Kneecap talk winning an Oscar and “inspiring a generation” at Reading & Leeds 2024
Kneecap have spoken to NME about the potential of their self-titled biopic being nominated for an Oscar, as well as hoping to spread the Irish language and their upcoming Finsbury Park show with Fontaines D.C.
Móglaí Bap and Mo Chara of the Irish rap trio sat down with NME shortly before their explosive set on Reading’s main stage yesterday (Friday August 23) – a performance that saw them incite moshpits and call for freedom and peace in Palestine.
“I’ve been to Reading before,” Bap told NME, adding: “I went to LegoLand. I don’t know if that’s in Reading? Windsor? It’s a fucking great spot. This is definitely the biggest stage we’ve ever played. Hopefully we get a good turnout. Everyone is pretty young here; I don’t know if they’re into they’re into their Irish language hip-hop yet.”
Chara added: “It’s definitely our first time. People keep asking us, ‘What does it mean to play Reading & Leeds?’ I’m actually stumped for them and don’t have an answer because I don’t think about it that deeply.”
Asked if they’d anything planned to live up to the hallowed history of the festival, Chara replied: “I don’t even know what the setlist is. We’ve only got 35 minutes. It’s going to have be just madness from the get-go. I don’t know how that’s going to go down with a bunch of 12-year-olds.”
Their set came on the same day that their Michael Fassbender-starring movie Kneecap hit cinemas in the UK. Hailed by NME as “not only one of the standout films of 2024, but arguably one of the best music biopics of all time”, the movie has been submitted by Ireland for the Oscars next year.
Could they take home the gold? Read our full interview to find out this, and much more.
NME: Hello Kneecap. You’re on perversely early today…
Bap: “Again, but not as bad as Glastonbury at 11.30am. I think it’s going to be hard to beat that set.”
Then we saw you at 2am, and it got lairy, to say the least…
Bap: “The atmosphere definitely changed somewhat!”
And of course, you met Noel Gallagher and Paul Mescal?
Chara: “I met Paul very briefly. It was just a quick interaction. He seems like a fucking gentleman. Noel Gallagher was one of the mad moments at Glastonbury. We came off the stage and down the steps, the tent opened and Noel Gallagher came through like some kind of angel. I was like, ‘Is that fucking seriously Noel Gallagher?’ He just said he enjoyed the gig, his mate brought him along, we had a smoke with him and he was very complimentary.”
Bap: “We didn’t believe that he was there to see us. We were just like, ‘What are you doing here?’ Anything but going to see us. I prefer Noel over Liam way more now. I never liked Liam, actually!”
Maybe we could see a future Noel collab?
Bap: “Oh yeah! ‘Wonderwall!’”
There’s rumour of an Oasis reunion tour next year. Maybe get yourselves on that?
Chara: “There would be a couple of billion pound tour! Did you see Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour did over $2billion in sales?”
What would you do with £1billion?
Chara: “I’d be dead in a week.”
Happy film release day. How do you feel?
Bap: “Great. It came out first in America, but I don’t think they got all the jokes, like [Chara] being chased by The Orange Order. I think that was lost on the Americans. They just thought a load of fellas came out of a disco gig all in orange jumpsuits.
“But it was nice to have screenings in Glasgow and Wales and all these places where it really resonates with them. They get the jokes, they get the ethos of what the film’s about with the culture, the language and the madness.”
Have you heard much of people trying to learn Irish since seeing the film or getting into the band?
Bap: “Definitely, loads of that. That’s a massive honour for us, if the film has that impact on people. I got a message from a girl I was friends with years ago. Her daughter is starting primary school in September, now after seeing the movie she decided to send her daughter to Irish school. That’s a massive honour for us. That’s how you’ll change things in Ireland and how the language will progress.
“[Mo Chara] and DJ Próvaí’s parents never spoke Irish, but they sent their children to an Irish school – and look at them now!”
Chara: “The main goal of a band is to have some kind of effect on a future generation. You had The Stone Roses, who then had Oasis coming through because of it; that defined a moment. If our legacy is that the next generation start learning an almost extinct language then I’ll take that all day long.”
