Sunbrellas move out of shade with magic music mix

Sumbrellas, a Galway based three piece who formed in June last year, have quickly became one of the city’s busiest bands, gigging constantly and playing in both the US and Italy.

The group is made of Chris White (vocals/guitar), Emmet O’Malley, (vocals/guitar/mandolin) and Federico Betti (violin/mandolin). The smallness of Galway, and its tight network of musicians, helped bring the band together.

“I was opening up for [trad/punk band] The Rye at Árus Na nGael,” recalls Kentucky native Chris. “Emmet and Fede had opened for them the week before. I tried to ring Fede to see if he wanted to play but he was in Dublin that weekend. [The Rye’s drummer] Des had told me before about Emmet and he said ‘give him a ring’. So I rang Emmet and he came over. We learned a few songs and we played a gig that same day.”

“I was playing with Emmet for the past couple of years,” adds Fede. “I met Chris through [fellow musician] Ciara. Emmet and I were looking for a singer.”

Although Emmet and Fede had been gigging together, they hadn’t hit upon a formula they were happy with.

“We didn’t really know what we were doing, we were playing some cover gigs,” says Emmet. “I don’t think all the pieces were together until we started playing with Chris, it was a completely new thing. There was a lot of energy and it was great fun.”

Sumbrellas jumped straight into the live arena, with their early shows also serving as rehearsals. That was a gamble, but one they feel has paid off.

“Obviously, we had some terrible gigs,” Emmet admits. “But we had some great gigs too. That spontaneity was great; when it was going well it was such a buzz. If we didn’t take that jump, maybe when we started gigging we would’ve been more reserved on stage.”

Sumbrellas first started out playing songs by artists that inspired them but then set about writing their own. They recently released a three-track EP and will soon start work on their full length debut.

“At the moment in our set we have 15 original songs,” Emmet says. “That’s stuff that’s tight; there’s loads more coming as well. We plan to record and release an album by the end of the summer.”

“The album will have a full sound,” he continues. “The EP has a sense of percussion but there are no drums on it. The one thing we said was that we didn’t want to disappoint people [with the live show.]”

Until they go into the studio, Sumbrellas plan to gather every song they have and make demos – rough recordings that the band will use as reference points. Encouragingly, there is no shortage of material.“We keep writing and coming up with new ideas,” Chris says. We just throw them out in the open and play around with it. We haven’t done demos before, so this’ll be a new thing for us.”

Is the band’s Italian fiddle player enjoying also enjoying life as a Sumbrella?

“Absolutely,” he says. “The last time I played in a band was maybe five years ago in Italy. Then I came to Ireland and I said ‘no band!’“When I came here I loved the way you play in a session and it’s so informal. I wasn’t even thinking about playing in band and then I met Emmet and I thought ‘this is fun’. That’s what you want.”

“I had a similar situation to Fedi, I hadn’t been in a band for years,” Emmet adds. “I didn’t want to be in a band because I was sick of how there’s always an element of trying to be really cool, rather than trying to make really good music.”

Chris hadn’t been in a band in a long time either; one of his previous projects in the US was a KISS tribute band. Not a job you see on many performers’ CVs, but it has proved beneficial to Sumbrellas’ American singer.

“I think so, definitely,” he says. “I wouldn’t mind putting on some make-up and throwing on the old suit again – it was easier to play like that because no one knew who you were!”

Although there’s a strong sense of Americana to the Sumbrellas sound, it would be a mistake to pigeonhole them into a specific genre.

“All of us are into everything; a lot of bands limit themselves saying ‘we’re this kind of style’,” Emmet says.

“We are still really young as a group,” Chris explains. “Even the sounds we’re making are growing; there are different elements we keep bringing in. Throwing in a banjo or an electric guitar, mixing the two; maybe even some piano. We just want a variety of music.

Maybe, in a while, there might be a genre that we fit into but right now it’s a mix of rock, pop, bluegrass, traditional. Different elements all blended in together – like a jazz explosion!”

The words ‘recession’ and ‘creation’ may seem to be at odds with each other, but times of economic doom and gloom seem to stir something in musicians. David Gray re-mortgaged his house to fund White Ladder, his biggest success; The Smiths strived against Thatcher’s Britain; The Stunning formed in Galway during the 1980s. When Chris’s work in construction dried up he picked up his acoustic guitar and hasn’t put it down since.

“I miss the pay cheque, that’s about it,” he deadpans. “I don’t even miss that too much; I’m finding ways of making it by. Just like a New York city rat!”

Sumbrellas are a band with a real sense of purpose, even if that’s just having fun and raising hell wherever they play. They’re happy to be based in the West but are also determined to take in new horizons.

“We did say that this is the place to live, in Galway,” Emmet says. “But we all want to travel and play with this as well. We’ve already been to Italy and America since we started. We can either do this right or not do it at all. We just want to play as much as we can, that’s it.”

Sumbrellas play Monroe’s Tavern on Saturday, January 16 and January 30; The Clock Tavern, Westport on January 22 and The Co-Op, Moycullen on Saturday, January 23. For more see www.myspace.com/sumbrellas