Dance music is for every generation with Jenny Greene 

When it comes to combining the infectious energy of dance music with the grandeur of an orchestra, Jenny Greene and the RTÉ National Orchestra have set a very high standard while also becoming a sell-out sensation around Ireland. Ahead of their upcoming show in Cork, Jenny spoke first about how she goes about selecting songs from decades of great dance music. As an experienced DJ, Jenny, who got her first set of decks when she was 12 and has been working in both nightclubs and radio for decades, knows how to read an audience and its mood but while a DJ can substitute the next planned record with another from their bag at a moment’s notice, it requires substantially more preparation when an entire orchestra is following her instinct.

“You don’t want to be completely overanalyzing the song selection before you get to the night, but then once there is the setlist, you are thinking to yourself ‘I hope this goes down the way I think it will!’ It’s amazing the feeling you get when you are on stage, and it works and you get the reaction you hoped for. That feeling is doubled then because you have the stress that was there beforehand, and then you get the elation from it as well.”

Gemma Sugrue, who has been the main vocalist with this project since day one, is someone whose ear and instinct Jenny rates as highly as her singing ability. “When it comes to the tracks in the set I have a couple of key soundingboards, and Gemma’s very much definitely one of them. You can ask a broad mixture of people who all go ‘Yeah, I like that track’ but sometimes you have to dig into things a bit deeper, I don’t want to be playing anything less than a load of songs I love, but you do have to be conscious that people have spent a lot of money for the night, not just the ticket, it’s everything — the babysitter, the parking, the drinks or whatever — I’d hate someone to leave and say they didn’t enjoy that, or ‘it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be’. I do kind of beat myself up about that aspect a lot, so when you get a good reaction on the night, you can kind of say ‘oh, thank god!’.”

It is an interesting balance for a DJ to be working with an orchestra, of which traditionally the conductor is the person ‘in charge’. It’s a relationship Jenny is keen to highlight as collaborative. “I do get to choose all of the songs in one way but I have to fight along the way at times. I have to insist and say ‘please trust me on this. It’ll work. It’s right’. It’s not that I dictate to others to be fair, but if I don’t have full control over what we play, then what am I doing?

“Everybody has their roles on it; obviously, the orchestra has theirs and Gemma very much has hers as well. Our sound team is great as well and our visuals too. So if I’m not fully selecting the music, then I may as well not be there. It has its moments that people might say are a bit of a battle, but it’s because we are all battling to make it the best experience. And those selections aren’t about me picking the songs I like most, it’s about the experience. For instance, the vocalists have to be taken into consideration with every song choice. How is this going to flow in the set? How’s everybody going to enjoy it? How is this going to work from an orchestral arrangement point of view? Are the strings going to shine? Is the brass going to shine? Is Gemma going to shine?”

While Jenny’s concerns of making the most of the live occasion for performers and the audience is paramount, she doesn’t really get to soak in the event until afterward. “I can see the audience right at the front, but then because of the way the lighting and everything is situated, from where I’m standing I kind of miss out at the moment, but then I watch back other people’s videos that I get sent on social media of people all sharing from the same concert, it’s amazing to see all the different perspectives at the same time. You see loads of people sharing clips of things they were moved by. So even though you’re not getting that visceral experience at the time, you can tap it in watching it back.”

Another thing Jenny notices about the audience is how diverse the make-up is. “I see things like kids on shoulders; and then next to them some teenagers, and then next to them older people and then next to them people my age. My parents came to see it, I think it was the first year, I got them nice seats away where they could relax and enjoy the gig.

“And during the opening track, I looked down on the crowd and my mom and dad were right at the front row, giving it everything. And then beside them were like really young people. So it’s the people who remember the songs and then also people who’ve heard them get popular on the radio in the last number of years.”

While Gemma sings the most songs at the concert, she isn’t the only vocal element of this year’s concert. “Paul Ried has been a guest for the last couple of years on the show and he is back again. A lot of people will know him as an actor, stuff like ‘Finding Joy’ and ‘Derry Girls’. What he brings to the night is great because he approaches it not as a singer but instead like he’s playing a part so it’s quite amazing to watch him, for instance, he does ‘Born Slippy’ (the iconic track features on Trainspotting) which is actually very complicated and fast. And then this year, we’ve got Jack O’Rourke; I’ve always kind of wanted him to do the gig, I’ve been asking him for a long while, and he’s finally agreed to do it — and join us Live At The Marquee. We’ve picked a song that you won’t think of when you think of Jack O’Rourke and I’m sure it’ll the magic.”

Jenny Greene and the RTÉ National Orchestra play Live At The Marquee on June 23.