Interviews: Clann Zú

Mike Molnar has provided us with an interview he recently undertook with G7 act, Clann Zú. The band recently released Black Coats and Bandages. I'll let Mike take it from here:

Clann Zú is one of
the most unique bands around. They formed in Melbourne in 1999, mixing various
elements of punk, rock, folk, electronic and classical into their own
indescribable, incomparable sound. The melodies are dark and moving, with
sounds ranging from soft and quiet to huge and dramatic. Declan de Barra offers
up his heart and soul in the music, putting everything he has into every one of
his songs. His lyrics deal with deeply personal/sorrowful moments, to highly
political songs about oppression and resistance.

Click Read More to check out the interview.

(Interview by Mike Molnar)

Below is an
interview with Declan de Barra (Vocals, Bodhrán) and Russell Fawcus (Electric
Violin, Keyboards); both responded separately to my questions. They discussed
life growing up in Europe, the state of Clann Zú, some of the politics behind
their songs, and lots lots more. This is by far my favorite interview I have
ever had the pleasure of doing. I hope you enjoy it.

Also, I recently
received an update on the band from vocalist Declan de Barra:

"At the moment we
are on break waiting for one of our members to recover from illness. We should
be back on the road mid 2005. We will be touring Europe and then hopefully the
states. The record is doing great and it’s flying in places like Germany etc.
At the moment I am recording a solo album to be released mid 2005, it is a
sparse and dark affair with cello, guitar and minimal drums. It is fairly
different to Clann Zu in that I am enjoying verses and choruses again which are
rarely found on Black Coats and Bandages. 2006 will hopefully see us back in
the studio god knows where (Europe where I'm living or Australia with the
lads).  Benjamin and Liam are still working away with their other music
project MYDISCO! Apart from that we are still on the lookout for a good drummer
to work with (as always)."

Could you please start by introducing yourself?
R: Russell
(Fawcus)
D: Declan de Barra

How would you
describe your bands and your overall sound to someone who wasn’t familiar with
you?
R: Drums, Bass,
Guitar, Keyboards, Violin and Vocals creating a dark soundscape of quiet and
loud melody and noise. It is rock based
D: Dark and moving
beautiful music. Dramatic.

Can you give a
brief description of how the band all got together?
R: Ben and Declan
were working together in another band called Non Intentional Lifeform in
Melbourne, before Declan moved to Ireland, with our old bass player Nathan.
From what I can gather, the songs started to change and Ben wanted a violinist
in the band, so they advertised, I saw the poster went and played with them and
they called me back that night to see if wanted to do it. I also was friends
with the old drummer, so I dragged him along to the next jam.
D: Me and Benjamin
were playing in another band called non intentional Lifeform on Roadrunner Records
in Australia. We were writing a new from of music on the side and this quickly
took over and became Clann Zú. We auditioned for a violinist and found Russell.
Last year Liam, Benjamin’s brother, joined us on bass. As of yet we do not have
a permanent drummer.

What made you
decide to start Clann Zú rather than continuing with Non-International
Lifeform? It is a pretty dramatic change from hard rock to the dramatic music
of Clann Zú.
D: Well, we wanted
to create something original, with a dramatic soundtrack quality to it.
Something unique in the mediocre world of rock at the time.

What was it
like growing up in places like Ireland and Australia?
R: I was born in
England and lived there for the first few years of my life - don't remember
them that well. But it was good for the most  part growing up in Oz.
Growing up is growing up, so imagine doing that  in a place that is not
too heavily populated, hot, far away from everywhere else that you learn about
when your young, and is surrounded by lots of coastline and strange animals.
P.S. Australia is all about Melbourne…
D: I can only
speak for Ireland really as I moved to Australia when I was 18. Ireland was
very bleak at the time; the north of the country was on fire and at war. The
British government was trying to crush the IRA and the Republicans and
Nationalists. Bombings, British army murdering civilians, guerilla war etc. On
top of this the south of the country was virtually run by the Catholic Church,
which was fundamentalist and untouchable; corrupt and sexually deviant and
outside the law. To top it off there was no work, the economy was dead and the
only hope was to emigrate illegally to America or Australia like everyone
else.  The streets were violent where I grew up, and you had to know how to
fight. Overall very, very bleak and hard. Australia was like a paradise when I
got there. Until I started to realize it was a racist state.

