33 Revolutions per Minute with Dorian Lynskey, Sinéad Gleeson & Philip King

Chairperson: Tony Clayton-Lea

The idea that music and politics don’t (and shouldn’t) mix has been around a long time. Even in the heyday of counter-cultural rebellion, musicians who wrote protest songs were often ridiculed, censored, pigeonholed and ignored. When Motown boss Berry Gordy heard Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ he described it as “the worst thing I’ve heard in my life.” And yet, as Dorian Lynskey shows in his acclaimed new book, 33 Revolutions Per Minute: a history of protest songs, musicians in every generation, from Nina Simone to Pussy Riot, are driven to protest.

Taking inspiration from Lynskey’s book, the festival gathers leading writers and musicians, including Lynskey, Sinéad Gleeson, Philip King and chairperson Tony Clayton-Lea, to ask why. Are politically-engaged musicians naïve or inspirational? Does music still have the power to change the world and, if so, how?

Tony Clayton-Lea is a music journalist for The Irish Times and chair of the judging panel for the Meteor Choice Music Awards. Journalist and broadcaster Sinéad Gleeson reports for RTÉ’s popular arts programme The Works and writes on a wide range of arts topics for The Irish Times.

Grammy-nominated broadcaster, musician and film producer/director Philip King has been at the forefront of Irish music for thirty years. He is the presenter of RTÉ Radio 1’s South Wind Blows and series producer of Other Voices.

Dorian Lynskey is a Guardian music journalist and author of the acclaimed 33 Revolutions Per Minute: a history of protest songs.