Max HeyraudChildhood friends Frankie Downbeat and Ronan Macca built Síbín Soundsystem from the ground up in Limerick to give bass-heavy music the power and pressure they felt it deserved.
Built in the heart of Limerick, Síbín Soundsystem is a custom dub rig powered by childhood friends Frankie Downbeat and Ronan Macca. After nearly 20 years playing records together, the pair decided that if they wanted to feel the full weight of the bass-heavy music they loved, they’d have to build the system themselves. Designed, cut and assembled locally in 2025 with help from friends and craftspeople around the city, the Síbín Soundsystem was born.
Rooted in traditional reggae culture but unafraid to push outward, Síbín blends classic dub foundations — think Lee Scratch Perry and King Tubby, with forward-thinking bass and electronic textures inspired by acts like Rhythm & Sound. In 2026, they’re taking that sound to the streets with free parties and carefully curated ticketed sessions, including heavyweight bookings such as OM Unit, pressure and serious low-end impact.
Can you give us a bit of a backstory on Síbín? How did it form, and how do you all know each other?
So, Síbín Soundsystem is Frankie Downbeat and Ronan Macca, and we’re both from Limerick. We have known each other since we were kids, and we’ve been playing records together for nearly 20 years at this stage.
The idea to build the Síbín Soundsystem came about early last year. We had both been playing records around Limerick and often felt underwhelmed by the bass response of club systems. Our record collections are full of bass-heavy music, and to enjoy it properly, we knew we needed more power from the systems we were playing on.
Building our own sound is something both of us have always wanted to do. We both spent most of the previous decade regularly attending soundsystem dances across the UK and Europe, but the sound that was the biggest catalyst and inspiration for us was Rise Up Soundsystem here in Ireland. Jonzey is our longtime friend, and we were both really impressed with what he has achieved with his system. With his input, we knew we had an opportunity to build the system we always wanted.
What were your respective musical backgrounds prior to forming Síbín?
We both came up in Limerick in the early 2000’s and were both involved in promoting soundsystem gigs in the city with a few other heads under the name Roots Factory. At this time (2007-2012), we booked many Jamaican and UK-based artists and MCs, with sessions often powered by the Rootical Soundsystem from Galway or the Revelation Soundsystem from Cork. We had some great parties back then featuring the likes of Adrian Sherwood, Jonah Dan, Dixie Peach, YT, Brother Culture, Murray Man and even the legendary Horace Andy.
After this, things in Limerick kind of ran their course for us, and the crew dispersed across Europe. Frankie moved to Bristol and Macca to Barcelona. We kept our love of soundsystem culture alive and well, though. Frankie worked with longtime friend and producer Brigadier JC to release a number of dub 12” records on the Roots Factory label over the next 10 years. He also produced for a variety of UK-based labels and had some long-running radio shows in Bristol on stations such as Passion Radio, NOODS and SWU/Rinse FM. In the meantime, Macca was at large in the Iberian peninsula, going to soundsystem gatherings all around Spain and generally just soaking in the European bass culture vibes.
In recent years, we both found our way back to Limerick and each wanted to bring home some of the musical culture that we enjoyed on our travels. Local spots like The Commercial, The Wickham Way, and, of course, Pharmacia have been really helpful in giving us a platform to get our sound and vibe out there.
When did you decide to build the Síbín sound system? Who was involved, and what do you remember about that time?
The decision to build the system came in January of 2025. We realised that if we wanted to be able to play the music we love, with the pressure and power we felt it deserved, then it was going to be up to ourselves to make it happen. This isn’t to say we built it from scratch ourselves; we had a lot of help from a lot of people.
Once we had decided to make this system, we then began a phase of intense research. Speaker designs, wood grades and thicknesses, driver choices, cables, amps, wiring, watts, crossover points, assembly, finishing and storage – all had to be considered and ultimately formed together into a usable design.
The next step in the process was to make use of the flatbed CNC machine in the UL FabLab in Limerick city. Shout out to Ger from the FabLab, who explained to us what we would need in order to make use of this machine. We used CAD software to draft tool path diagrams that arranged all of the panels we wanted to cut on large sheets of birch ply. These templates were then fed into the CNC machine, and the result was an inventory of precisely cut panels ready for assembly. It was at this point that we started to get a little concerned with the scope of the assembly job that was in front of us!
The next milestone in our process was to bring in our friend and top carpenter, Derrick O’Sullivan, to help with actually putting all the wood together. We gave Derrick stacks of freshly cut wood and lots of cryptic, home-drafted designs from which he assembled the gorgeous speaker stack that we now know as the Síbín Soundsystem. We had a bit to do yet, though, the assembled boxes needed to be sanded and finished. Once this was complete, we got our friend Chris Moore and his trusty soldering iron to help with wiring all the drivers and SpeakOn inputs.
