Before I could say words, I had music in me. I remember at a very young age – I was probably only four or five – sitting down on the grass singing a song to myself and feeling like I had met a friend within me for the first time. I play multiple instruments because I’m intrigued by them. I’ve always played anything that makes noise.
I’m one of seven children, and we’re all obsessed with music. Our parents are beautiful wild hippies. They’re mad people but subtle too. They just get stuff done. Nothing is a problem. They’re fixers and solutionists. The home we grew up in, in Co Wexford, was a shell when my parents bought it. They renovated it themselves from scratch, fixing the roof, building walls and a well and installing heating. They devoted their whole lives to making it beautiful. They’ve had really interesting lives; they’ve owned a shop and a pub and they’re self-educated; my dad was a DJ for many years too.
My parents are really positive people – they find the craic in everything – and that’s bled into all of us. We’ve no problem talking to each other. We’re a very conversational family and each of us is very individual and very friendly. But there’s always music in the background; it’s the common thread. Four of my siblings are also involved in social care so there’s definitely some kind of artistry and healing running through the family.
Politically, it’s difficult to talk about the genocide in Gaza in Germany, which gave me another reason to consider leaving
I live in Berlin now. The city’s history, streets, nightlife and artscape really attracted me. When I came here first, the city seemed very immediate and wild, but green, and child- and animal-friendly too. Germany, and Berlin in particular, had a non-capitalist style of living for a long time. The mentality was that other people were important too. If you were part of a public health scheme, you received the same service as those who paid a higher premium. That has changed though, especially since Covid.
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There’s a lifestyle here of renting forever. People will rent one apartment for their entire lives. Apartments in Germany are very well built, they’re large and rent is cheap. Everybody wants to feel secure and every single human deserves that. In the last 10 years, though, everything’s become gentrified.
Three years ago I bought a farmhouse with my partner [Tralee-born singer Tracey Kelleher] and two other couples: one Irish – they’re both Dubs – and the other American and German. It’s like a marriage of six people, but we’re a great aul’ mix. We cook together, eat together and hang out in the evenings together. The way we all sit around is a little like Little House on the Prairie: somebody will be making art, another is writing his book, someone else is reading and I’m there with my guitar. It’s crazy how nice it is.
I miss my family, I miss being around my parents in their home and I miss the seasons in Ireland, but I don’t see myself moving back. I did for a while when the war [in Ukraine] started. It’s on my doorstep and there has been a lot of immigration from Poland to the outskirts of Germany. Politically, it’s difficult to talk about the genocide in Gaza over here, which gave me another reason to consider leaving. Then I realised: I’m in the right place at the right time. I believe in coincidence, in following a path in good conscience and in trusting your gut. Germany is a very cosmopolitan and immigrant-friendly place to live; there’s a large Palestinian population here and a huge Polish contingent.
You become more Irish living abroad. The country of Ireland becomes more romanticised. Art-wise I’m obsessed with what’s happening in Ireland; it’s just so different from Germany. Musically, Ireland is such an economy in itself and I think trad music has become a really top form again. Deep trad roots have begun to rise once more. There’s a poetic feel to lyrics, which might have got lost in an effort to be commercial. Trad is about truth. It sees through bullshit because it’s rooted in folk and folklore. Trad has to come from the heart – you can’t fake it. There’s an honesty there that’s become sexy again. I think Irish identity has become more sexy and interesting.
I’m always on tour. I’ll take a gig anywhere, although I’m a bit more picky these days. I tend not to perform anywhere that has a bad record on human rights or women’s issues. I’ve played in Japan, Australia, North America and almost every city in Europe. But there’s nothing like coming home. A Cork show or a Wexford show is outrageous, and you feel like you’ve eaten your best dinner all year.
I like to play in the same places over and again because I love to see how those places and the people change. It gives me some sense of time passing and that I’m not just fleeting from one city to another. For me, it’s really important to experience the locality. That’s what turns me on.
I have a few summer concerts coming up in Ireland this year but I’ve kind of taken this year off touring to work on an album. I’m also trying to take as much time as I can to settle into the farmhouse and just be at home. I’m away so much, I just need to be present for a while.
In conversation with Marie Kelly
