Diddley-Aye Goes Electric

The early, acoustic years…

e’ve been here before, of course, with, most obviously, Donal Lunny and friends having electrified Irish traditional music with the likes of Planxty and Moving Hearts, but megaTRAD are clearly keen on breaking new ground.

By mixing some very old sounds with new technologies, aiming for music that they’re describing as, hey, tradscendental.

The mad feckers.

Coming to The Whale on Friday, January 24th, we asked brothers Cillian and Seán O’ Dálaigh along with their buddy Denis McAuliffe to reveal their influences – and chart just how megaTRAD came into being…

I don’t know if there was ever going to be a different path for us.

Though we deviated away from careers solely in music at times, those roads always came to an end or brought us back to where we were going originally.

Brothers Cillian and Seán were both brought up in a family of musicians and dancers so inevitably it was always going to be part of their lives. Though Denis was the only musician in his household it was always something that was in his blood as it came so naturally to him. Having worked in many other jobs throughout the years he was never content until he realised that his efforts were misdirected and his pursuit of happiness lay in playing music for others to experience.

The story of megaTRAD began as an experiment for a local gig at The Glen Tavern in Limerick.

The idea, initially proposed by Cillian, was that we bring any effects pedals we have and play a ‘trad session’ plugged in, utilising various effects to explore the nuances of Irish traditional music in a new way, while holding onto a huge premise of what we all love from traditional music that is, listening to and playing with the other musicians. This improvisatory approach to a trad session is what we still hold onto today and is what makes it so enjoyable for us to perform.

Though we never really know what’s going to happen on stage, we know we can trust each other to simply listen and bounce off each others ideas. An approach we often lean on is that there are no wrong answers in a megaTRAD gig. If you have an idea go for it!

I think for us, something that always draws us back to music, and sticking with it through thick and thin, is that we can continue to explore ideas and express ourselves, and to be able to do this for our work is incredible really.

Now, on to those influences…

Cillian’s Picks

Bon Iver 22 (Over Soon)
Without ever properly having heard Bon Iver a friend sent it to me and this being the first track it very quickly became a moment where I re-remembered how limitless you can be with your music. His skill in carefully chosen manipulations of sounds is nothing short of wizardry. One of the rare occurrences these days where an artist can make you feel so deeply with electronic music.

Tame Impala Eventually
About this song and Tame impala as a whole, I love the kaleidoscope landscape of music it creates in each moment. His use of effects, vocal textures and classic and psychedelic rock guitar sounds take you to another dimension. Truly one of the biggest sounds of my soul.

Sean’s Picks

Liz Carroll Catherine Kelly’s/Lake Effect
This was one of the first tracks from Liz Carroll I ever heard and it was also the first time I had heard Irish tunes being arranged with just bowed string instruments in this way. Hearing each instrument utilise their tone and register to create such funky, intricate counter melodies without any harmonic accompaniment blew my mind. It opened a world of arranging on my instrument that I still thrive for today.

Damien Rice Trusty and True
This is just one track from an entire album that holds a special place in my heart, My Favourite Faded Fantasy. The honesty in the songwriting and the arrangements that move from soft and delicate to heavy and hard-hitting seamlessly throughout have the power to evoke emotions from the listener that shows what honest, heartfelt music can achieve.

Denis’ Picks

Hoodman Blind Down in the Willow Garden
These musicians’ ability to lend themselves to whatever feelings the song asks for is an act of selflessness and sharing, it’s a difficult thing to do – let go and surrender parts of yourself for the feelings that the music asks of you, and Hoodman Blind nail it.

Unknown Track
I heard a track on YouTube about 20 years ago that was possibly of Turkish or further east influence. I remember it well in my mind but have never been able to find it again! That’s probably half the charm!

Unknown Trad Track
Irish trad music is very difficult to capture, I believe it has to be heard live to have the chance to impact as it should, though I heard an amateur pub recording of who I think is Andrew McNamara on accordion and Mark Donlon on the fiddle which is the closest thing I’ve experienced to transporting the music into to microphone and out of the speaker.

Communal Influence

Kila Tóg é go Bog é
Though we all appreciate all the tracks and artists mentioned so far, Kila are the main, big communal influence for all of us as musicians, and again it’s hard to pick just one track. Being the first live band Cillian ever saw in Dolan’s at 16, this track plus everything else they do was the first time he felt a real primal connection with Irish music. He always loved playing in sessions but this made him realise how powerful Irish traditional music be.

It’s hard not to admire Kila’s drive to constantly push their sound to new places while still staying true to who they are as musicians and a band. They show that they can produce a stir of emotions that is greater than the sum of the individual musicianship by what happens when they work together.

You can grab your tickets for megaTRAD at The Whale on Friday, January 24th 2025 here, and find out more about the trio right about here.