Fontaines D.C.’s ‘Romance’ came out today, Electric Picnic had so much brilliant homegrown talent and Irish music really was a dominant force at Glastonbury…
Chara: “It’s ‘RA summer!”
Bap: “For a long time, Ireland has looked elsewhere for inspiration for art and creating music. Now, we’re looking inwards and giving recognition to the standard of artists we have and what we can provide to the world. You’ve got Fontaines, The Mary Wallopers, Lankum, CMAT, Gurriers, Cardinals – there are so many different genres and things happening.
“It’s cool because Ireland is so small. We’re all friendly together, gigging together and there’s a lovely atmosphere in the music scene. Everyone’s feeling that buzz and feeding off each other. Everyone wants a bit of it.”
Chara: “It feels like there’s almost a competition in British hip-hop where everyone is trying to be better than one another. I feel like in Ireland, everybody wants to get on. Every time I see somebody, we’re always talking about doing a fucking song together. It’s all very collaborative and everyone wants to see a band do well.
Will it mean more if you guys make it to the Oscars?
Chara: “We can’t confirm nor deny. We’ll do anything! I just want that goodie bag with the Rolex and all that in it. Most countries get to make a nomination from their country, and we were Ireland’s nomination. We’re in a long, long list, then we need to make a longlist out of 100 films, which goes down to 15, and then down to five. There’s a long way to go and I’d be very surprised. Hopefully bribery works. I’m trying to find out who to bribe!”
Has anyone ever wore a balaclava to the Oscars?
Chara: “I’d be very fucking surprised! Maybe one with a wee dicky bow.”
Bap: “Someone just told us that it’s the highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes? Maybe it’s dropped now because more people have seen it! It’s just a bonus to us. We just made that film because we thought it was a cool story to tell. It was our story, the story of the Irish language in Belfast, and the fact that people enjoy it and that it resonates with people from other cultures, other indigenous languages, that’s just a bonus for us. We’ve seen Basque people and Native Americans who said it makes them reflect on the relationship they have with their own language.
“It’s a very special thing, considering that every 40 days there’s an indigenous language lost. The more languages we lose, the less different perspectives we have on life. Every language has a different outlook on life, and when you lose that, it’s gone forever.”
And if you win, that would be Michael Fassbender’s first Oscar…
Chara: “He begged us to be in the film. We were finally like, ‘Alright Fassbender, just this once’. It’s your big break.”
You’ve got some big stuff coming up – a huge UK and Ireland tour at the end of the year and then that huge Finsbury Park show with Fontaines D.C. next summer…
Bap: “I can’t wait. Fontaines, Amyl & The Sniffers – I love them as well. It’s a fucking iconic gig. It’s going to be once in a lifetime with that line-up. There’s more people to be announced as well. It’s going to be an Irish bonanza, I would imagine.”
How do you foresee the backstage antics? Tea and cakes?
Bap: “I think we’ll all be reading Flann O’Brien books; The Third Policeman, chapters of that. Ulysses maybe? We’ll have a James Joyce-off! It’ll be cool. We’ve been backstage with the Fontaines a few times and a lot of tequila was drank, and I don’t even like tequila.”
Are you going to seize the moment? Maybe have some new material or a movie sequel out by then?
Chara: “New music? Fuck, definitely.”
Bap: “We’ve already started. We’re working on different collaborations, working with different genres, different languages. We’re going back to the music now, because we’ve been doing the movie for the last six months – talking, talking, talking, talking, talking. Talking about music we don’t mind, but the movie has been very strenuous. We want to go back, make music, have a bit of craic in the studio, and get back to our roots.”
Chara: “We definitely want to do acting, though, in the future. I don’t want to close that side of things off, but we definitely want to go back into the studio away from everybody and just do music for a while. Nothing sounds better at the moment. That’s enough cameras and talking shit.”
Well we won’t make you talk any more shit. Cheers Kneecap!
Kneecap’s UK and Ireland tour kicks off in October. Visit here for tickets and information. Tickets are also available for their show with Fontaines D.C. at London’s Finsbury Park on Saturday July 5, 2025.
Follow all of the action as it happens on the NME Reading & Leeds liveblog here.
Check back here for the latest news, reviews, photos, interviews and more from Reading 2024.
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Andrew Trendell
NME