When you
decided to move back to Ireland in 2002, was it purely for the band or were
there other reasons?
R: My only reasons
were to get out of Australia and be closer to Europe so we could try and play
to more people. Unfortunately it wasn't that much easier to tour Europe on our
own back in Ireland. Especially for the three miserable months we lived in
Galway, we ended up living in Dublin and playing a bunch of shows around
Ireland, working to support ourselves in one of the most expensive places in
Europe and playing one show in London.
D: It was purely
for the band, to give it a shot in Europe where we thought the audience might
be more appreciative and we might be able to get some support, which eventually
happened, although it took starving, freezing, and losing two original members
in the process. A lot of artists like Dirty Three, Nick Cave Dead Can Dance, etc.
had to do the same. After a while Benjamin decided he wanted to live in
Australia permanently. Russell then decided he wanted to go too. So now we
operate from two different continents with me in Dublin and the lads in
Melbourne. I fly over when we write and record and then we meet up in whatever
continent we are touring in.

When listening
to you guys it is pretty hard to pick out any steady influences. What are some
of your influences?
R: We all have
really different influences. I grew up studying and listening mostly to Bach,
Beethoven, Kreisler, Tchaikovsky,  Mendelssohn, Mozart and other kinds of
classical music. The first thing a listened to that wasn't classical music was
Jimi Hendrix (I think I listened with my mouth wide open). I remember being
interested in lots of different stuff when I was growing up, and I still am.
Most of the stuff that I listen to is by Bartok, Shostakovich, Ravel, John
Coltrane, Mile Davis, Thelonius Monk, Ornette Coleman, Nick Cave and The Bad
Seeds, Dirty 3, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Crescent, Pj Harvey, some of the
constellation bands from Montréal, Sigur Ros, Mum, older classic stuff and other
stuff, so I guess that musthave some influence on me?
D: My influences
are very varied from classical to grind, hardcore punk experimental noise to
world music. Personally it changes day to day. Today I listened to Oum
Kolshoum, Tindersticks and Kila. Our influences don't really come out in our
music; we all have really different tastes anyway.

"It is my duty to do the best I can and honor and respect their situation and cause." - Declan

For you personally, what kinds of musical backgrounds did you have when you
started Clann Zú?
R: I grew up
playing classical music, and at the time I joined Clann Zú I was studying for a
degree in classical music (violin) at the Victorian College of the Arts.
D: I had played in
metal bands, rock bands and punk bands. In Ireland I just sang by myself while
growing up, there is a big singing tradition.  I grew up listening to
Motown records and rebel music. Russell had a classical musical upbringing. The
rest of us are musical mongrels.

When you guys
started Clann Zú did you have an idea of the sound that you wanted the band to
be like?
R: I didn't
personally, but I think the other guys wanted to add violin to songs they were
writing at the time that were far removed from NIL. We have never sat in a room
and talked about music that we are going to write, we have always just jammed
stuff out and ended up with stuff that we have ended up recording and stuff
that we have forgotten about or erased from our memories
D: Well we had an
idea that we wanted it to be dramatic, we were creating these long instrumental
pieces with weird vocals that had a soundtrack quality. We knew that we wanted
to add either cello or violin to the mix to add to the drama. In the beginning
there was a lot of folk music and electronic influences too.
 
Orchestration
and instrumentation are a major part of Clann Zú. What specific instruments do
you guys use?
R: Drum Kit (type
depending on drummer at the time), 1970's Fender Jazz  Bass with vintage
ampeg SVT head and fridge, 1967 Fender  Jaguar/Rickenbacker with 70's
HIWatt 50 watt head and soldano box and  pedals, shitty violin with pickup
through a 1965 Vox AC30, EMU Sampler  with inadequate piano sample, Roland
Juno 106, Declan’s voice.
D: We have refined
it down to the core of violin, guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards and piano. No
real electronics any more, we want to be able to reproduce and interpret it
live without too much fuss.

What is a
Bodhrán, appearing on Rua?
D: Bodhrán is an
Irish frame drum that can be played with a stick or hand. It is similar to the
Moroccan frame drum. We didn't use it on the last record as the folk element
had disappeared from the mix.

How did you
decide to bring a violinist into the band, and how did this come about?
D: It was a sound
we were looking for before hand, me and Benjamin wanted a violinist in the band
and we put adverts up all over Melbourne. We auditioned lots of people and
decided on Russell. The sound was not directed from us. His playing best suited
the Clann Zú sound. So we were all on the same page musically.

How did you
guys get involved with the G7 Welcoming Committee? What has it been like being
a part of that label?
R: We sent them a
copy of Rua and they liked it enough to sign us based on that. There are no
words to describe how good they are too us.  Imagine sending a lot of
money to a band you have never met to record an album (BCAB) that you are not
going to hear until it is completed and the money is spent. They are excellent
people who give a shit about all things important. Especially Lorna and Derek
who have worked very hard for us xxx.
D: Our Belgian
manager of the time, Cri, got in contact with them and sent them a copy of Rua.

