ABOUT THIS EPISODE FROM HOST JAMES DIER AKA $MALL CHANGE:

aight, been a minute ppls. I moved recently and my life was slightly upside down for a minute. when isn’t it really tho. in this episode of Stark Reality we roll out the tattered red carpet to Hells Kitchen / Dublin and catch up with my old friend Desmond O’Byrne aka Des aka DJ Repoman. I met Dez in the mid 90s running around underground parties in NYC, we were both resident DJs at the afterhours spot Rubulad. we talk digging in various flea markets in the area, his background as guitarist in the Irish garage rock band The Golden Horde, opening up for the Cramps and playing with bands like The Prisoners and Billy Childish, growing up in Dublin in the 70s, seeing the Clash and Ramones and Specials in ’78, making posters for DIY shows he put on, moving to NYC, getting sober, adjusting to playing music sober, becoming a dad, getting into carpentry, cleaning records with wood glue, and why he gravitated towards instrumentals when he first started DJing. and our night in the early 2000s we did together at Plant Bar in the East Village. Des is top ppls can’t say that enough. great dude with excellent taste in music. recorded Nov 2022.

For Des’s exclusive playlist of sounds around the world, cumbia, kompa, brazilian, rocksteady, and a few guitar licks, go to Episode 54 of Stark Reality