Family Time on Life’s Musical Journey

Four of the brightest and best young musicians in the Oak Leaf County travel to Dublin this weekend to take part in the All-Ireland Finals of Scór Sinsir. Before doing so, they took time out to speak to DerryGAA.ie about their musical journey to date. Ladies and Gentlemen, let us introduce ‘The Mulhollands’…

*****

There’s this scene at the end of the Looney Tunes 1949 classic cartoon, ‘Long-Haired Hare’, featuring Bugs Bunny. Having frustrated the classical singer for the entire episode, and with the opera house building falling down around them both, Bugs nonchalantly takes a banjo off his back and strums the opening chords of the four-note American cabaret classic, “Good evening friends”.

“That was it. That was the moment I turned to my mother and said: ‘I want to be able to play that’. I have an All-Ireland title in banjo playing now and I’m still playing away, but Bugs Bunny was the boy,” laughs Dermot Mulholland.

Along with his siblings – Emmet, Fintan and Eimhéar – Dermot will take to the stage at the Citywest Hotel this Saturday night to represent his club, St Malachy’s Castledawson, the County of Derry and the province of Ulster at the All-Ireland Senior Scór finals (Instrumental Music section).

It’s not bad for a young lad who was initially told he hadn’t any ‘rhythm’.

“Yeah, the one in school they said wasn’t good enough to learn the violin is the one that now, I suppose, plays the most music,” says eldest brother, Emmet.

Four siblings, and four musicians in their own right, the Mulhollands are an eclectic addition to the local music scene. They are also a recent addition within the typical timelines of traditional music, as Dermot explains:

“We’d be the first generation of what you’d call ‘musicians’ in the family I suppose. There are other families we know locally with fourth and fifth generations now playing music seriously, but we’re new to the whole scene I guess.”

The newness of their entry into the music scene brings with it a fresh approach to the genre. Traditions are there to be explored, not adhered to rigidly.

Enlarge

Rock bands, concert bands, wind bands, orchestras and Samba bands are just some of the avenues Fintan Mulholland has explored.

“I will play nearly any genre that comes near me,” he declares. “I played in a Samba band at Glasgowbury recently and it was great craic.

“We’ve all had a go at mashing some of them up together at some point. Making traditional sound more modern, or making modern rock music sound a bit more Irish. You can even make traditional music sound classical, or rocky, if you want; or jazzy. If you take the time to listen to somebody telling you about what it is they do, you can take parts of it and stick it into your own tunes – ending up with a complete mash-up.”

Mash-up is a wonderful phrase the four all understand as underpinning their outlook on music. The creativity and appreciation they’ve evolved is all a far cry from shared beginnings though.

A blonde-curly-haired six-year-old Eimhéar, legs dangling off the end of the chair, and playing happily on a tin whistle is an early memory for the boys who remember Comhaltas sessions together at McVey’s Country House pub in The Loup and farther afield, as Emmet recalls:

“I remember when we were very young going down to Gort in County Galway – just for the day – to go to the instrument master-classes at a festival. I recall a couple of rather famous musicians looking at Eimhéar – this little tiny girl – coming in with a tin whistle. They had a look on their faces that they were expecting a beginner tune and then she blew them away with this lovely wee jig. They were astounded.”

Eimhéar had started music the youngest out of the four, the others ‘coming late to the party’. The South Derry trad scene was awash with influences for the family. The Loup’s Claire Doherty provided direction for Eimhéar on the whistle, whilst Fintan was heavily influenced by Seamus O’Kane’s bodhrán playing. After a mixed experience with classical music, Emmet took up the fiddle with Bellaghy’s Brendan Henry providing master-classes in the art.

“I started off playing classical music first through the school and then got to the stage down the line where I couldn’t be bothered with it anymore,” says Emmet. “I was going to give it up altogether before mammy said ‘why don’t you go down to the Irish music workshop in Newbridge – the rivals! [laughs]. So I went to it, and Dermot went to the banjo class, and hasn’t looked back since.”

Indeed, none of the four have. A new-found love for playing music in general meant that Emmet kept playing classical music, joining the NEELB orchestra and obtaining his Grade 8 along the way.

It’s a testimony to the local Irish music and culture scene that the attention of four bright young talents has been harnessed and encouraged. It’s a testament also to their parents, Mary and Jimmy Mulholland, who have been a rock of support down through the years – a driving force, in the literal sense, as Emmet explains:

“Mummy and Daddy played a bit of music when they were younger in the Marching Bands; mummy with the accordion and Daddy in the drum core. Apart from that, they didn’t play that much themselves, but they were a big driving force behind the way we all play music today.”

