Daith’ gives unique twist to high-tech music with fiddle

2011 could well be Daithí Ó Drónaí’s year. The Ballyvaughan-born musician is set to release his debut EP next month and will be featured on TG4’s music show, Ceol ar an Imeall on Wednesday, February 16. On stage and in the studio, he uses a traditional instrument (the fiddle) as a starting point in creating modern music infused with beats and samples.

“To put it very simply, what I use are loop stations, which are basically things that let you record anything that you want live,” he says. “Basically, I can play a melody and then I’ll play it in a loop and then I can put them on top of each other.

“I’m using an awful lot of samplers, the fiddle and synthesisers,” he adds. “I’m building up a one-man band and there’s a whole pile of different influences. There’s a traditional side of things and there’s an indie-rock side of things. More recently it’s getting electronic because of the equipment I use.”

Daithí’s music has been described as ‘math-rock’, a style of music that uses precise timing and undistorted guitars to achieve a clear sound. Inspired by popular bands in the genre like Battles and Foals, the young musician went about making his own sound.

“When I was starting out I was wondering what kind of instrument I could use to get a sound like that,” he recalls. “I had played fiddle when I was younger and I picked it up gain. When you pluck it, you get a really clear tone.”

In 2009, Daithí featured on RTÉ’s inaugural All-Ireland Talent Show. Although he did well in that contest, Daithí is eager to move on from it.“I kind of stumbled in on it by accident,” he says about auditioning for the show. “I was looking for a singer, basically; I brought my stuff along for the craic.I got through to the final five and it just went on from there. It’s kind of weird because I’d never played a gig before that.

“Looking back on it, I have two views on it,” he continues. “It’s really launched me to where I am now. I got the Electric Picnic that year and a whole pile of gigs that I wouldn’t have gotten if I didn’t get that exposure. On the other hand, there’s this really big stigma about all the talent shows.”

Daithí also went on to feature on the Sky TV show, Must be the Music but now insists that he’s had enough of reality TV and wants his music to do the talking.

“It was really good to launch me, but at the same time I’d like to step away from it,” he says about his TV appearances. “You don’t want to lean on those types of shows too much. As soon as I was done, I just cut it off; I said ‘you’re not allowed to introduce me as Daithí from the talent show’. You have to have the music on its own merits.”

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.