Galway six-piece keeps it primarily in the family
As drummer, vocalist and songwriter, Ben Duffy is the heartbeat of Galway-based six-piece the Leon Stax Equation, whose third album arrives into the world this week. Titled In View, it is a record that builds on the groove of its predecessors, presenting a contemporary range of funk and soul music with big hooks and smooth rhythms.
Oran O’Neill, Jack Sherrard and Sam Wright complete the lineup alongside Duffy’s brothers Tom and Aidan – and to celebrate the album’s launch, the Leon Stax Equation play the Loft venue in Seven this Friday, with support from Cherry Pickers and Entertainment Purposes.
For Duffy, what began as more of a solo project has morphed into a comprehensive outfit.
“Years ago, I was playing in a Bob Marley tribute band, and I remember realising, with his music, no one instrument is doing a lot of heavy lifting,” he says.
“They’re all doing very simple parts and really locking in together. It was a eureka moment for me. That’s actually how I like arrangements – lots of instruments, and everything doing its own small part.
“Going forward, I want to make arrangements that are even more sparse and have less going on, which means more sitting around for everybody in the band but ultimately, it serves the music better. You need space.”
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Having grown up in Summerhill, Co Meath, Duffy moved to Galway four years ago. He comes from a family of ten and was homeschooled, giving rise to a familial passion for music.
Our mum played a bit of piano and our dad liked to sing, but neither of them were professional musicians,
“Our mum played a bit of piano and our dad liked to sing, but neither of them were professional musicians,” he says.
“A lot of our older siblings tried picking up a guitar here and there, but never [too seriously]. Myself, Tom and Aidan are the three youngest and we got big into the music.
“There were some other home education families that we met and they taught us a few chords on the guitar, and we took it from there. We were about 10 or 11, and we’re all full time with music now.”
The younger Duffys obsessed over Led Zeppelin and became interested in bands like Harlem and Funkadelic as they got older.
Most importantly for the Leon Stax Equation, they explored modern soul revival acts like Vulfpeck and El Michels Affair that became touchstones for their sound.
“Our dad lived in the States in the sixties,” Duffy says.
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“He just passed away there in November, but he used to listen to listen all sorts of stuff from that era – a lot of Motown and Stax.
"That’s where part of our name comes from, Stax Records. He would’ve listened to a lot of that classic soul music. Our mum loved all that stuff as well.”
When you think of soul music in Ireland, the first thing that comes to mind is The Commitments. Duffy knows from experience that there is great appetite for the genre, but that doesn’t always manifest itself in opportunities.
“One of the problems with Ireland’s music scene is we have so much great music for free,” he explains.
“Pubs want an absolute dead cert – they want Wonderwall, Brown Eyed Girl and all that craic, which is totally fair enough.
"Usually, it’s a specialised band that’ll be playing anything that isn’t that, which means there’s a cover charge.
People won’t pay a tenner to go in and see a soul band, but if you just have it on in a pub [they love it]… It’s very accessible music
“People won’t pay a tenner to go in and see a soul band, but if you just have it on in a pub [they love it]… It’s very accessible music. There’s depth to the music as well but it’s very accessible.”
The Leon Stax Equation’s first record was done during Covid, when the shape of the band was quite different. In View carries on in a similar vein to record number two.
Six of its nine tracks were recorded in Cork’s Monique Studios with producer Christian Best, who has worked with the likes of Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill.
“I’d be very hands on for the production elements of it,” Duffy says.
“The other three tracks were done in our own home studio in the barn where we used to practice when we were teenagers – we converted it into a studio. I’m as happy with them as the other ones I think.
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“After doing that recording with Christian, we felt we could do a similar thing at home. We just copied the way we set up the sessions with him; it was great to do the recording with him – he’s a brilliant producer.”
With the album now about to drop, Duffy admits there are some nerves. It is their first time submitting the album to the Irish charts.
“Every sale counts towards it going up in the independent album charts,” he says. “I’m nervous about it not hitting that goal. It’s funny, we didn’t have that last time and I didn’t have any of those nerves.”
Duffy says he is happy with In View, despite holding onto one or two small and natural bugbears. He describes a “magic thing” that happens upon release, where those insecurities vanish and, with the songs out in the world, you realise they are in fact complete.
The release is just one part of the Leon Stax Equation’s schedule for the next few weeks. After celebrating the album launch in Galway, a mini-Irish tour will bring them to Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
There are listening parties and in-store signings at record stores to contend with too.
“I’m raring to go,” Duffy says.
“I just wish there was more of a culture in Ireland of people buying tickets beforehand, because I’m getting serious blood pressure from the fact we haven’t sold out yet.
"But based on previous gigs we’ve done, I think we’re going to sell very well.”