We are a group of 4 individuals that have come together via their love of music and wanting to leave behind a leaner cleaner greener planet than the one they started with. In short: to be the change that they want to see in others. As individuals, they could only achieve so much but as this powerhouse that is funk"n"hard, they have come to realise that the sky is the limit. Harnessing power from the wind and sun they will help to both entertain and educate the people of Ireland. They want to encourage communities to become more like-minded in the way we all use the planet’s resources and show how the smallest changes to our day to day lives have a big impact on the environment.

FunknHard was the brainchild of Jefri a little over 10 years ago with an idea of forming a DJ act with house music and good vibes. Although the line-up has changed over the past decade - Jeff, Ro and Daniel successfully held two residencies in the sadly now-defunct clubs of “Funktion” in Enniscrone and “Carnival”, Ballina. There, these lads played alongside a host of big-name DJs / Artists such as Richard Durrand, Marcel Woods, Alex Kidd, John O’Callaghan to name but a few! Trance and hardstyle music were the dominant forces at the time, but a trip to Ibiza would influence the trio into appreciating funky house music and suddenly; the boys who had grown up loving and mixing hardstyle slowed their sets to reflect this new influence.

FunknHard were later introduced to Ballina DJ, Ryan C - and without knowing it then a new member to the crew had arrived. The following years would see Ryan bring FunknHard to the clubs in Galway. When the chance came to play at the Battle of the Lakes festival in Achill, Co, Mayo, the group seized their opportunity to entertain a large festival again and soon, other gigs landed including The Elementz Festival and Ballina Drifting Festival.

In January 2020, on a particularly dreary day - the kind where the weather is mentioned as a general greeting by everyone (“terrible today isn’t it!”) - a conversation about Ireland’s overall climate led to one about the importance of slowing down the effects of pollution, in general. A then outsider to the group, James, adapted a can-do approach to the idea that we can create an eco-friendly stage via a wind turbine. The challenge was set. To the background of house tunes, ideas slowly became plans. James was added to the group on the proviso that he got on the decks and learned the trade himself! Now, the foursome were finally ready to take on the task of changing the world...or at least a part of it ;)encouraged by a quote by Margaret Mead "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

FunknHard have started on a journey to become innovators and educators. To be one of, if not the first, to ask the questions we have all asked ourselves: “How do we continue to enjoy ourselves without having a negative impact on the environment?”

Funknhard was born in 2009 as a DJ group, who travelled the length and breadth of Ireland working in pubs & club parties and even the odd wedding to mix it up. Back in the day, when we were finding our feet, there wasn’t a lot of emphasis on the planet or even nature in general. We just partied and had fun: going from gig to gig meeting people from all walks of life, some are still friends to this day. But as with all young men we grew up and started to grasp the world as a whole and realised that if everyone did a little bit to help the environment it would make a big difference down the road.

So four lads from Ballina, County Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland, combined all their experience which consists of Engineering, Electrical, Business & Information technology, to embark on a mission. That mission: to create a movement that would see society band together in different communities and turn to more natural ways of harnessing and re-producing electrical power. We always give 111% to our work because our passion, combined with our values and goals, drives us so that we can make a difference and protect our beautiful planet Earth (Gaia).

It’s now a long way from the initial inception but without forgetting their roots FunknHard has grown and matured into an eco-warrior's dream, where we can now run a pounding festival tent for 12 hours on recycled batteries and our trusty turbine "Zammara". Zammara was rescued from a skip, brought home and nurtured back to perfect health and now enjoys letting people hear the sound of free power. Check out Zammara (link to page) for a detailed walk-thru.