Eileen’s flying under the radar

Damian McCarney

Instrumentalist Eileen Tackney had already been hailed as ‘one to watch’ by The Irish Times’ chief music critic, even before she had released her debut album, ‘South’.

'Lovely chap,' she says of her new-found musical admirer, Tony Clayton-Lea. Last November, Eileen had sent him a handful of tracks, recorded in her brother, Ciaran’s, studio. 'Beautiful music' was his glowing assessment. Clayton-Lea followed up his praise by asking if she minded he tip her as a musical act to keep an ear out for in 2013.

'It was brilliant, I wasn’t expecting it, so it was a lovely Christmas present,' recalls Eileen. 'But I didn’t tell anyone because I was afraid in case it was only a joke.

'I like this stuff, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is going to like it, so it’s nice to get the validation – ‘okay, you’re doing something right’.'

It’s understandable that Clayton-Lea’s interest was piqued by the demo tracks, because the eight instrumental tracks on ‘South’ don’t sound like anything else around. The Times writer said it was a mix of Can, Cluster and Rick Wakeman.

'I had to look up Can and Cluster,' she says with a laugh. 'I don’t really know that much about electronica myself, to be brutally honest. It’s whatever came out and you just hope that it’s good enough to resonate with somebody.'

Eileen’s not one for categorising her music, but when pushed, she plumps for 'ambient electronica'.

Each track, while sophisticated in arrangement, is still very pared back - they seldom have any more than two instruments. The heavy presence of synths brings in the electronica element, while the absence of percussion or bass lines helps to create the ambient mood. She had approached a drummer to see what percussion she could put on one of the tracks, but even he was stumped, so she opted to go without.

'It’s very melodically-based. A lot of electronica can be... I find it hard to make sense of a lot of it because of all these different sounds. I suppose my classical background comes in there because I’ve always had this thing about melodies,' says Eileen.

Since she directs the Cathedral Choir, Eileen’s clearly blessed with a voice, but yet she opted not to use it.

'Songs wouldn’t be my thing and I couldn’t compose lyrics to save my life. Definitely not. I would have always wanted to do instrumental music.'

Somewhat modestly she describes her writing technique as 'Just press record, and see what comes out.' She also calls it 'doodling'.

'I doodle and try to leave my head out of it, because when your head kicks in, it doesn’t work.'

Typically, Eileen explores the different sounds on her keyboards and computer software to find sounds that intrigue her.

'The sound can often trigger the melody,' she explains. 'That’s what I’ve found, the sound will actually nearly write the piece itself. Some of the sounds are fantastic, whatever they evoke, somewhere, subconsciously, it’s triggering off something.'

This happened with the experimental track ‘Curiosity’.

'It’s called ‘Curiosity’ because, to me, I imagine the space buggy [Curiosity also being an actual space buggy] going over this terrain and when the music comes in it’s like seeing the sun, you’re on the horizon.'

'I know it’s not for everybody,' Eileen adds, recalling one occasion when someone, unaware she had penned it, dismissingly said 'Turn off that shite'.

Considering the album cover is a map of Cavan, and the album is called ‘South’ it hints that place was important in the album’s concept.

Wrong.

Having agreed with a designer friend that an old map would make for a good CD cover, he proceeded to use her home county on the front.

'Look, it’s as good a place as any to put on it. I’m from Cavan, I’d say it’s only American boys who’d be asking where’s Cavan? It’s not technically south, but it’s south of the North Pole,' she says with a laugh.

While the album’s release means you now have a chance to listen to her recordings, Eileen’s not planning any live performances of ‘South’. Apart from the hassle of co-ordinating backing tracks and getting guest musicians in for one track each, she concludes: 'I don’t think it would be gigging material.'

She will, however, continue to play live with the Song Sisters and Dubliner Ben Tiernan as ‘Emily’s Eldest’ - a folk-electronica two piece. She credits Ben as being a trusted 'outside ear' to bounce ideas for this album. With Tony Clayton-Lea’s stamp of approval, Ben’s advice was well measured. So what does she hope for the album?

'I would love if it sold well, I would love if it was used in films or documentaries - absolutely, why wouldn’t I?

'I don’t think it will be mainstream, I think it will be under the radar. But again there’s no point trying to predict – [let’s see] see how things unfold.'

South is available on iTunes, Multisound and Music Man.