Published: Thursday, 26th August, 2010 5:00pm

They're electric

Lisa O'Neill.
Pic by==: 97

The Electric Picnic (September 3-5) is top of the to-do list for discerning music festival goers each year. The festival styles itself differently from many others. It has an eclectic music line-up (in the past Kraftwerk, Nick Cave, Bjork, Beastie Boys, The Stooges, The Chemical Brothers and Sex Pistols), there is an emphasis on quality festival services (such as food and sleeping arrangements), there's a chilled atmosphere and an eco-friendly approach. Emily's Eldest, Lisa O'Neill and Brendan Perry are among the Cavan performers in Stradbally this year. With Massive Attack, Roxy Music, Leftfield, The Frames, Mumford And Sons and Imelda May on the line-up this year, these select musicians are in good company. And if you can't make it to Co. Laois, you're in luck, because you can also catch them closer to home or on CD. Sinead Hogan previews the Cavan line-up for Electric Picnic...

Brendan Perry

Belturbet's Brendan Perry and his band play The Cosby Stage at the Electric Picnic on Saturday, September 4, at 9.15pm, as well as a gig in Belturbet the night before.

Fans can expect some blasts from the past, some old Dead Can Dance material, but mainly material from the most recent album and a taste of material that will be on his new album next year.

Brendan's mother is from Lacken in Ballyjamesduff, but he lived mainly in London, Australia and New Zealand before moving to Co. Cavan in 1989.

He's well settled in Belturbet, where he has a studio in a converted church at Quivvy.

Brendan's music has a moody, atmospheric quality that fits his description of his music as "painting soundscapes".

"I incorporate a lot of different elements into the music," he says. "Atmosphere and ambience would be influenced by working on film soundtracks and scores. Also, from a theatrical background, I like the music to lend itself to being cinema-like in its scope."

Among his credentials: he wrote soundtracks for Sunset Heights, Child Of The Moon and Baraka; forming Dead Can Dance, he and Lisa Gerrard secured a record contract with 4AD releasing nine albums to considerable public and critical acclaim over a period of 16 years; they built up a significant cult audience worldwide, and Brendan's delighted with "how the audience has stayed with us over the years".

There's a world music feel to his work, and the influences are many-fold. A lot of Brendan's inspiration is internal.

"It comes from the imagination, as opposed to what affects me outside," he says, but the countryside gives "a peace and meditative-like ambience to my life that cities do not offer".

"I draw from any given time or epoch. We're certainly not fashionable, we go with what turns us on. In that sense we make music for ourselves first, not for the market," he says.

He and his wife, who is a member of the CSPCA, have a non-commercial farm in Belturbet. He says the move was "like a homecoming, returning to the source, as it were".

"I wanted to exchange urban life for rural life, because I prefer the peace and tranquility of the countryside," he says.

Of the current trends in the Irish music scene, Brendan reckons that while it might not always be groundbreaking, "it's healthier than it was 20 years ago".

"It's good to see people expressing themselves on an instrument, writing songs and getting back to lyricism," he says.

Also performing with him will be fellow Belturbet musician, Peter Sheridan, together with the other band members, Astrid Williamson, Dan Gresson and Rory O'Brien.

For those who won't make it to the Stradbally event, they'll play closer to home, in Belturbet Railway Station, the previous night.

• Brendan Perry plays Belturbet Railway Station on Friday, September 3, at 8.30pm. Tickets at €15 are available from Multisound or 086-1275310. He plays The Cosby Stage at the Electric Picnic on Saturday, September 4, at 9.15pm.

Lisa O'Neill

For Lisa O'Neill, from Ballyhaise, it'll be the third time performing at the Stradbally festival, but this time she's been upped to the main stage in the Body And Soul area, with her performance at 2pm on Saturday.

The band will include Swedish Stina Sanstrom, Pixie Delamere from Dublin, Japanese harpist Junshi Murakami, Mossy Nolan from Galway on banjo and mandolin and Stephen Morgerley on double bass.

Lisa's father, Bud, was a drummer on the showband scene in this area in his day, but Lisa says that it was far from a case of music being forced on her.

"I always liked listening to music, but it wasn't like it was a hugely prominent thing in our house," she says. "I got guitar lessons when I was about 15 and started singing then too... It was very enjoyable."

Lisa writes her own songs throwing in the occasional cover.

Naming Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Joni Mitchell, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, the Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel and The Dubliners as influences, she describes her music as folk, pointing out that this means writing songs about the people.

"Whether I'm writing about my own life or what I see around me, it is folk music, though some people would have different ideas about what folk is," says Lisa, adding that her influences are "storytellers".

Last August, she brought out her first album, Lisa O'Neill Has An Album.

Asked how it's going, she puts it simply:

"We released it independently and we don't have many copies left, so I think that's good. It's selling and getting a nice reaction," she says modestly.

Critics, however, are more lavish with praise.

"She's an exceptional talent who writes beautiful, funny and unusual folk songs which she delivers in her unique and awe-inspiring voice," was what the News Of The World said.

Lisa's busy writing new music at the moment, as well as doing gigs and working in Bewley's on Dublin's Grafton Street.

"You mightn't be busy for a couple of months, then it gets really busy, then it'll calm down again," says Lisa, who says she writes and performs for herself more than anything.

As for the long-term dream?

"Just as long as it continues to keep me happy, because that's what it has done so far; progression in my music is important too, so as long as I'm not too broke and don't get bored..."

• Catch Lisa O'Neill at the main stage in the Body And Soul area at 2pm on Saturday. Check her out at www.myspace.com/lisaconeill.

Emily's Eldest an indie folk duo comprising well-known Cavan musician, Eileen Tackney, and Ben Tiernan from Oldcastle, are set to play at the Body And Soul stage on Saturday, September 4, at 3.30pm.

Eileen says they're delighted with the prestigious coup.

"It's a great opportunity, especially considering we're only together a year," said the Maudabawn native who is well regarded for her work with Song Sisters, Blue Valentine's Night Of Tom Waits Music and Cavan Cathedral choir, as well as teaching and arranging work.

When Eileen and Ben starting playing together after they met at a poetry reading, there was an instant creative connection.

Their sound is an original, personal and experimental fusion of contemporary and folk music. Eileen plays keyboard, Ben the guitar and they share vocals.

"We realised we work very well together and complement each other's music well. As far as we're concerned, this is a long-term venture," explains Eileen.

Her musical background is formal with studies including a BA in music in NUI Maynooth, while Ben is largely self-taught, saying he picked up a lot from his father who "was all the time singing different melodies".

Eileen was at the Electric Picnic as a punter two years ago and didn't so much as have designs on taking to the stage.

"I hadn't even met Ben back then, so I wasn't thinking along those lines. It's great to be back as a performer this time," she says.

• Emily's Eldest play at the Cafe Sessions in Chapter One this Thursday, August 26, starting at 8.30pm. Their first EP is due for release on September 12. Catch them at the Body And Soul stage at the Electric Picnic at 3.30pm on Saturday, September 4

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