Biography
Jape serves as the solo outlet for Richie Egan, who handles bass duties in the Irish instrumental rock outfit the Redneck Manifesto. Functioning essentially as the group’s creative counterpart, the project shares little stylistic ground with that band aside from a similarly unconventional yet approachable method of shaping its sound. Egan’s work under the Jape banner centers on a folky singer/songwriter foundation laced with alternative-rock and electronic elements; critics have drawn parallels to Beck, an acknowledged influence, as well as to David Kitt, who joined him to co-produce the 2004 single “Floating.”
Egan first honed his multi-instrumental skills within Dublin’s late-’90s hardcore-punk community, then assembled the Redneck Manifesto in August 1999. Drawing structural and sonic cues from early post-hardcore acts such as Fugazi and post-rock ensembles including Slint and Shellac, the band issued its debut single on the self-run Greyslate Records in 2000 and signed with the fledgling French imprint RedF Records the following year. Their 2001 debut album ThirtySixStrings attracted considerable attention both domestically and across Europe, prompting the swift release of the follow-up Cut Your Heart Off from Your Head less than twelve months later. That summer the group topped the bill ahead of the Mars Volta at Witnness Festival, then Ireland’s biggest music event. Concurrently, Egan readied his own debut for Dublin’s Volta Records—the label also home to the Frames and Messiah J and the Expert—issuing the limited-edition Cosmosphere in a run of five thousand copies.
In 2004 both Jape and the Redneck Manifesto aligned with the Dublin indie label Trust Me I’m a Thief. Plans called for a simultaneous September drop: the Redneck Manifesto’s third album I Am Brazil, tracked in southern France under producer Dave Odlum (Kila, the Frames), alongside Jape’s sophomore set The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me. Regarded by most observers as a clear advance over the first record, the latter yielded the minor hit “Floating,” again co-produced by the Dublin native Kitt. The track unexpectedly caught the ear of American power-pop artist Brendan Benson during a chance hearing in a Dublin bar; Benson subsequently performed it live on multiple occasions with the Raconteurs throughout their 2006 tour.
Egan first honed his multi-instrumental skills within Dublin’s late-’90s hardcore-punk community, then assembled the Redneck Manifesto in August 1999. Drawing structural and sonic cues from early post-hardcore acts such as Fugazi and post-rock ensembles including Slint and Shellac, the band issued its debut single on the self-run Greyslate Records in 2000 and signed with the fledgling French imprint RedF Records the following year. Their 2001 debut album ThirtySixStrings attracted considerable attention both domestically and across Europe, prompting the swift release of the follow-up Cut Your Heart Off from Your Head less than twelve months later. That summer the group topped the bill ahead of the Mars Volta at Witnness Festival, then Ireland’s biggest music event. Concurrently, Egan readied his own debut for Dublin’s Volta Records—the label also home to the Frames and Messiah J and the Expert—issuing the limited-edition Cosmosphere in a run of five thousand copies.
In 2004 both Jape and the Redneck Manifesto aligned with the Dublin indie label Trust Me I’m a Thief. Plans called for a simultaneous September drop: the Redneck Manifesto’s third album I Am Brazil, tracked in southern France under producer Dave Odlum (Kila, the Frames), alongside Jape’s sophomore set The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me. Regarded by most observers as a clear advance over the first record, the latter yielded the minor hit “Floating,” again co-produced by the Dublin native Kitt. The track unexpectedly caught the ear of American power-pop artist Brendan Benson during a chance hearing in a Dublin bar; Benson subsequently performed it live on multiple occasions with the Raconteurs throughout their 2006 tour.
Albums
Singles