Involved in the organisation of Scór competitions in the county for many years, Mary and Jimmy Mulholland have clearly instilled a passion for music in their children. Nothing forced, but with gentle encouragement along the way; the trips away and the master-classes paid for, the driving to competitions and fleadhs, and the provision of instruments to the youngsters have all now paid dividends with exciting times ahead.

The four haven’t forgotten the support they were shown though. Teaching is a big part of what they now do.

“We are all involved with Ceoltóirí Luraigh over at An Carn, being part of the committee and teaching,” explains Dermot. “They [our parents] were a big part in us getting involved in that aspect of things – passing that knowledge we’d gained onto a new generation. Our parents brought us to so many classes and we’re now trying to give something back to the younger ones through those efforts.”

Exciting things are beginning to happen over in Tirkane, and not just from a teaching point of view.

“We have a new venue there where we’re starting to put gigs and things together,” says Dermot. We had a group called Moxie there a few weeks ago. They are fantastic musicians. What they do is play modern poppy, bluesy, jazzy stuff on traditional instruments. There’s a few Irish tunes in there but the way they put them together is so far removed from traditional music.”

“You might have a slide from county cork coming in after dance beats, you know,” interjects Fintan.

This mash-up, the old and the new, traditional and modern, is clearly where the hearts and minds of the four are at.

“We all admire Moxie, and they’re all around our age,” says Dermot of their current influences. “If you’re going up the ladder, you’re talking about Lúnasa, who have been doing it for years. They were the first to bring the double bass and the jazz element into it. They were an influence for sure and a band called Gráda (Irish and New Zealand mix). It’s just bringing different instruments into Irish music,” he concludes.

Locally, the lads have all been influenced by ‘Beoga’ and Eamon Murray, their bodhrán player extraordinaire, who has personally mentored them. “They’d have been one of the forerunners of bringing other genres into Irish music around here,” says Emmet.

So, what of the future for the four?

Saturday night in the Citywest is first on the horizon but the weekend won’t stop there. Even a winner’s medal won’t park Dermot Mulholland up for long, as he heads straight back up the road later in the evening to join up with his group, Réalta:

“At the minute, I’m doing a tour with Réalta, across the North. We’re putting a load of work into that at the minute. The Scór comes bang in the middle of that for me. We’re going back into the studio with Donal O’Connor in Belfast recording our second album. Keep pushing on and struggling on – enjoying it more to the point.

Likewise, Eimhéar will be similarly engaged following the Scór experience.

“The Siansa Gael Linn Final is on the following day and it’s something I’ve been involved in before. We all have,” she explains. “I’ve been in it with two different groups over the past three years. Last year, our group, Cóiriú, got third but we’re back this year with a group called Meargánta. And after that, it’s back to the A-levels,” laughs the St Mary’s Magherafelt final year pupil.

With Emmet continuing to teach at the Piper’s Club in Armagh, and Fintan putting together several new projects, the four lead incredibly active lives on the local music scene.

“It has now got to the stage where we require technology to help keep track of each other,” explains Emmet. “We might as well have a revolving door on our house as we pass each other going in and out. For Scór it has taken the use of Google Calendar to bring us together. If a practice isn’t put up there, it doesn’t happen. It’s as simple as that and even Mammy and Daddy are on it,” he laughs, before Fintan explains some of their motivation for the weekend ahead:

“We initially weren’t going to do Scór this year but Edel and Clodagh Gribbin – who we’ve played together with before in ballad groups – mentioned that they wanted to give it another go – their uncle Seamus passed away recently – who always followed it, and followed us, and he had helped the girls through the years. They got in touch with us again this year and asked would we go into it again – as a last farewell I suppose for Seamus. And we said, sure why not, and look where we are now.”

Come Saturday that will be Citywest, Dublin and the All-Ireland finals. They’ll also be joined by the club’s Quiz team who have also qualified for their national event. It’s been a remarkable ride so far, both collectively and individually, and it shows absolutely no sign of slowing up.

“We’re nearly past playing fleadh competitions as a group or whatever,” says Emmet, to the agreement of Eimhéar.

“But together,” says Dermot, “well, this is more or less all the playing we do together. We do small bits and pieces – once in a blue moon – but Scór is the one thing which motivates us to pick a few tunes, work together on them, and to play as the Mulholland family.”

Dublin, be prepared, you are in for an absolute treat.