![Joseph O'Connell PhD (Cardiff) MA (Cardiff) BMus (Hons)](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/2793?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Joseph O'Connell
(he/him)
PhD (Cardiff) MA (Cardiff) BMus (Hons)
Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies
- OConnellJ2@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 29208 74381
- 33-37 Corbett Road, Room 1.04, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3EB
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I am a specialist in popular music studies, with particular interest in punk rock, politics, and performer presentation and experience. I have conducted historical research on political rock during the Thatcher era and fieldwork on contemporary underground music-making and performance. I am also a conservatoire-trained clarinettist and self-taught guitarist, and have wide experience of performance in classical and popular contexts.
My teaching reflects my research and performance interests, taking in popular music history and analysis, jazz, and the intersection of music and politics.
Publication
2020
- O'Connell, J. 2020. 'Caught in a culture crossover!' Rock against racism and Alien Kulture. In: Arnold, G. and McKay, G. eds. The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock. Oxford Handbooks Online Oxford University Press, (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190859565.013.20)
2019
- O'Connell, J. 2019. 'The undiluted squash of UK math rock': the performer's view of ArcTanGent festival. Riffs 3(2)
2018
- O'Connell, J. 2018. A Friday afternoon stroll through ArcTanGent Festival with Alpha Male Tea Party. Riffs: Experimental writing on popular music, pp. 5-7.
- O'Connell, J. 2018. 'Suffer Louder': the cultural politics of the American mathcore canon. Presented at: Metal Punk Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, 13-14 December 2018. pp. -.
- O'Connell, J. 2018. Rethinking Live Aid: a social mo(ve)ment?. Presented at: Music and Social Movements Symposium, Northumbria University, 30 November 2018. pp. -.
- O'Connell, J. 2018. 'The undiluted squash of UK math rock': the performer's view of ArcTanGent. Presented at: Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, University of Huddersfield, 3-5 September 2018. pp. -.
- O'Connell, J. and Murray, S. 2018. 'Are You With Me Now?': the sŵn performer's journey. Presented at: Past and Present: Local Music Making and the Politics of Popular Music, REDHOUSE Cymru, Merthyr Tydfil, 27 January 2018. pp. -.
2017
- Hill, S., O'Connell, J. and Thomas, I. 2017. One weekend in October: The Swn Festival, Cardiff. Presented at: CHIME Conference 2017: Music, Festivals, Heritage, Siena , Italy, 25-28 May 2017.
- O'Connell, J. 2017. The performers journey. Cardiff: Cardiff University/Creative Cardiff. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/672529/Festivals-Research-Group-Report-March-2017.pdf
2016
- O'Connell, J. 2016. 'Practical Dreamers': Red wedge and the British State. Presented at: Music, Political Activism and the State, University of Southampton, 13 April 2016. pp. -.
2014
- O'Connell, J. 2014. 'Better Decide Which Side You're On': Authenticity, politics and post-punk in Thatcherite Britain. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2010
- O'Connell, J. 2010. Rumba Rules: The politics of dance music in Mobutu's Zaire. By Bob W. White. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008. 300 pp. ISBN 978-0822341123 [Book Review]. Popular Music 29(3), pp. 483-485. (10.1017/S0261143010000310)
Articles
- O'Connell, J. 2019. 'The undiluted squash of UK math rock': the performer's view of ArcTanGent festival. Riffs 3(2)
- O'Connell, J. 2018. A Friday afternoon stroll through ArcTanGent Festival with Alpha Male Tea Party. Riffs: Experimental writing on popular music, pp. 5-7.
- O'Connell, J. 2010. Rumba Rules: The politics of dance music in Mobutu's Zaire. By Bob W. White. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008. 300 pp. ISBN 978-0822341123 [Book Review]. Popular Music 29(3), pp. 483-485. (10.1017/S0261143010000310)
Book sections
- O'Connell, J. 2020. 'Caught in a culture crossover!' Rock against racism and Alien Kulture. In: Arnold, G. and McKay, G. eds. The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock. Oxford Handbooks Online Oxford University Press, (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190859565.013.20)
Conferences
- O'Connell, J. 2018. 'Suffer Louder': the cultural politics of the American mathcore canon. Presented at: Metal Punk Conference, De Montfort University, Leicester, 13-14 December 2018. pp. -.
