Music journalist and author John Robb has shared a memoir excerpt about first encountering Fontaines D.C. when they were still at college, according to NME. In the piece, he also says he has two unreleased band tracks in his personal archive.
Robb, who fronts The Membranes and has written about several major names in music, says he met the Dublin group during one-to-one mentoring sessions at BIMM. He recalls Grian Chatten arriving with a demo tape and says the songs convinced him the band had something special.
According to Robb, he was ready to put out an early version of “Liberty Belle” as a single on his label Louder Than War, along with an unreleased track called “Rubies.” He says the release plan also included a Dublin launch show with The Membranes, but those plans were shelved after the band attracted wider label interest.
Robb told NME he will not release the tracks from his vault because he had agreed not to do so once the band were signed. He also said he was glad Fontaines D.C. found the right home with Partisan and added that, by 2025, they had become a key band on the guitar scene.
