCU provided a multi-disciplined training from which he could choose to work in any area of the media. 'I first picked up a camera while doing Communications in DCU,' he recalls. 'Photography was part of the course and from the very first point of contact on, I was hooked. It was an exciting time generally, but discovering this whole new means of expression was a revelation. The making and taking of pictures was suddenly very high on the agenda and as it sometimes miraculously does, everything seemed to take shape around it.'

It was at this point that he began collecting visuals, some of which would eventually find their way into his later work. 'It's a cliché, but through the lens I began to see the world in a different light, noticing an awful lot for the first time,' he notes. 'I found the camera leading me to revisit and rediscover places I'd forgotten existed. All the early field trips were around my home in Kerry and every time I see a 35mm camera I'm reminded of those first forays outside around under incandescent October light. Some of that work I compiled into an exhibition for the Galway Arts Festival in 1993 called This Storm is an Angel.'

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 98