Cruitire a sheineann feadóg agus go leor uirlis traidisiúnta eile, is ea Bríd McGowan as Sligeach agus is léir cad as a fáisceadh í ach is léir go bhfuil spéis aici ar cur leis an traidisiúin ar bhealaí difriúla.
Labhair sí le RTÉ.ie/Gaeilge faoina halbam debut, Brídín, agus an spreagadh a fhaigheann sí ón saol agus í i mbun cumadóireachta.
Idir filíocht Derek Mahon, glór an aisteora Stephen Rea agus filíocht ó bhéil an chumadóra / léiritheoir Murli, agus comhchaoil ó Sharon Shannon agus Clare Sands - tá meascán suimiúl sna foinn ar 'Brídín' - ar tharla sé seo go horgánach?
"Bhuel, is aistear é an albam seo. I rith an lae tá post agam mar adhlacóir agus balsamóir, táim timplithe ag an mbrón, leis an mbriseadh croí, gluaiseacht an nádúr agus is spéis go mór liom sin, mar sin an chéad amhrán ar an albam, 'Hideaway'. Sin amhrán fúmsa, im aonair, ag éalú ón mbrón agus an dorchadas, ag dul chuig m’áit compórdach."
"Tá cúpla traic eile ag tús an albam – ‘Empty Room’, ‘Dancing Shadows’ agus ‘Running’ le Murli – tá siad saghas frantic, dark and moody. Ach ansin tá droichead sa traic, ‘Dali’s Dream’, (le fáil ar an CD amháin) agus tá difríocht ann nuair a thagann an traic sin, ins an mood agus an téama."
"It’s like the darkness and the frantic nature of grief, that unknown. When you get to ‘Dali’s Dream’, it’s kind of that sense of acceptance and release."
"Tar éis ‘Dali’s Dream’, ar an tárna thaobh den vinyl ansin tá ‘The Dawn Chorus le Stephen Rea’ agus tá rudaí ag athrú síos go dtí an traic deireannach, ‘Saoirse’, the freedom that you’ve got through the whole grief journey and now you’re at ‘Saoirse’ and this big release that’s been building."
"Tá traic ann roimhe, ‘Grandad and Granny’, mo sheanathair agus mo sheanmháthair, giving little nuggets of life lessons – I think we need to listen more to older people cos they talk sense!"
"Fuair mo sheanathair bás ó shin, so it's very special to me, an traic sin."
Is as Luimneach do Murli agus tá tú mór le Denise Chaila as an gcathair céanna – bhfuil gravitation ar leith agat go Luimneach nó an comhtharlúint é sin?
"Níl ann ach na daoine. Tá gach duine ar an album just sound! Sin an rud is tábhachtaí! In the music industry I find that there’s dhá saghas daoine; tá daoine ann agus níl acu ach hunger for fame and they kinda use you – I can see them coming a mile away to be honest."
"Ar an taobh eile tá daoine an- an- speisialta and when you find those people, hang onto them and be there for each other because it's such a gorgeous friendship in music."
"We don't, you know, listen to older people a lot of the time and they’ve been through life and they can see it from another perspective.
Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile?
"Yeah, sin é go díreach. Ach is breá liom Murli, tá sé ana-cheolmhar. Scríobh mé an traic 'Running’ faoi rud an-dorcha a tharla nuair a bhí mé ag obair agus scríobh mé an traic and I just played and played and it and it got me through it. That track really healed me from that specific case."
"With music I find it as a way of communicating my emotions and our emotions and it helps us channel things."
"And I didn’t want to be too specific with an scéal so I just went to Murli – we’re pals from playing together with Denise and all that – and I said ‘Murli, what do think about this?’. And he listened to it – I told him nothing about an scéal féin."
"He heard something completely different but he totally vibed off the franticness and the rhythm. He just got it instantly and came up with that rap and its so perfect. I absolutely thought it was class."
"So the story was told musically but not specifically through words."
This is your escape room or escape route from the darkness of your work, but it’s not all dark, surely?
"It’s not always dark. I have a great sense of gratitude from the job and I meet such gorgeous people and it’s such a special thing, I feel, that I’m doing for people as well, so it’s not all dark."
"It’s amazing the outlook you have when you are dealing with people who have lost the most important person to them. You get snapped back into reality very quickly and for that I’m grateful as well."
You are the creative director and creator of the concept for the album Brídín, do you go into a ‘Brídin’ character when you are playing or are you still just Bríd McGowan and Brídín as a stage-name?
"To be honest, Brídín is me, that’s the real me, warts and all!"
"So it’s not a Ziggy Stardust or an Aladdin Sane?!"
"No, but I will say, ar dtús, thosaigh mé ag úsáid an t-ainm sin mar go bhfuil mé i ndomhain an cheoil traidisiúnta agus cé nach bhfuil mo cheolsa traidisiúnta tá a lán eilimintí den cheoil traidisiúnta ann. Is é Brídín mo pheata-ainm ar aon nós mar táim ana-bheag! People call me Brídín anyway since I was a child so nuair a thosaigh mé ag scríobh na hamhráin agus an cheoil difriúil seo I said, yeah, I’ll go with Brídín for this stuff!"
"I do play trad, I’ve All-Ireland medals, I love trad. I don’t like when other people have an outlook like I want to change the trad scene. No. I think the trad scene is absolutely gorgeous. It needs to be protected and I obviously still play loads and loads of trad music – I’m not trying to change that. I’m just doing my own thing!"
Is fiú éisteacht le Brídín doing her own thing mar chuid de Tradfest. Beidh sí ag seint in Ardgillan Castle ar an Domhnach ag 1i.n – gach eolas anseo.
Seachas sin lean í ar instagram anseo nó ag bandcamp anseo.