- O'Connell, J. 2018. Rethinking Live Aid: a social mo(ve)ment?. Presented at: Music and Social Movements Symposium, Northumbria University, 30 November 2018. pp. -.
- O'Connell, J. 2018. 'The undiluted squash of UK math rock': the performer's view of ArcTanGent. Presented at: Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, University of Huddersfield, 3-5 September 2018. pp. -.
- O'Connell, J. and Murray, S. 2018. 'Are You With Me Now?': the sŵn performer's journey. Presented at: Past and Present: Local Music Making and the Politics of Popular Music, REDHOUSE Cymru, Merthyr Tydfil, 27 January 2018. pp. -.
- Hill, S., O'Connell, J. and Thomas, I. 2017. One weekend in October: The Swn Festival, Cardiff. Presented at: CHIME Conference 2017: Music, Festivals, Heritage, Siena , Italy, 25-28 May 2017.
- O'Connell, J. 2016. 'Practical Dreamers': Red wedge and the British State. Presented at: Music, Political Activism and the State, University of Southampton, 13 April 2016. pp. -.
Monographs
- O'Connell, J. 2017. The performers journey. Cardiff: Cardiff University/Creative Cardiff. Available at: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/672529/Festivals-Research-Group-Report-March-2017.pdf
Thesis
- O'Connell, J. 2014. 'Better Decide Which Side You're On': Authenticity, politics and post-punk in Thatcherite Britain. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Research
My research interests lie primarily in punk rock, politics and notions of authenticity. I am currently part of a research team exploring the role of popular music genres in language revitalization and cultural identity in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Cymru (Wales). The project, Prosiect Puutahitanga, is a collaboration between staff at Cardiff University and the University of Waikato (see https://www.instagram.com/prosiectpuutahitanga/).
My doctoral research examined the ways in which punk, politics and authenticity intersected in Britain during the Thatcher years, taking in performers such as Tom Robinson, Billy Bragg and Crass, as well as the Rock Against Racism movement, Live Aid and the Labour-party supporting group of musicians, Red Wedge. I have written a chapter on Rock Against Racism and the British-Pakistani punk group Alien Kulture for the Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock (OUP, 2020).
I have also conducted ethnographic research on the UK math rock scene, which encompasses music drawing influence from punk, progressive rock, metal and jazz in terms of sonic and visual aesthetics, and takes a largely DIY approach to performance, recording and distribution. This research was particularly interested in the experience of performers and the current climate of professionalism in underground music-making, and resulted in talks at international conferences and an innovative article for the popular music journal, Riffs.
Teaching
Undergraduate
Year 1: Writing About Music (a module which teaches essay writing practice and develops knowledge of a single work in the Western art or popular music canon: my teaching is based specifically upon Radiohead's OK Computer); Music as Culture (I contribute teaching on the cultural study of popular music and jazz).
Year 3: Jazz, Culture and Politics (a historical survey of post-WWII jazz styles and performers, which highlights and explores key political and cultural concepts present in jazz discourse); Dissertation supervision (I have supervised a wide range of projects on topics within popular music and jazz studies).
Postgraduate
I lead the module Music Research in Practice and contribute seminars to the modules Introducing Music Studies, Music, Culture and Politics, and Cultures of Performance. I have also supervised MA dissertations on punk rock and popular music and politics.
Biography
Education
- 2014: PhD (Music), Cardiff University
- 2010: MA (Music, Culture and Politics), Cardiff University
- 2007: BMus, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Academic positions
- 2018 - present: Lecturer, Cardiff University School of Music
- 2015 - 2018: Associate Lecturer, Cardiff University School of Music
Research themes
Specialisms
- Popular music
