THE TRASH Dolls - Louise Cunnane and Nicola Cosgrove - are a new Galway based duo determined to inject something different and ‘alternatively feminine’ into the city’s mostly male dominated DJ scene with their club nights in the Róisín Dubh and Cuba*.
The Trash Dolls DJ in the Róisín Dubh every second Monday and on the first Sunday of every month in Cuba*, playing indie, electro, and rock.
“I play very new indie and scour Myspace looking for new bands to play on the nights,” Louise tells me. “Nicola plays a lot of that as well but also classic stuff like The Cure and The Clash, so it’s a good mix.”
While the music is key, visuals and a sense of theatre are also important at a Trash Dolls night. “We have girls dressed up as dolls walking around and handing out sweets to people,” says Louise. “The idea is to have ‘living dolls’ and we want to build up that part of it.”
Louise began DJing in January of last year in Cuba* before moving to the Róisín Dubh. A friend suggested she get in touch with Nicola who was also interested in DJing and that working as a pair would be a good move.
Louise had the idea for the name Trash Dolls for some time before she and Nicola started the nights but it’s a name that sums up well the duo’s approach.
“I like the word ‘doll’ as it means pretty, girlie, and innocent,” says Louise, “but the word ‘trash’ messes that up and makes into something alternative and messy and not ‘girlie girl’.”
Outside of the Trash Dolls, both girls are involved in creating original music as well. Nicola is in two bands where she plays bass in one and guitar in another while Louise has written and recorded some music which she has placed on Myspace.
Louise is also involved in the Monday night shows at the Róisín Dubh for young and unsigned Irish bands. The next such night will be next Monday at 9pm with sets from The Ambience Affair, You Kiss By The Book, and the Galway based folk-pop duo Music For Dead Birds.
Louise and Nicola may have only started the Trash Dolls recently, but they are determined to see it grow into a regular club night in Galway.
“We want it to be something that people don’t think of as another club night,” says Nicola, “but instead say ‘Oh The Trash Dolls? I must go to that’. We plan to build this up and also get bands involved as well and playing on the night.”
For more information go to www.myspace.com/trashdollsdj