G7 is a label
with a strong political position. Do you feel that it is your responsibility as
a musician to educate people about your political views through your music, or
are politics something that you leave separate from the band?
R: I think that we
all believe in similar things. I think some of us live our lives according to
what we believe more than we spread the word through music. Declan is the only
one of us with that opportunity since he is the lyricist, and he takes
advantage of that to share his views, especially on the new record.
D: I don't see it
as my duty. I just happen to write lyrics about what is important to me what
fills me with joy or fills me with rage. The extremities of emotions are
usually at the fore when I write lyrics. A lot of the time these are political
events.

Looking back on
your first album, Rua, what do you think about it? Do you ever listen to it?
R: Never listen to
it.
D: I generally
don't listen to records I have sung on. I do like Rua though. It is a snapshot
of where we were at that time, I’m also proud of it because we did it ourselves
with no help or funding. I like the Traditional melodies that show up here and
there, the bodhrán etc.

Personally,
Words for Snow is one of my favorite Clann Zú songs. What is the
inspiration/meaning behind that song?
D: It is like a
lot of the songs I write about, an emigrant song. It is about the desperation
and loneliness that goes with moving countries and leaving your loved ones
behind. The madness that is associated with isolation. It is one of my favorite
Clann Zú songs to sing.

When you
started writing Black Coats and Bandages did you have anything you wanted to do
differently from when you wrote Rua? Was the approach to writing the album
different at all?
R: We didn't want
to spend a year recording bits and pieces in a shitty digital recording system
(Pro Tools) and end up with something that we weren't happy with, and was not
possible to recreate live. We were very definite that it would be recorded in a
studio to a 24 track 2" tape machine and would be an accurate
interpretation of what the band was capable of both musically and in terms of orchestration.
There was definitely an element of the band that wanted to write more musically
complex songs that would be more removed from traditional ideas of what songs
are. We also had two new members (two of the most amazing musicians we have
ever played with) at the time we recorded the album so it was always going to
be very different. At the same time and can  hear some glimpses of BCAB in
about two songs on Rua, so it seems like we were also starting to solidify our
ideas into something that was  more cohesive as a collection of musical
ideas.
D: It was
completely different; we had been apart for 5 months or so. So when we met up
we had to establish a musical dialogue again. We were all at different points.
Some of it, One Bedroom Apartment, You'll Have to Swim, and part of So
Complicated was the Fall were written in Dublin. The rest we banged out in
Melbourne. The recording process was to be a snap freeze picture, with very
fast recording as live as possible to analog. Some tracks proved impossible to record
live the whole way through due to the use of piano and violin changes and noise
separation. Overall it was a very difficult to record and we nearly killed each
other at times but we are very happy with the result and it was well worth the
challenge.

How do you feel
Black Coats and Bandages compares with Rua?
R: I don't think
they do. I think they are so different in some ways that they could be two
different bands. I guess they are what they are.
D: They are very
different altogether, both different periods of time and members. If we
recorded Black Coats a month later it would probably sound very different. Each
album we do is just a documentation of where we are musically at that time. The
recording of Black Coats is far superior on a technical level and I think the
musicianship is better overall. Each one is valid and both have their strengths
and weaknesses.

What does the
album title, Black Coats and Bandages, refer to?
D: It is a line
from the first song. It refers to a funeral procession and the surreal air that
surrounds it. I think it sets the tone for the record very well.

The song One
Bedroom Apartment is in narrative form, which I don’t think you have used too
much in the past. Why did this style fit for this particular song?
D: I often write
mini narratives, even if they are in first person the lyrics usually shadow a
vague narrative or progression. The narrative form best suited me for this song
as it was too close to me and I wanted some separation for the listener and for
me to be able to sing it without collapsing in a mess each time. If I did it in
first person it would be too immediate and a lot of the impact would be lost in
a strange way. The narrative paints a stronger picture in this case.

Is that song
about personal experiences or was it just a story you wrote?
D: Yes it’s based
on where I was in Galway when we first moved over, my fiancée of 5 years left
me and I was destroyed. The song was a feeble attempt to doggy paddle through a
sea of depression at the time.

From both
albums, what one song do you feel is the best representation of what Clann Zú
is all about?
R: Nothing off Rua
is an accurate representation of what Clann Zú is now.  BCAB has about
three songs that could fit that mould: There will be No Morning Copy/So
complicated was the fall/From an Unholy Height.
D: From Rua, Words
for Snow, from BCAB it would be One Bedroom Apartment.

