There’s been plenty of great music coming out from Ireland in the last decade, but there’s none quite like Meryl Streek. A man, an activist and a voice of a silent generation, after two albums and numerous tours up and down the UK he has remained somewhat underground.
Based in Dublin, Meryl Streek’s brand of punk is about as direct as it gets. He doesn’t sugarcoat it; he calls out situations as they are. His first album 796 focuses almost entirely on the shocking discovery of 796 unidentified infant remains found underneath Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Galway.
Since the release of 796, Meryl Streek has released a follow-up album, Songs For The Deceased, that takes a wider look at Ireland’s deprivation and the government’s lack of response to social issues. Streek has remained just as out-spoken as he was on his first record, continuing to take shots at RTE and push for the people of Ireland to stand up.
Half a decade into his time as Meryl Streek, Dave, the man behind the white contacts and flat cap talked to Brig about his process and persona.
The Look and the Persona
Meryl Streek’s look came from Dave wanting to try something different after touring as a drummer for many years without making much of a name for himself.
Dave had a history of performing as a drummer for years before he came up with the idea of Meryl Streek. The persona itself was born from lockdown and a desire to try something different.
“My life’s been playing in bands for 15 years. You know, as a drummer and I did a lot of touring, none of the bands really hit success. We did a lot of cool things, played a lot of deadly places with big bands and stuff, but we never really got to where we wanted to go.
“I kind of just sat there and smoked a lot of weed and went down the rabbit hole. When lockdown happened, I just wanted to really focus on something new.”
Dave was able to channel his issues with the world through Meryl Streek, donning a pair of white contact lenses and a flat cap as an eye-catching piece of imagery that would make him instantly recognisable.
“I wanted something that could, regardless of whether you liked it or not, it was still going to gain your attention, you know what I mean? So, if you hate Meryl Streek, you’re still going to send it to someone and go, check this out.
“I also thought it (the white contacts) was quite striking and obviously I’m hitting some serious topics. I’m angry about them so I think the contacts just added to whole persona.”
Punk Without the Pretension
Moving away from talking about the presentation of Meryl Streek, Dave discussed his outlook on his own music, specifically when it comes to what genre his tunes fall into.
“When it first started everyone was giving me all these mad genres, and I was like, ‘it’s punk’ and people were like, ‘no it’s not really.’
“I was like, ‘no, no, no, it’s fucking punk because I don’t give a fuck, you couldn’t get more angry.’ That’s what I’m doing.”
In discussions where Meryl Streek comes up, often Dave’s music is put under the sub-genre of “avant-garde Punk”. This is purely because Dave takes a spoken word approach to his vocals, alongside pairing that with a vast array of instruments that creates a sound unlike your typical punk tunes.
“It’s just got a little modern twist on it. I’m just sick of these bands that have been claiming to be punk, going around touring the world for 40 odd years and nothing has changed.
“Mohawks, skulling 20 beers and just getting wasted is not punk. Never was, never will be you know?”
Even if Meryl Streek doesn’t fit into the often-narrow umbrella of punk music, his attitude and the way he goes about discussing the topics he does is undeniably punk. Dave inhabits what it truly means to be “punk”; he’s honest, kind and willing to take a stand for the things he believes in.
Dave went on to tell Brig that his plan for Meryl Streek was to aways try something different and escape the musical past that has become stagnant by the time of 2020.
“That was always the plan for Meryl Streek. I knew it was different from the second I started recording. I came off a huge tour in Europe with a band of mine. I was drumming and I just had a massive falling out with the lads.
“We pretended to be these rockers, going around town to town you know, I mean we were playing to fucking nobody at these gigs. It was just frustrating.
“I just got sick of it, I really did, and I took a real fucking hatred towards the music industry. There’s no money in it, and you’re just sacrificing so much to get nowhere.”
It was at this time Dave hit a crossroads in his life and he had to ask himself if he wanted to keep doing what he was doing or try one more time to reinvent himself.
“I was like, I can take the left or take the right. I could really just try one more musical project or keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
“I quit drinking, I’m still five years sober. I just stopped and made a conscious decision just to do something different and try to do something more meaningful, and that was Meryl Streek.”
Through pursuing something new and giving up old addictions, Dave turned what was a dark time for many into something valuable for him. Lockdown gave him a chance to work on his new persona and figure out what he wanted to say.
The Meaning Behind His Words
Dave has covered Ireland’s unemployment problems and recently delved deep into supporting a movement known as DerelictIreland.
“DerelictIreland are two friends of mine, Frank O’Connor and Jude Sheery, two lovely people. They just highlight the derelict properties across the country here, which is quite sad, you know?
“It’s also something I’m quite passionate about because I get to see where you’re from in the UK and Scotland and I get to see how bad of an issue it is, not just in Ireland. They have a really big following on Twitter (X). A lot of attention gets put on them in the news over here, but there could be more.”
According to The Irish Times, there are over 163,433 vacant homes across the country, whilst the homelessness figure sits at just over 15,000 people.
“It’s just really heartbreaking. This is what the government wants. They want to gain money from this.
“Dublin’s bad, but when you get down in the country, you realise that there’s a lot of places there that have been shut down or closed. Some have been there for 50 years.”
To wrap up the interview Brig asked Dave about his thoughts on Bon Secours Mother and Baby home starting to receive its first wave of excavations which are set to last almost two years.
“I hope there’s something done for the victims and the families of the victims that have waited a very long time knowing their loved ones were in that situation.
“I just hope that it’s handled carefully…It’s such a bigger picture as well you know, because I think if we dug up half of the Catholic schools in Ireland I think we’d not be too surprised to hear that it’s not just Bon Secours.”
There are very few unapologetically punk artists still kicking about in the mainstream, and Dave couldn’t be more right about that. Meryl Streek is punk with all the fat and gristle included. He makes music with a message and doesn’t care if you love it or hate it, as it’s made for, “all the people that relate to it, that’s what it’s there for.”
There’s no other artists quite like Meryl Streek. From his attitude, to his music, to his persona, there’s a lot to love about the contact wearing legend.
You can catch Meryl Streek in Scotland by grabbing tickets here.
Featured Image Credit: Hels Milington
Fourth year Film and Journalism student
Deputy editor
Contact - deputyeditor@brignews.com
