A former electrician, who decided to become a musician after seeing Christy Moore perform on TV, Dublin-born singer and bouzouki player Daoirí (pronounced ‘Derry’) Farrell has been acclaimed as one of the most important traditional singers to come out of Ireland in recent years.
After a promising debut album, The First Turn, in 2009, True Born Irishman was released in October 2016, winning Daoirí two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, for Best Traditional Track and Best Newcomer. This month, he releases his third album, A Lifetime Of Happiness. We asked him for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
I can’t say for certain what my favourite film is. I guess in a way, I’m like my Da in the sense that I tend to fall asleep mid-film. I’ve been quite busy these past few months, and so we (myself and Tara) don’t get to the cinema too much. The last one we went to see was a horror film. In fact, the last few we went to see were horror films. We love them, however, I cried tears of sadness during The Wind That Shakes the Barley and I cried laughing during The Campaign. So I guess if you were asking me to name my favourite film I’d have to say The Wind That Shakes The Barley.
MUSIC
Now you’re talking... I listen to a lot of music. I always have. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Irish flute music. With all of the different artists, I’ve been listening for each one’s unique style. The reason for this is because I’ve been trying to learn to play the flute myself this past year. I also listen to songs a lot. Especially field recordings of the old singers from different parts of Ireland. I love the rawness and simplicity of them, and the feeling from some of them that they really are singing from the heart. I love that in a song. A feeling of pure honesty. That's what gets me. I always go back to the old favourites like Planxty The Bothy Band, Christy Moore, Andy Irvine, Oasis, CSNY, Neil Young’s solo stuff, The Prodigy, that kind of stuff. It’s probably a weird mix now that I look back over it.
BOOKS
I’ll have to be honest here and say that I don’t really read books from start to finish. I should probably read more but I’d rather listen to a nice bit of music or podcast. I’d say the last two books that I read were Jonathan Livingston Seagull and A Kestrel for a Knave. You see, I had a keen interest in birds when I was a young fella. Falconry, in particular, so two books about birds that actually are not at all about birds. Fascinating.
THEATRE
Again, like books, plays are not something I indulge in very often. The first real electrical job that I had was wiring the stage lighting section of Liberty Hall about ten or eleven years ago. They still work, I’ve stood under them a few times. The last and probably only play I’ve been to was Jimmy’s Hall in the Abby Theatre there last year and I thought it was great.
TV
I loved Peaky Blinders, The (English) Office and Breaking Bad. I binged all of these while I had some time off and kind of did and didn’t regret it. Know what I mean?
GIG
Two or maybe three weeks ago, we went to see The Young’uns. These guys are from England, and have been friends of mine for a while now - we went to see them perform here in Dublin, and they absolutely blew me away. It was a fantastic night out.
ART
Hmm, I really don’t know too much about art.
PODCAST
I listen to the radio quite a bit when I’m driving, and I got a nice new radio in the car that I can listen to my podcasts on. I found one in particular very interesting called S-Town, about a guy from Alabama. Now, I won’t say any more about this, because it’s an easy one to spoil and I love talking.
TECH
I love my new camera. It's a Canon M50 mirrorless job. I’ve got Instagram, Twitter and Facebook page that I think all the readers should follow. I put most of my photos and thoughts up there in case anyone wants to have a look and I’m quite easy to find being called Daoiri. The website is also great, and that can be found here...
THE NEXT BIG THING...
The next big thing? I really don’t know. I think that’s what makes it so interesting when it comes along...
A Lifetime Of Happiness by Daoirí Farrell is out now.
