Rebel Song is a collection of pictures and words of some of the most important musicians who changed the face of Irish Music to the international force it is today. As Irish musicians began to find international fame in the second half of the 20th century, there was a growing swell of bands like the Fureys, the Pogues and the Dubliners who transformed traditional rebel music into something with an energy and intensity that was more direct and outspoken than ever before. Irish folk music had expressed the pain of generations under colonial domination. This blossomed into a nation's resistance and rebellion, and spilled over into rock and pop, and then into a fusion with punk. Filled with passion and politics, the tunes of rebellion moved from a rallying call to resistance, and onto a global stage that continues to push back and assert Irish identity and love of life. Artists like U2, Sinéad O'Connor, Bob Geldof and the Pogues have often taken an outspoken stand on matters of global politics, while always maintaining a direct connection back to Ireland. Featuring pictures by legendary music photographer Andrew Catlin that include many taken very early in the careers of the artists, often while at their creative peak, with photographs that span more than thirty years. The book explores the connection between the traditions of Irish music, the history of Ireland, and the extraordinary power and intensity of some of the greatest songwriters and performers of the last 50 years.

Rebel Song: Faces of Irish Music

Arts & Photography

Catlin, Andrew

Photography & Video

Andrew Catlin

For forty years journalists predicted Shane wouldn't live to see the end of the year. At the end of 2018 he's done it again. This is by way of a celebrating the story so far... Andrew Catlin has been photographing Shane and the Pogues since their first London gigs, through till Shane left the band. He continued to work with Shane, photographing him with the Popes and shooting pictures for many of the record sleeves, as well as for Victoria's book, A Drink with Shane MacGowan. More recently he shot the first portrait since Shane got his new teeth, and was featured in the documentary telling the story of their reconstruction. The pictures used for the projections during the 60th birthday concert in Dublin were all from Andrew's archive. The cover picture for the book was Andrew's first portrait of Shane, shot in a Liverpool hotel room after an evening of drinking that ended with the whole band, the crew, publicist and journalists, all passed out on the floor of the bar. Shane was in fine form the next day - this image is one of several great pictures from that shoot.
The book provides an intimate view on 40 years of music, mayhem and magic, capturing MacGowan in many unique situations...
Shane MacGowan "You know, some people are lucky, and some people aren't. I'm a lucky guy, as a general rule."
"I was brought up on a farm and then in London. In their own different ways both places offer plenty of opportunity to get in trouble. I took the opportunities."
"You've got to have a strong urge to be heard. You've got to have this welling up inside you, like wanting to be sick, you know? Then you've got to scream it out, you've got to sing it out, you've got to play it out, you've got to make music, you know what I mean? That's what a musician is. A good musician has to put music before everything."
"I'm proud of everything the Irish do well.... What a talented race. I'm proud to be one of them. Great sportsmen, great soldiers, great musicians, great lovers, great artists. Nobody loves like an Irishman. And women always find Irishmen attractive. I think women are attracted by the fact that Irishmen are so much more intelligent than Englishmen. That's a bit of a generalisation of course. There are some glaring exceptions to that rule... There's no bigger bastard than an Irish bastard."
"I don't agree with dogmatic morality.... I'm a Catholic Taoist. I believe in going with the flow. I'm a hedonist. I like to live well. I like to eat and drink and dance and sing and screw and get the most out of life. When I'm just enjoying myself completely, that's when I feel the most religious as well. Because I thank God for it, for pleasure. Because there's so much pain in this world. I think you should have as much pleasure as you possibly can."
Nick Cave "'Shane is very innocent in a lot of ways. There's a love and warmth within him which is often overlooked. And he is incredibly open to the things around him, which is why he's such a great writer. He sees the beauty and horror in things, and his gift is to be able to articulate that in a very simple way."
Depp "Shane and Marlon Brando. These are two guys who are completely true to their vision, non-conforming, uncompromising. I think Marlon is an incredibly gifted artist... in his thoughts, ideas and anything he does. Shane's the same. They're a couple of guys whose first instinct is always to go against the grain, it's an admirable trait in anyone." 
Bono "I don't think anyone writes better lyrics than Shane MacGowan. He's what Keith Richards would describe as a 'specialist'."

Shane MacGowan: Threescore

Sin ad O'Connor 48 reproduces the chronological sequence of photographs from one of the first photographic shoots with Sin ad for a magazine cover, including the out-takes. It gives a fascinating insight into both Sin ad at a turning point in her life, as she was becoming famous, and into the process of a photographic portrait as frame by frame the picture is rearranged and developed. Deceptively simple, the sequence provides an unusual insight into her character, the process of portraiture, and the many facets of the human face."I hadn't met Sin ad before. Her face was lively and expressive, captivating, with an indefinable air that encompassed fragility, strength, experience, intensity and something feral. We drank tea and talked. Eventually we moved to another room with a huge bay window and perfect daylight. I had set up a backdrop and we sat either side of a table. I gradually shot four rolls of 120 film - 48 frames - with my Rolleiflex while we continued our conversation. It's a gentle camera, with a leaf shutter that is almost silent. It has an easy presence and doesn't intrude in the way many cameras do."Thomas Carlyle wrote "Often I have found a portrait superior in real instruction to half a dozen written 'biographies'.... or rather, let me say, I have found that the portrait was a small lighted candle by which the biographies could for the first time be read..."

Sinéad O'Connor 48

This is a unique view into the chaos that was the Jesus and Mary Chain over the first years of the band. It captures their style, their attitude, and their complete commitment to the music and lifestyle.
"The first time I saw The Jesus and Mary Chain at the Ambulance Station in Old Kent Road, I could tell before they even started playing that they were going to be great. Things were chaotic from the start. I climbed on top of the speakers and spent the gig there. A little unstable, but good bass, good view – close up, and in the big scheme of things, everything else in the room was pretty unstable anyway. I saw gigs that ended in riots; gigs that were stopped by the police, gigs where they had the whole audience in the palm of their hands and didn’t even know it. It always seemed like they just played for themselves and for the music – perhaps the music played them. The audience were just there as witnesses. No pretence of showmanship or crowd-pleasing. More often than not they would find a way to piss someone off, and that would turn into a confrontation, but it was always an amazing spectacle. An overwhelming sound that cut through anything – stage invasions, fights, collapsed drum kits, shit P.A.s or venues. It didn’t matter. Apart from really enjoying the music, as a photographer, there was always an infinity of things to see. (Usually very little light, but I’ve always been fond of long exposures!) It was very real – something visceral rather than just a “performance.”

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Biographies & Memoirs

Reid, Jim

Reid, Julie

Arts & Literature

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Books by Andrew Catlin

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Rebel Song: Faces of Irish Music

Shane MacGowan: Threescore

Sinéad O'Connor 48

The Jesus and Mary Chain