Lost On Music

Lost in the supermarket…

ailing from Meath and Tyrone respectively, Oisín Leech and Mark McCausland have been making music together since 2007.

And as The Lost Brothers, they’ve built up a reputation as one of Ireland’s more interesting duos.

Sure, even poet Paul Muldoon is impressed, stating that “their songs often seem quite placid on the surface – then one realises just how depth-charged they truly are”.

When you’ve got fans such as the Muldoon lad in your audience, you know you must be doing something high agus mighty, Leech and McCausland poetically listing their influences as Patrick Kavanagh, Billie Holiday and Jack B Yeats. To name just three much-loved rockers.

More recently, their latest album, After The Fire After The Rain, made Album Of The Day on BBC 6 Music, getting the thumbs up from Iggy Pop and Steve Lamacq.

Hitting The Whale on Saturday, January 28th – details here – we finally managed to sit Oisín down for 15 minutes, to find out where, when and how he got lost in music…

I was lucky enough to grow up around music. On both sides of the family there’s a huge appreciation of music of all genres, from Irish traditional to jazz. My grandmother in Buncranna Co. Donegal ran the Plaza dancehall in the 1950s and ’60s, and saw all the bands of the time pass through. I’ve memories of her sitting at the piano playing and singing at night for hours. I’d sit by the fire, enthralled.

I’ve another Buncranna memory of playing Beck on a small dictaphone walking around the coast in the rain.

My mum and dad are both great singers too and my dad plays fiddle. And my sister is an ace piano player and singer also! She’s got a superb band with her husband Cormac called Perlee. So in essence, I’ve been surrounded by music since childhood.

From my dad’s side I’ve also inherited a healthy collection of very fine vinyl records from the likes of Sean O’Riada to Paul Robeson, from Planxty to Bob Dylan and Nina Simone, from The Chieftains to Joni Mitchell and Clannad.

When I hit the age of 14, a school pal Allen Quinn in Navan played me a cassette of Bob Dylan’s Freewheelin album and that changed my life forever. That led me to Woody Guthrie, The Clash, Gil Scott Heron and beyond.

Now, those songs that can still make me break down and cry…

Nina Simone Young, Gifted And Black
This live performance by Nina Simone is really wonderful – as a performer she operates on another level. She summons all her powers to deliver the song. I love how she conducts and leads her band here too. Everything she does in music is a masterclass; I find her music very inspirational. It’s worth watching the full Summer Of Soul documentary that was released recently from which this video was taken. Coincidentally, the concert took place the same month that Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

Fionn Regan Be Good Or Be Gone
Certain albums are important in that they break open doors for a whole new generation of songwriters… Fionn Regan’s End Of History is a great album in that it threw open a whole new gateway for musicians. I remember seeing Fionn perform this song in Dingwalls in London when this album was first released and it was just great. Brilliant guitar player too. Still a great artist releasing great records.

Paul Brady Crazy Dreams (1976 The Embankment) 
I’m really loving Paul Brady’s new autobiography which charts his fascinating career so far. This performance from 1976 is interesting in that it captures Paul Brady in a state of metamorphosis as an artist. At the time of this TV performance this song Crazy Dreams was called Another Day Without Her. It shows his great skill as a musician, writer, singer and performer. I love his precision as a player and as a singer – while at the same time it has great soul.
On this video you’ve got some legendary players – Arty McGlynn is on steel, plus Dónal Lunny and Andy Irvine, who did so much for Irish music with the brilliant Christy Moore, Planxty and beyond. For me Brady doesn’t belong to any scene or category – he’s completely unique. He calls himself ‘an outsider’ in his autobiography. I think it’s his singular path that makes Brady one of the very best. I saw him perform recently in the Solstice Arts in Navan Co. Meath and it was top notch. It was Paul Brady and one microphone, and magic ensued…

Van Morrison Caravan (from The Last Waltz)
I first saw this performance watching The Last Waltz DVD in Sicily near Taormina in 2001. I had just seen Bob Dylan in concert that evening and later some pals and I ended up at a house party. Someone stuck this film on. I was 19 or so and was blown away by this Belfast singer playing with The Band and raising the roof with his song Caravan. A soulful performance that kicked stardust up into the air. I love the stage kick he does – apparently that’s a trick his mother used to do in Belfast when she sang.
I love this song so much I named my RTE 1 radio show after this song and this performance. Tune in to Caravan Radio again soon!

The Clash Stay Free (from the film Rude Boy)
I love this song. In the video taken from the film Rude Boy, Mick seems to be laying down his vocal take in the studio.
Growing up between Navan and Buncranna The Clash were a band I had constantly playing on my discman. I met Mick Jones once in London. I was asked to sing at one of his mate’s wedding, and when Mick arrived, my band and I started playing this song Stay Free, and he gave us a thumbs up! Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were a phenomenal partnership.
With Paul Simonon on bass and Topper Headon on drums, they forged such a powerful sound. In 2022 we could do with having The Clash around.

You can catch The Lost Brothers at The Whale on Saturday, January 28th – tickets here – and find out more about the lads right here.