Throughout this time, we were constantly trying to come up with a suitable name for our system; this proved to be no easy task – it’s hard to think of a name and imagine yourself standing beside it for years to come. Many suggestions came and went, each more unsuitable than the last. Finally, we arrived at Síbín. A name that we were both happy with and one that we felt had ties to soundsystem culture and underground partying, while also staying true to our Irish roots!
Do you think sound, in general, is given enough attention in Irish music venues?
There have always been venues, promoters and sound systems that consider the importance of good sound in this country. Certainly, from our experiences as far back as the early 2000’s, there have been high-quality Funktion1 and Void rigs at most of the events we attended across Ireland. Not to mention the dedicated Irish soundsystem veterans who have been championing soundsystem culture in Ireland for decades. In recent years, you can see more attention being paid to sound, with some audiophile music bars opening up around the country with their own custom-built systems.
At the end of the day, sound is only one part of what makes a great event and feeling intense bass frequencies is not something that appeals to every music lover. We feel we are in great company operating in Ireland alongside a long list of heavyweight custom built soundsystems and the spaces that cater for them.
The Síbín Soundsystem is rooted in reggae. What differentiates it from other systems?
Yes, the sound is rooted in the traditional reggae soundsystem approach, in that we use delay units, sirens, spring reverbs, and microphones at our sessions. These are the tools used by the systems that inspired us throughout the years. However, our music selection for Síbín is an amalgamation of that traditional reggae foundation and our own personal taste for electronic and bass-heavy music. We haven’t set out to be “different” to the other sound systems operating in the country, but we are certainly pushing a vibe that is true to ourselves. Each night makes for a slightly different choice in selection; we are likely to play anything from Lee Scratch Perry to Rhythm & Sound, from King Tubby’s to Ken Boothe, Jammy’s to Jahtari.
Jamaican music is the root and the foundation of what we do, but we are also inspired by downtempo and club music across all electronic forms.
You’ve booked OM Unit, a hugely prolific artist. Why did you choose to book him?
OM Unit was a booking we didn’t have to think twice about. Frankie and Jim (OM Unit) have a long-standing friendship from time spent together in Bristol. We wanted to make a splash with our first ticketed event, and it just seemed that OM Unit was the perfect fit for us.
His recent works on the Acid Dub Studies albums are a perfect example of the mix of traditional dub and more forward-thinking electronic reimaginings that are close to our heart and to the sound of Síbín.
Om Unit and Frankie also appeared together on a 12” remix EP released in 2025 by Spiritual World Recordings out of Canada.
When you’re booking artists, do you consider how their sound will translate on the system and how it aligns with your ethos around sound?
Absolutely. A big motivation for building the system in the first place was to provide an opportunity to showcase some of the talented DJs and artists that we know from Limerick and Ireland in general. Last year we threw some free street parties for the community, and at these sessions we catered for other sounds like disco, afro, brazilian music and more old-school reggae styles. There is always the excitement of hearing different music on a custom system; tunes achieve a different quality when they are played outside, in the sun, on large wooden speakers. Now, as we also start running Síbín Sound ticketed events, we’re going to try to book artists that fit a more focused ethos, heavyweight and club-friendly, call it “Dub not Dub” or forward-thinking dub music.
Soundsystem culture often feels like one of the last bastions of anti-establishment music movements. Do you think that’s a fair assessment?
Is it one of the last bastions? That is hard to say, there are plenty of scenes out there with good counter culture energy, as I’m sure the punks and metalers would tell you. It’s fair to say that soundsystem music has always been the music of the people. It doesn’t promote capitalist agendas and so far has managed to escape most of the commercialisation that club music has faced in the past decade. There’s often a strong sense of rebellion, empowerment and unity at a proper soundsystem session that is intoxicating and motivating. Sure, each soundsystem crew has pride in their selections and their speakers, but that is about the extent of the ego at these parties. We are a small island, and we have a comparatively small pool of like-minded people here that are up for going to these kinds of events, so it is nice to see that the soundsystem sessions are drawing good crowds of diverse partygoers.
We were inspired by legendary UK systems like Jah Shaka, Aba Shanti and Channel One, and closer to home, Firehouse Skank, Rootical, Revelation and Rise Up, all of which deliver a message of love and unity in the community at their sessions. These themes represent a cornerstone of our soundsystem identity.
More broadly, how do you feel about club culture in Ireland at the moment?
Ireland’s club culture is facing a difficult time of late. You just have to look at the number of late-night club spaces that have closed over the last decade. Sunil Sharpe and his team at Give Us The Night have tirelessly pushed back against this wave of minimising club culture in Ireland. This is not an easy task when you consider that a whole generation never got the chance to experience club culture due to Covid19. It’s the independent small venues and festivals that are really flying the flag for underground culture by making space for soundsystems and promoters to try something unique. These partnerships between dedicated promoters, small venues and festival sites are what keep the scene alive. Also, the DIY scene really seems to be going from strength to strength at the moment. People are rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into different projects, creating a new wave of interesting events.
