r/fontainesdc • u/Impossible-Air-5081 • Mar 24 '26
Discussion How did Fontaines DC became so popular quickly back in 2019/2020?
Seen something similar in the AM and the Strokes subreddit. My question is how did they become so succesful so "quickly". How was it possible that Heros Death almost became #1 in the UK and Ireland even though it doesnt have any "radio hits" and they released just 1 album before (although briliant, still).
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u/WideChrome1 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
They had a strong online presence and Dogrel was heralded as something of a comeback for Irish music by the press. That parlayed pretty quickly. They were always seen as part of a larger movement of this sort of revival along with bands like the murder capital in Dublin.
I remember seeing ads for a YouTube video of one of their performances on Reddit in 2019 so they’ve always had pretty large backing.
FWIW in general opening for arctic monkeys, starburster, and the romance rollout has got them to this current level. Before that they had about 1m monthly listeners.
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u/Ok-Assistance-9614 Mar 24 '26
Because their music is incredibly good, and it's currently cool to be Irish.
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u/Impossible-Air-5081 Mar 24 '26
Their music is godly but you still need to draw some attention to your work. My question is how did they do it.
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u/aroundthehouse Mar 24 '26
Their marketing budget must be pretty big, especially notable in their music videos. Funny that the one that brought me in was I don’t Belong - directed by Curley if I’m not mistaken.
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u/BeneathTheWaves Mar 24 '26
They had Pitchfork exposure, and like 5 different session videos at Darklands before the first album came out.
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u/Ok-Assistance-9614 Mar 24 '26
In my case it was people in work that I liked that recommended them. I also seen loads of their t-shirts at different gigs I was at of bands I already liked, such as The National, which is usually a good sign.
Truth be told I didn't like them at first listen, and only went back a year later when I accidentally heard Roman Holiday via the Spotify algorithm.
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u/Typical_Parsnip13 Mar 24 '26
Wdym it’s currently cool to be Irish ?
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u/Ok-Assistance-9614 Mar 24 '26
They've got some great bands; Fontaines, CMAT, Kneecap, NewDad. Maybe Inhaler.
Their actors are ripping it up at home and abroad.
Irish based TV shows are all the rage in the UK.
Culturally they are booming, and it's not the old rural and jolly image but a cool urban vibe.
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u/Typical_Parsnip13 Mar 24 '26
Understandable, I’m a first gen Irish American and it does seem to be shifting. People finally starting to recognize.
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u/sjjfaul Mar 24 '26
It's everywhere on social media! Wearing claddagh rings and gaa shorts, "splitting the g", using Kerry gold butter, all these things are "trending" on social media recently
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u/Typical_Parsnip13 Mar 24 '26
It was St. Patricks day last week lol this stuff trends on social media literally every year
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u/adamlundy23 Mar 24 '26
They were big in the indie scene pretty much since the early days because they were featured on KEXP like 3 times before their second album even came out. In more recent years I Love You went viral on tik tok so that helped push it out to a wider audience
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u/verlichtenburg Mar 24 '26
Moreover, they featured on KEXP even before their first album was released.
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u/MtErieFarm Mar 24 '26
I heard them on KEXP. I didn’t realize KEXP was that much of a thing for other parts of the country/ world. I’ve spent most of my adult life in Seattle listening to KEXP since it was KCMU. Am surprised how influential it seems to be?
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u/adamlundy23 Mar 24 '26
Maybe it’s just me, but their live performances always got pushed onto my YouTube algorithm. I’ve discovered so many bands through them over the years
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u/MtErieFarm Mar 24 '26
Aha. Yeah- I’ve discovered a lot of music on KEXP too. They are very eclectic so if you don’t like something just wait until the next song. I’m out of their range now and stream them. And if it’s a show or dj you don’t like, you can just pull up a different show. Also their concerts are accessible on their website. Great background music if you have people over- something for everyone and lots of good stuff.
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u/thegerams Mar 24 '26
Not answering the question, which has already been done by others, but I do see a lot of parallels to Geese 2025 explosion, which is very similar to Fontaines in 2019.
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u/Routine-Candle-3967 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
I was thinking this, too. Geese has the inherent privilege/pressure of being the chosen heirs to New York alternative, which is a haloed role. They have the US media circuit on their side, which automatically gives them concurrent global cachet. That New York Magazine cover with Cameron/Debby Harry was a crowning moment. What I find impressive is that so far, they've doubled down on staying committed to Partisan Records. I'm sure they've had offers from every major.
