Bambie Thug: “Change can be done with music, and people listen through art”

nme.com:

Bambie Thug spoke to NME at Download 2024, telling us about life after Eurovision, using music as a force for change, festivals representing minorities, and their plans for the future.This year marked the Ouija-pop singer’s first time on the main Apex Stage at the Donington Park festival after debuting on the smaller Dogtooth Stage back last year.

It also followed them competing in the Eurovision Song Contest earlier this spring, where they represented their native Ireland with the show-stopping track ‘Doomsday Blue’.They came in sixth place – Ireland’s best performance in 25 years – and made headlines for their vocal support of Palestine amid the conflict in Gaza, and for voicing their frustration at Israel being allowed to compete in this year’s competition.“The uptake in fans and support has been incredible,” they told NME of life since Eurovision. “It’s wild because a lot of my stuff is explicit, but I’ve now garnered a really big young fan base as well.

So I’m wondering if now I have to do some less explicit songs. It’s been beautiful, they’ve named themselves ‘The Coven’ and every single one of them seems super kind, super creative and super open.

It’s so good to finally be getting more recognition too because I’ve been hustling for years.”While they were forced to remove the words ‘ceasefire’ and ‘freedom for Palestine’ in a mediaeval script from their costume due to Eurovision’s political neutrality clause, they did sport the message in their make-up on the night, as well as share a moving rendition of The Cranberries’ political hit ‘Zombie’ ahead of the finale.Shortly after they took to the stage for a powerful, politically-motivated set on the main stage, Bambie Thug caught up with NME to talk about returning.