The Prongs

Part gig-theatre, part song-cycle, part incendiary cabaret, and part rock n' roll situationist prank, 'The Prongs: Fake Stars Who Fell to Earth', is an electric show that emerged from the mind of musician, composer and theatre sound-designer Niall Toner jr and playwright, novelist, essayist and prankster John Fleming. The project was inspired by Fleming's cult Irish novel The Now Now Express. He and Toner breathed real life into the imaginary post-punk heroes whose cassette tape sat atop a fridge in a dingy flat in E17 in the 1980s in the imagination of the author, a post-punk band that was later assumed to be real by the reviewer of the book in The Irish Times. Toner composed timeless pieces to match spoken and sung verses from the pen of Fleming, loosely inspired by the characters and atmosphere of the novella. In July 2023, a debut real-world show took place at the Project Arts Centre thanks to the support of then artistic director Cian O'Brien. The show sold out, was ecstatically reviewed and was accompanied by a mini-album recorded by Toner in his studio, for which award-winning cellist Elliot Murphy was recruited to contribute additional compositions .The Prongs 'album' and a follow-up EP have been taken at face value and have been receiving airplay on BBC 6 Music's Riley and Coe, RTE Radios One and Two FM, and a host of independent radio stations. The Prongs went on to perform in The Irish Centre in Camden Town last spring alongside Sean O'Hagan (of Microdisney and The High Llamas) and appeared at last summer's All Together Now festival on top of sell out shows at Whelan's and Dublin's Grand Social, as. well as a show at the Button Factory with special guest Martin Bramah, founder of legendary post-punk band The Fall. There is new album due late in the summer (working title: Hector Grey) and a single 'Truant' from the Psychogeography EP coming out in early spring. The Prongs are currently shooting the final scenes for a feature film 'The Unlikely Assination of a Saint', directed by legendary conceptual artist Dave Clifford and starring Niall and John as the unlikely assassins and Eamon Carr of The Horslips as Saint Patrick The Mystic. The Prongs will play Ireland famous Electric Picnic in August and will be on tour building up to it through the summer.