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Fontaines D.C. are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 2014. The band consists of Grian Chatten (vocals), Conor Curley (guitar), Conor "Deego" Deegan III (bass), Tom Coll (drums), and Carlos O'Connell (guitar).

Formed at BIMM Dublin, the band signed to Partisan Records in 2018 and released the debut album Dogrel in 2019 to widespread critical acclaim; it was listed as Album of the Year on record store Rough Trade's website, voted Album of the Year by presenters on BBC Radio 6 Music, and nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize. The band's second album, A Hero's Death (2020), was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Their third album Skinty Fia (2022) became their first number one on the Irish and UK Albums Chart and contributed to them winning the Brit Award for International Group. During their rise, Fontaines D.C. were grouped into the contemporary wave of ascending British/Irish post-punk bands.

The band's first-week sales numbers more than doubled with their fourth album, Romance (2024), which received two Grammy nominations and a Mercury Prize nomination. Its lead single, "Starburster", became their first to chart in the UK.

History

2014: Formation

Carlos O'Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan, Grian Chatten and Tom Coll met while attending music college at BIMM in The Liberties, Dublin. They bonded over a common love of poetry and released two collections of poetry called Vroom, inspired by the Beat poets (Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg) and Winding, inspired by Irish poets Patrick Kavanagh, James Joyce, W. B. Yeats. None of the published poems were translated into songs, but the track "Television Screens" on their debut Dogrel began as a poem and was turned into a song.

Lead singer Chatten is half-English (his mother is English and his father is Irish). He was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, but grew up in the coastal town of Skerries, north of Dublin City. Before starting Fontaines D.C., Chatten played in local indie rock bands Gun Runner and Thumbprint as drummer and guitarist/singer respectively. Coll and Deegan are from Castlebar in County Mayo, Curley is from Emyvale in County Monaghan, and Carlos O’Connell was born in Madrid to a Spanish father and an Irish mother. At 18, he left Spain to move to Dublin. Deegan is regularly seen wearing Mayo GAA clothing during live performances.

The band took their name from Johnny Fontane, a character in the movie The Godfather portrayed by Al Martino, who was a singer and movie star and godson of Vito Corleone. The band was first called The Fontaines, but the initials "D.C." were added when they found that a band in Los Angeles had the same name. The initials stand for "Dublin City", to reflect the city of their formation.

2015–2018: Early career

Fontaines D.C. started out self-releasing singles. In 2015, they were going to release their debut with music journalist John Robb's Louder Than War label. In May 2017, the band released the single "Liberty Belle", followed by "Hurricane Laughter"/"Winter In the Sun". "Liberty Belle" was written in homage to the Liberties, a neighbourhood in Dublin where some of the band members lived.

In 2018, Fontaines released the single "Chequeless Reckless"/"Boys In The Better Land" and "Too Real". Stereogum, who premiered "Chequeless Reckless" in early 2018, described their sound as "a synthesis between post-punk, garage rock, and a kind of gritty, urbane sense of rhythm and narrative" and named them a 'Band To Watch'. In May 2018, Fontaines played an in-studio gig at KEXP in Seattle. In September 2018, Fontaines played on the Body & Soul stage at Electric Picnic, to positive reviews "Brilliant and Bracing". In November 2018, the band signed with Partisan Records. The band toured the UK and Ireland as support act for fellow post-punk band Shame.

They released music videos directed by frequent collaborator Hugh Mulhern. The video for 2018's "Too Real" was inspired by The Pogues's 1985 song, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" and the band Gilla Band. The 2019 video for "Roy's Tune", co-written by Conor Curley, was directed by Liam Papadachi. It was inspired by Curley's late night walks home from a job at a burrito shop.

Fontaines received tour support from Irish Arts Council which allowed them to tour internationally. They also received grant funding from RTÉ 2fm.

2019–2020: Dogrel

On 12 April 2019, the band released their debut album Dogrel on Partisan Records. The title was a homage to Doggerel, working class poetry – 'poetry of the people' – that dates back to 1630 and was popularised by William McGonagall and later Ogden Nash. The record was recorded live on tape.