I’m extremely
curious about how you guys write your songs. Can you please describe Clann Zú’s
song writing process?
R: We sit in a
room, and when one of us plays a riff that we all like, we improvise other
ideas around it, then structure it, then Dec writes/chooses lyrics.
D: It is a group process,
there are no individual songwriters. It is a reaction from one player to
another and so on. It’s very organic.  Sometimes a song can be written in
an hour, other times it can be over 2 years.

Your lyrics are
extremely unique. Can you describe some of the subject matter and some of the
inspirations behind your lyrics?
D: I write only
about what is at the forefront of my mind at the time of writing. I don't try
to write a political song or a personal song, but these are usually at the
forefront of my mind. I write about whatever moves me, pisses me off to the
point of incredulous rage, to joy. If I am writing about a political or social
situation that is important to me, I often redraft and redraft until it is
condensed to the essence and works as a piece. That comes from wanting to
respect the people involved. It is my duty to do the best I can and honor and
respect their situation and cause. With the personal stuff it is usually
written in one go with a few changes here and there. I can write what I want
and only answers to me.

How do you feel
about touring? What is your approach to doing live shows?
R: Touring is the
most rewarding, exciting and enjoyable experience that we have had. It is the
most important thing that we do. Live shows are where you lay it all on the
line, it is totally different from writing or recording, cause you don't have
any second chances. If you can't cut it, it is obvious, especially to the other
guys in the band, and it all comes down to preparation.
D: Live shows are
everything. They are the essence of Clann Zú. Live shows are honest and raw.
You see people’s eyes. You play your heart out and you are left in a sweaty
ball by the end. It’s exhilarating. I want to be able to play 300 days a year.
Personally my motto is to play the same 100% whether we are playing to 2 people
or 2000.

Your last big
tour was a Canadian one. What was that like?
R: Awesome, it was
the most fun we've ever had as a band. Canada is an incredible place full of
incredible people.
D: Amazing, the
people we met and the information we gathered was fantastic. I learnt a lot
about the oppression of and resistance movements of the aboriginal people, the
Oka crisis and the native youth movement etc. Very inspiring and encouraging.
The shows were great, the landscapes amazing, we drove over 220,000 kms. We all
lost a lot of weight.

I really love the video for Five Thousand More. Where do you get the ideas
for your animations?
D: When I hear the
music when we jam I usually see little movies in me head. These are what I base
the lyrics on. So the animations are a third interpretation of the song. It is
a visual appendix.

Any plans for a
video for a song off of Black Coats and Bandages?
R: Not at the
moment.

Declan, what is
happening with your solo project? Do you have anything recorded (anywhere where
we can check it out?)
D: I have half the
album finished, while in Australia recording Black Coats and Bandages I
recorded in the same studio. Russell was engineering there so I got him to
engineer it and we mixed it there. It had nice analog gear and microphones. I
dropped one of the songs from the session for a demo version I did in Ireland
as it had a better feel. Benjamin plays on one track. Russell plays piano on
two others. I am utilizing musicians from Ireland mainly, although there will
be some guests from Canada and Croatia playing too. It is self funded so it is
being recorded in bits and pieces with whatever I can beg, borrow, or steal. It
should be ready by January for mastering. I will have some time in between
Clann Zú tours so I am doing a tour of Europe in May and I hope to get to
Canada and the states late 2005 depending on distribution. Overall it will be
very sparse, vocals, guitar, cello and drums or percussion for most. Some are just
voice and guitar or bodhrán or shruti box (Indian drone instrument). Some are
just voice.

What are your
plans for the future of Clann Zú?
R: Tour Europe
D: To hopefully
keep recording when we can and to tour as much as is humanly possible.

Any final
comments or plugs?
R: Listen to My
Disco, it is three dudes with awesome ideas who really give a shit about
playing music the best they can and doing it there own way. Also listen out for
The Orphan Girl which is going to brush off the cobwebs and lurch back into
scratchy, glitchy action in the next couple of months.
D: Yeah check out
href="http://www.blackspotsneaker.org/">http://www.blackspotsneaker.org,
and www.nosweat.com. You can buy clothes
and Converse style shoes that are made under humane conditions with unionized
labor and proper wages etc. Fuck lining the pockets of Nike.
Thanks again
for doing this for me. I wish you guys all the best in the future.
R: Thanks a lot
for the taking the time to write these educated questions and for the kind
words.
D: Nay bother,
t’was a pleasure. Thanks a million for your support!