“Without passion there is no success” – BIMM band Cultural Cliché on coming up in Dublin  

BIMM Music Institute is recognised for how it helps prepare students to enter the music industry.  With artists such as Fontaines DC and George Ezra coming out of the institute, many young artists see BIMM as a kick start for their music careers. 

This is the mindset of Gedas Kisielius, who set up Cultural Cliché – a psychedelic band consisting of himself, Ross Condon, Simon McVeigh and Jay Lee.  

Kisielius describes the band’s sound as “psychedelic recordings with a bit of grunge” as well as “melancholic shoegaze with a dash of hope and joyfulness.” Shoegaze is a style of rock music where the distinctions between separate instruments and vocals are blurred.  He says that: “I want someone to feel like they’re getting lifted with all the weird noises that are going on”.  

Kisielius admits that his love for music came from his older sister. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic when he first started writing songs. After getting “a lot of good feedback” on demos posted on Soundcloud, Kisielius realized “people really enjoyed” what he was doing, and that fed on to him liking it even more.  

The band had their first gig in Whelans in June of last year. Kisielius said: “It was very nerve wrecking, but it was great. The build up to it, the rehearsals, it didn’t feel real, so I treated it as if it was nothing, which I’m glad I did because when it came to the day it had me on my toes the whole time.” 

Talking about what it is like for young aspiring artists coming up in Dublin, Kisielius told us: “It is very difficult, especially in Dublin, coming from a college where it’s primarily based around chasing the same thing – it’s like a huge rat race of who can get there first. There can be a lot of competition, but I don’t look at it as that.”  

Coming from BIMM, Kisielius knows the struggles of having others “always on your shoulder” but ultimately, doesn’t let it bother him much. He added that: “Without that pressure, it wouldn’t push you and without passion there is no success.” 

He claims that trying to meet people in the music scene can be quite a difficult thing, but “getting yourself on a gig line up and your name on the poster can boost you.”

Specifically speaking about the band’s sound, Kisielius says: “It is very difficult to catch people into the genre we write in, but I think the direction we are going in now compared to a year ago, we would have an easier time doing that.”  

Kisielius believes the music they produce usually revolves around upsetting themes but has very bright sounding instruments “so it’s like a happy song, and it is, but the lyrics drive it to be quite upsetting.” 

When producing music for Cultural Cliché, Kisielius takes inspiration from everywhere, bands, peers and poetry, which is a big inspiration for the band. “In poetry, the way the words are articulated, and certain aspects of a poem are objectified, I have the habit of writing from a perspective that isn’t my own, so it adds that poetry feeling.”  

Kisielius’ favourite of his songs is ‘Why Would You Do That?’, as he believes that it is his “best work from the production side of things.”  

Although he produces most of the songs, the rest of the band still have a very big input as to how they sound and what is put out. An exciting year is upcoming for Cultural Cliché, with the release of their album Colour Melt. The first single from the album is called ‘Dark & Empty’ and was released on March 20^th.  

While there is no release date for the album yet, Kisielius revealed that: “The album captures a person’s average day, of ups and downs. You can really feel and hear it throughout the album.”