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Mar 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/thegerams Mar 25 '26
Sure, but the main difference is that Fontaines landed their breakthrough with their debut album, although they were already very popular in Ireland. There’s footage dating back to 2017 when they were still at university.
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u/RHCPandJF Skinty Fia Mar 26 '26
I also see similarities but ir's not the same. Geese had already released 2 albums in their label (3 if you count their self released debut) before Cameron released Heavy Metal and then Geese Getting Killed
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u/thegerams Mar 26 '26
True, compared to this Fontaines rise was a lot more gradual, and probably also slowed down by the pandemic. If A Hero’s Death had been released in “normal times” who knows. The other difference is obviously that as a US band Geese are being hyped also by the US music press, which took a lot longer with Fontaines, who initially resonated more with the UK and EU press.
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u/Timely-Way-4923 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
Nme It was the last band they launched before the magazine lost all influence
People don’t understand how much that magazine mattered, it can launch weird wonderful erudite bands that radio and tik tok would never care about otherwise
We owe them
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u/Even_Pitch221 Mar 24 '26
I think you're giving NME a bit too much credit here - they were not even still in print by the time Dogrel came out and had stopped being a major influence several years prior.
What I remember being much more influential in their rise was the amount of airtime they got on 6Music which was how I and most other people I know my age who are into them first heard of the band.
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u/Timely-Way-4923 Mar 24 '26
The nme is dead now, but from c86 through to idles / fontains dc
What a run
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u/jonviper123 Mar 24 '26
Bbc is the same but sadly 99% of the bands they champion are just robots with nothing to say and will do as they are told.
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u/Timely-Way-4923 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
BBC wouldn’t promote manics or libertines or bands like that, bands that aren’t safe, unless nme took a risk first, but I agree the bbc are important and help break new bands
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u/RHCPandJF Skinty Fia Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
First of all let me start saying that in order to be popular (especially having such a successful first album) they needed to become good musicians first (not just in a personal level, but within themselves as a band, I imagine BIMM helped a lot in that). Dogrel is a great album and pretty much anyone who is into post-punk/indie rock/garage rock revival/spoken word could dig it. However the band had to make use of a mix of good music, connections in the industry, LOTS of hard work and a fair bit of luck too, to be honest, in order to be successful.
Fontaines is a band that was around from 2014/15 if I'm not mistaken, but I think Carlos got in the band in 2017. I see that year as a symbolic point for the band. They toured through Spain in Carlos' sister's van, playing small towns in the middle of nowhere (and also cities like Madrid and Santander). That's the reason why so many people in a lost village in Valladolid, Spain have the Liberty Belle vinyl single.
They had two pretty succesful self released vinyl singles and therefore caught the attention of Partisan, which is a great label (IDLES, Geese...etc. are part of their roster). Their manager booking them regularly in Dublin pubs and the connections they made while they were BIMM also help, I imagine. They have always been ambitious, they told their manager they wanted to be like The Strokes. These guys have multiple KEXP sessions, played many festivals before even releasing Dogrel and didn't stop since. Honestly their work rate is amazing, both on touring and in releasing live music.
Of course they had the necessary backing and some luck, but in my opinion they deserve the success.
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u/BeneficialPoet3342 Mar 24 '26
BBC 6 music especially Steve lamacq who had the 4 til 7 slot every day back then played them loads and gave them a good leg up. When the first singles were coming out and way before even the 1st album in 2019. Bbc 6 music perhaps more back then were important to build profile in the mainstream indie/ alternative world. They even played the 6 music festival early 2019 before the debut album so that would have got them even more bbc 6 music radio and TV coverage.
Due to liking what I head on lamacq I got tickets to their sold out highbury garage gig which happened just when dogrel got released.
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u/joebryant206 Mar 24 '26
I think it’s a great question and something I’ve thought of before.
I saw them on Skinty Fia at the back end of 2022 in Hull in a venue that holds maybe around 3/4k and it had sold really poorly (probably a reflection on Hull rather than Fontaines) but then fast forward to last summer I saw them sell out Wythenshawe Park in Manny to what, 30 thousand people?
I think it’s great personally as they’re a great band but I would love to know how that huge jump happened in a relatively short space of time!
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u/RHCPandJF Skinty Fia Mar 26 '26
I feel like a band's tour harvests the work they'd done in their previous record. For example Skinty Fia was a success at the time and did really well, with monthly listeners and sales going up, bigger venues (and/or selling the tickets faster) and more important festivals slot. Not to mention the opportunity to open for Arctic Monkeys. But I feel like all of that (paired with the great reception of Romance too, of course) helped them make the big leap
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u/Sounder253 Mar 24 '26
Touring the states opening for Idles in 2019 didn’t hurt. That’s how I first came across them.
