This is the first installment in a series of interviews we’ll be conducting with each tour guide. We pride ourselves on our excellent staff, and we’d love you to get to know a bit more about them.
We recently sat down with our tour guide, tech and all round nice guy Dave to discuss favourite bands, whiskey and the music industry. Here’s what he had to say.
Name some of your favourite Irish musicians.
My favourite musician would definitely be Phil Lynott. He’d be kind of a lot of people’s favourite I’d presume. Apart from Phil, it would be Rory Gallagher, another great musician, Gary Moore, who played with Thin Lizzy for a number of years. Bands like Stiff Little Fingers and The Undertones would be my sort of style.
Why did you become a tour guide at the museum?
Well I’ve been tour-guiding for about four or five years now in different aspects of tourism, like Georgian history. I was working in the Whiskey Museum, I was working at a Viking attraction, but personally my main interest is music, so to be able to combine both together was kind of perfect.
What do you like most about working in the museum?
Working in the museum, every day is different. You’re meeting different people, sharing your stories, but also people are sharing their stories with you. Their time, their experiences, seeing bands like Thin Lizzy or U2 in their younger days.
What is your favourite piece of memorabilia from the museum?
Personally, Phil’s bass guitar. I’m a huge Phil Lynott fan and Thin Lizzy fan. It’s definitely my favourite piece.
If we could get memorabilia from any musician in the world, who would you chose?
That’s a tough question! I suppose probably Freddie Mercury. I’m a huge fan of Queen, so anything by Freddie Mercury would be a huge thing for me.
Do you play any instruments yourself?
I do. I play guitar and bass. Not as much as I used to, but yeah, I still play them occasionally.
Do you play in a band?
No. At home, by myself (laughs). I used to as a teenager though!
What would you be if you weren’t a tour guide?
If I wasn’t a tour guide I’d probably go back to working in the music industry. I used to work in music as a sound and lighting engineer so I’d probably go back to working in the music industry in some form.
What is your favourite music venue in Dublin?
Depends on what I’m going to see. I used to work over at Vicar Street and that’s a really great venue. At the Button Factory I’ve seen many bands I liked in my childhood, you know, and as a teenager I’ve seen many of the punk bands I listen to, like American Complainers, so it’s between The Button Factory and Vicar Street, but then also for the bigger bands the 3Arena. I saw AC/DC there, it was amazing.
What’s the best gig you have ever seen in Dublin?
My favourite ever gig would probably be Foo Fighters supporting Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was many years ago. I’d say eight years ago, if not longer.
Our tours run from 11am to 5:30pm every day and you can book online for a 20% discount.