Fresh off a standout year of festival appearances and a headline support slot for US house legend Kerri Chandler, Cork 24 piece live house and techno big jazz band BoolaBoom share the vibrant new single ‘Shuffle’ and announce their upcoming debut EP.
A collective that have made a name for their electrifying and unique blend of house and techno with fiery samba percussion and blazing brass licks, the new single ‘Shuffle’ captures the carnival-esque atmosphere of their live performances, whilst highlighting the beat driven EDM inspiration.
Hailing from a medley of countries including Ireland, Brazil, France, Chile, the UK and New Zealand, their multicultural ensemble brings world-class musicianship and carnival energy to every performance. With 12 horn players and 10 samba drummers, BoolaBoom delivers the kind of visceral, live EDM experience that’s made for the mainstage.
The title track from the upcoming EP, ‘Shuffle’ is an explosive mash-up of bluesy horns, samba rhythms, and hands-in-the-air house drops. Showcasing the group’s signature fusion of high-octane samba percussion and lush jazz horns, the track’s four to the floor driven structure is broken up by the rousing acapella chant that builds into a wild, festival-sized beat drop. Further into the track, ‘Shuffle’ breaks into a Brazilian call-and-response which hammers home the joyous, performative feel that the band have managed to capture on the recording.
Band leader and producer Darragh O’Connor explains: “We love mixing big band jazz with a thumping samba-house beat and we’re delighted with how this track turned out. When we play this live we always get the audience chanting along ‘cup final’ style to the vocal hook – fists punching the air just before the drop – which really gets a packed venue or festival crowd bouncing.
It’s a band full of different nationalities from Chilé, Brazil and New Zealand to the UK, US, France and Ireland. You can really feel the wide range of contemporary musical influences coming together, all under a banging house bass drum being pounded by hand!
For a band just starting out with its first real release, the prospect of recording 24 musicians on a shoestring budget was a bit daunting, but we decided we really needed to capture the huge live sound in the studio and record everyone together. Having everyone play at the same time in the studio together helps with that because there’s so much energy bouncing around the room. You don’t want musicians on their own in a sound proof booth. Everyone in the band stands when they play – we don’t allow anyone to sit while playing. If you’re playing dance music you should be on your feet doing a little….Shuffle…while you play.”
Despite being in its relative youth as a project, BoolaBoom has already had a number of big achievements including radioplay from BBC Radio 6 Music (Craig Charles) and playing packed out shows across Ireland and festivals including Electric Picnic and All Together Now. After impressing house music icon Kerri Chandler with a street busking rework of his 1998 deep house classic ‘Atmosphere’, Boolaboom went on to support him at a sold-out show at Cyprus Avenue.
Their 2024 single ‘Summerhouse’, remixed by French house maestro Art of Tones (aka Llorca), reached #18 in the Traxsource Top 100, earning praise from the likes of Laurent Garnier (“I love it”) and Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy (“Wow – great story and it’s wonderful!”). The band are set to appear on the main stage at Kaleidoscope Festival 2025.
BoolaBoom – Shuffle
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