On Stage
When Bleech 9:3 songwriters/guitarists Barry Quinlan and Sam Duffy first crossed paths in their early twenties, it almost seemed inconceivable that they hadn’t met before. Throughout their tumultuous teenage years spent gigging in various projects around Dublin, they’d lived near-parallel lives mired by the chaos-purgatory spiral of addiction; like two shadows cast by the same light but never touching.
In the throes of the early stages of recovery – when a better life still felt elusive and intangible, something to be hoped for, though not necessarily to be believed in – Barry and Sam were introduced to each other at a 12-step rehab programme. Barry soon signed up to be his new friend’s sponsor and take him through the process, and felt energised by the similarities in their ambitions and worldview.
“I think to find someone your own age, with the same dreams as you, from the same city and is also suffering from the same thing… we knew immediately that we could help each other,” recalls Sam. “You can lose your mind thinking about how rare that is.”
However unsteady their respective circumstances may have been at the time, a brighter, more creative future suddenly came into focus. In between “secret” writing sessions the foundations of Bleech 9:3 were born, giving Barry and Sam purpose to move forward. “From the point of view of recovery and sobriety, we shared an intrinsic understanding of each other. It felt like we were building something very, very special,” says Barry.