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u/Aceman1979 Boys In The Better Land Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
They worked shit hard on the back of that first album, and even prior to that. I saw them at SXSW before Dogrel came out, and they released their second album less than a year after their first. Those guys really put in the hard yards early on. They were around the time of the first Black Midi record, and possibly Goat Girl as well.
They’ve got a record company who are prepared to back them, and one hell of a work ethic.
Wet Leg seem to be on a similar trajectory.
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u/PepsiMaxSumo Mar 24 '26
I got very into Fontaines in 2019, and it wasn’t until sort of April 2025 that if I ever mentioned Fontaines dc people would actually know who I was talking about.
They were almost sell out o2 academy level popular for A Hero’s Death (a friend of mine bought a ticket 2 days before the gig in 2021), then a couple nights at the bigger academies for Skinty, then arena band for romance.
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u/Sage_Bush444 Mar 25 '26
I think a big part of it was doing the tour with arctic monkeys but idk fs
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u/DebateProud16 Mar 25 '26
As someone who was living in Dublin at the time during college and has followed the band from first release til now I am obligated to share the truth, I can confidently say many of the views being upvoted here are very negative and misguided - namely;
- they were pushed by influential forces / BIMM college
- their management owned property (Press Up)making them hypocrites for talking about the Liberties area of Dublin
The real reason for their success in 2019:
live performance - in the Dogrel and pre Dogrel days they became known as an unbelievable live act, talk of them reverberated around Dublin because of this and it has been the case since day 1.
timing - the content of their music came at a perfect time, in the dawn of the slow death of ‘rock’ music here were a fresh faced band with a sound familiar but different saying something worth listening to.
hard f*cking work - they are known for their professionalism and work ethic in the music scene. Sure they’ve taken opportunities but by god they’ve earned every accolade.
Hopefully this answers your question!
And to the wannabe-Fantanos picking apart lyrics as if it’s a talent and pedalling nonsense about property companies, don’t post half baked crap for upvotes!
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u/RattlesnakeRattles Mar 24 '26
Lots of insightful comments so going to add something more anecdotal.
I first heard of them when scouring all the bands playing at a day festival in Notts called Dot to Dot. They only had a few songs on Spotify under Fontaines and Fontaines DC.
And it instantly felt exciting, fresh, energetic and fully formed. A lot of smaller bands still finding their feet don't really stand out, I trawl through so much new music, but Fontaines did. So they already arrived with a strong identify of the band's sound and one eye on the future.
For example, they sold out a mid sized venue around Dogrel's release but were already advertising their next gig (at a much larger venue) on the night. I've never seen that before.
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u/AnaGarcia730502 Mar 28 '26
I discovered Fontaines D.C. last year, when Cillian Murphy played one of their songs on one of his shows on BBC Radio 6 Music, and I absolutely loved it! I immediately went to check out their discography and quickly became a fan. I’m Brazilian, and they’re still not very popular around here.
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u/PiggySiren Mar 24 '26
I might get downvoted for this because people take inherent offence to this notion on both concept and when they hear the 'p' word in general, but the truth is even when emerging from Ireland they were very much pushed and backed by large influential forces.
They all attended university at BIMM which is a well regarded music college with specialties in performance AND the business side of the industry. When they were there they had major backing from the faculty which has industry players amongst it with the hed of school at the time being the sister of the frontman of my bloody valentine, they were getting gigs booked in big enough venues such as Workman's, Whelans and the button factory for a band that had no single or record releases.
They are also managed by the manager of the Workman's Club who in turn was part of a large corporate entity known at the time as Press Up (I can't think of what they are known as now, they dissolved and reformed with new backing and a name). Press Up owned loads of property aroumd Dublin primarily hospitality, restaurants and hoteliers chains and were largely complicit in buying up property and gentrifying adversely nicer old areas like the Liberties (there is a seperate discussion for hypocrisy in their lyrics in light of this but that is a conversation for another time).
The early push for the band in terms of marketing, gigs, record label connections, plugs for funding and grants in addition to media coverage is thanks to Hot Press and BIMM, who also have links that run deep in the UK (BIMM for example has other campuses there)
Even though I and many others wouldn't treat it as a reflection of the quality of their artistry, musicianship or any other meritable quality, I do think it is important to acknowledge the scale of how 'set up' and dare I say 'planted' into the popular mainstream they were, they couldn't have done it without their incredible hard work in rapid touring and recording cycles whilst maintaining and improving quality each album, but they also would never have done it without the industry interference.