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We caught up with twins Adam and Jason Dupree of The Working Boys Club during one of their community workshops to find out more about the inspiration behind their energetic installation Serving Sounds. 

Tell us a bit about Working Boys Club and your installation Serving Sounds.

The Working Boys Club was built a few years ago. Just before the pandemic we were chatting about how we’ve never worked together and started bouncing around some ideas. We wanted to start with a company rather than a project so we could begin with deciding what the company should stand for and what our values should be. This very much focused on our working-class background, the lack of arts we experienced growing up and the lack of art that is created for working class communities, art that people like us find appealing. We weren’t connecting with a lot of art and people we knew weren’t connecting with it. So, we wanted to explore what could be created that would appeal to people like us, like our parents. We found we were able to really tell our own stories, in our own language, without it feeling watered down or spoon-fed.

Male mental health is a big thing that we wanted to keep as a core principle and we started questioning how people connect in pubs and what it is about pubs that helps people connect. The bar is our twist on what pubs do – we want to create connection and community, swapping out alcohol for music. The pub, for example, is our dad’s hobby. He doesn’t do swimming or yoga, he meets people at the pub – because where else would he go to meet his friends? So that’s where Serving Sounds started.

Can you describe Serving Sounds for someone who hasn’t experienced it? 

Serving Sounds is a touring pub. It looks like a bar where you might get drinks, but this one serves music not alcohol. It’s got everything you’d expect from a bar, beermats, drinks, bottlecaps, and everything you touch makes sounds. We created it using conductive sensors and music production software to convert your touch into a drum, guitar, someone singing. Basically, it’s a four-person musical instrument that looks like a pub.

How do you envision our festival audience engaging with your installation? 

Chaotically! We always imagined people walking past on a sunny afternoon, saying to each other, ‘fancy a beer?’ then looking over and seeing Serving Sounds. Then when they discover we don’t serve beer but sound, that confusion, maybe disappointment turns to surprise and conversation. We find that Serving Sounds sparks a lot of conversations. People are intrigued and that develops into good chats. The bar really brings you to the present too. It pulls you out of your everyday life, helps create a bit of peace.

That sounds like a good match for this year’s festival theme ‘Moment’. How do you think this theme fits with your installation? 

It fits right in in its own kind of way, bringing people in. That confusion. Why are there two bald twins nodding and touching things on bar, y’know? We’re creating a matter of curiosity for people that pulls them into a moment, whatever form that takes – from people giving us a weird look to others jamming a whole song with us.

Music is very central to your piece. Why did you choose something focused on music? 

It’s been a big love of both of ours. I [Jason] have been playing guitar for a very long time, doing singer/songwriting, jamming in bands and Adam plays piano and harmonica. It’s been a core part of how we’ve connected with other people, especially when travelling.

The accessibility of what music can offer is massive too. Our dad can listen to a guitar solo and never question what it’s trying to say, he just falls into it. That’s what we’re trying to do with our art. Music is a strong and easy way of pulling people in. A lot of people forget that music is a form of art, they see it as its own entity almost. It’s a really good language to use to speak to people that isn’t uncomfortable – you can just speak with a tune on the bar.

How do you choose the tracks that you use? 

That’s interesting and such a hard one. When we first started putting tracks together, we tried original tracks with a few covers thrown in, but it was the covers that people reacted best to. They’d say, ‘Oh, I know this song’, then they’d want to figure out how it’s played through the bar. We also really wanted to keep the mental health theme involved in the music, so we picked artists and bands that had a mental health connection, like Kurt Cobain, Foo Fighters, and Amy Winehouse. We knew that a lot of those aren’t the most happy ones so we also play bangers to get everyone dancing, to not think too much – those happy, wholesome songs. We want ones that aren’t just of one generation. Something that connects to everyone. Perhaps our first idea was too serious and what people needed was that light-hearted play, which is just as strong as that deep, meaningful art. We rearrange the songs we play as well so people recognise them but there’s a bit of a twist on them too.

Also, ones we don’t get sick of. We have to listen to them 8 times a day!

What’s next for the Working Boys Club? Can you teaser any new ideas?

We’ve had a great time touring Serving Sounds and really seeing how different people connect with it. One thing that stood out was how many kids wanted to have a go so we want to see if we can make something more suitable for children, at the right height, with the right theme. It’s got so much potential. We also have some other ideas, things we can create using our skills so we’re keen to experiment when we get the time.

Sounds like we might see you with something new at future festivals!

Keep up with the Working Boys Club by following them: @the.working.boys.club