Monjola is an alternative R&B artist from Lucan. He will be hosting a special St. Patrick's Day gig tomorrow (16th) at The Complex, featuring live performances from Fontaines D.C., Biig Piig and Kean Kavanagh.
You can apply for tickets on Jameson Connects, where the whole show will then be streamed on St. Patrick's Day (Thursday).
Home is...
I live in Lucan with my family – my parents and three siblings so it’s a pretty busy household. My younger brother produces all my music, so it's nice living with him.
I was in boarding school in Kilkenny and Westmeath, but I’ve lived in Lucan all my life. [Growing up there], it was nice. It's a quiet, friendly place and everyone's very family-orientated.
How I get around the city:
It depends on where I am. If I'm in town and need to move around, I might get a Bleeperbike.
Especially when the sun's out, it's a beautiful to cycle around. Down the canal, down Portobello, all those places are really nice. It’s a nice way to see the city – even though I've lived in Dublin all my life, there are always new spots to explore.
The best place in the city for a date:
I like Hideout on South William [Street], or Tea Garden [on Ormond Quay]. It’s easy to speak to people while you're doing something – playing table tennis or pool while having a drink or having some tea.
They are really unique spots as well, that not many people know. Highly recommended.
My favourite pub in the city:
Grogan's. There's just massive culture around the place, and anytime I go there, I always meet someone I know. It's been around for a while as well.
I've built a lot of really good relationships there. Sometimes I'm like, 'How did I ever meet this person I'm collaborating with?', and a lot of times I might have met them in Grogan's. It's a very iconic place.
My favourite restaurant in Dublin:
I don't like to eat in the same place all the time, so it depends on what I'm feeling, but there's this place off Grafton Street called Xi’An Street Food. It's very different to the normal Chinese that you'd get in fast food restaurants, and they've got really nice noodle dishes.
It's a nice way to expand your palate if you're trying to do that. That's my favourite place as of now, but it changes quite often.
My go-to café or coffee shop:
Metro Cafe is really nice. I've only started going there in the last three months, but I like how it looks. Me my friends go there and sit outside - it's comfy.
They serve breakfast all day, which is nice – they've got these amazing pancakes.
Where I get my exercise:
I exercise every day, I go to the gym – FlyeFit in Lucan. I'm from a sports background – I played rugby for seven years – so it feels right for me to exercise.
I go with my mate, so we push ourselves. I think it's really important to stay fit, so I do some running and HIIT workouts.
My favourite shops:
Tola Vintage is vintage clothing, so a lot of times you'd go in and you'd see a very unique piece of clothing that you can't find anywhere. Also, it's a nice place and they're really involved in the culture.
They've hosted some block parties, and whenever I was running events, the owner actually let me host an event in the shop. It's an overall experience, you feel part of this massive community. Anytime I go in, I'll end up chatting to staff for a long time.
And then Saint Street is a streetwear store – it's hard to find streetwear stores in Dublin, so that's probably one of the only ones. The guys who run it are musicians, and they're just sound guys.
My favourite place for a haircut:
I haven't gotten a haircut in a long time – I grow my hair out and I sometimes get it braided by my sister at home. It saves a lot of money and it's chill.
My favourite place in Dublin to get away from it all:
I probably would stay out of the city centre if I wanted to clear my head. There are a lot of parks and stuff in Lucan so I'd probably cycle there and go for a walk, get some nature. St. Catherine's Park is a really nice spot.
My favourite place to let my hair down:
Sugar Club always hosts really, really cool gigs and they book amazing artists as well, so sometimes I go there, even if I don't know who's playing.
You find some really amazing new Irish artists or an international act that's really good. Sugar Club is a spot that's reliable for good vibes.
The last live event I went to:
The last one I went to was Khaki Kid's live show, it was in Grand Social, it was sold out, and it was amazing. He has a band that play with him called Bricknasty, and they're really good.
It was amazing, like, 'We're fully back now, everyone's actually ready to go back to live gigs and stuff’.
Dublin's best kept secret:
Chamomile Records. Right now, it's three artists – Aby Coulibaly, myself and Moyo, who is our producer. We've all released five or six songs each, and all the songs have done really well. We're self-sufficient, we make all the stuff in our house and it's just start for us.
We've hosted some really amazing events and it's also a community because we're working with our friends and it's really organic. It's just really about the music.
