Spending St Patrick’s Day With Damien Dempsey (Interview)

Damien Dempsey…the name may be new to you, but he has been one of the leading voices in Irish music for over a decade. Having just released a double “best-of” album titled It’s All Good, Damien is now touring New Zealand for the first time. The 13th Floor spoke to Damien Dempsey by phone while he was in Perth…appropriately enough, on St Patrick’s Day.

Click here to listen to the interview with Damien Dempsey:

Or, read a transcription of the interview here:

MD: Is this the first time that you’ve played in this part of the world?

DD: No, I’ve played Perth – let me think – I think I’ve played Perth about four times now, there’s a huge Irish contingent here, all working with the jobs in the mines, you know. They’ll all be here and… the great thing about the Irish is that they drag their Australian friends along. They drag the Aussies along and that’s how the word spreads.

MD: But you haven’t played in New Zealand before, is that right?

DD: Oh, sorry, no, I’ve never been to New Zealand before. I’ve heard great things about New Zealand – all the New Zealand people I’ve met have all been very friendly people, and I heard it was called the friendliest country in the world at one point, so I’m really looking forward to going there and finding out about the history of the place, because I’m a big history lover.

MD: So do you do a bit of research, usually, when you go outside of where you’ve been before? When you go to a new place, do you do a bit of checking around?

DD: Well, I usually start, when we get there, I start a conversation with the people, and just try and get the history off the people – because sometimes in the history books you sort of get a diluted version of the history, you know?

MD: Right, absolutely. That was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, actually, because I know that in the past you’ve recommended different books and films and documentaries for people to read or watch in order to get information that you think is important. I was wondering, what you use as a source for your information – where do you go looking for things, to get the real deal?

DD: I usually try and talk to the old people. [laughs] A lot of the old people, they seem to have bits of stories that you don’t hear, that you don’t see in the books, you know? I usually ask older people in the country. So I’ll be asking, like I’ll be trying to talk to older New Zealand people about their knowledge and the history of the place. Then you get bits of their wisdom off them as well. So it’s great; all you have to do is listen, you know, just be a good listener.

MD: Right. So I read that you described your gigs as kind of a spiritual thing. I was hoping maybe you could elaborate on how that takes place.

DD: I think singing is therapeutic, and it’s a kind of spiritual thing. I think… you know The X Factor, it goes on in Ireland and England – I think it leads kids to the wrong perspective about singing: that they’ll get rich and famous. I think singing was always… it helps us through life, you know? Singing is like praying, to me. When we sing I think we give our souls a cuddle. I suppose—like, back home in Ireland we used to just get together on the weekends at somebody’s house, and we’d have a few drinks and we’d all just sing. Everybody would have a song, and I’d sing a song then I’d say “John, you sing a song, will ya?” and John would sing a song and then he’d say to Kathleen, “Kathleen, you sing a song, will ya?” and she’d sing, everybody would have a song and we’d all just sing.

I think it’s—you know, everybody sings in the shower, and I hate to hear somebody say to somebody else “Oh you can’t sing, don’t ever sing,” cause they’re not pitch perfect or they don’t have a great voice. I think some of the best songs I’ve ever heard sang have been from old people, whose voice was cracked, and it wasn’t in tune but they sang from the heart, they told a story. And I think singing’s a very important part of life, you know? And I get the audience to sing, I encourage the audience to sing the choruses with me, so everybody in the room, we’re singing together. It really gets the endorphins going… it makes you high, it makes you really high.

MD: I guess that’s one of the good things about the New Zealand music scene, is because the country is so small, most musicians aren’t doing it to get rich, because they figure there’s a very slim chance of that happening. So they seem to be in it for the right reason, you know what I mean?

DD: It’s like Ireland; it’s very similar to Ireland.

MD: Yeah. I mean, there’s only four million people. Where I’m from—I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m an American, with my accent—and having lived there, a lot of the reason people start bands or whatever is to be famous or to get rich, whereas I run into that very rarely here in New Zealand.

DD: I know what you mean, Ireland’s like 4 million as well, 5 million when you take in the north of Ireland; same thing, yeah. You can’t really get rich. If you’re big in Ireland – you can be big in Ireland but you don’t get rich. You make enough to pay the rent, which is fine by me. That’s all you need.

MD: So when you go into a new “territory”, such as New Zealand, do you do anything special with your set to try and connect with a different audience than you’ve played to before?

DD: Well, I think of the songs that really hit people, that really move people, and I’ll just play all them. And just tell the story of the song, and what the song’s about. I always have a little story in front of the song, just to explain it, you know. I’ll play all the songs that really move people and try to move people in the new country. I’ll probably go down to the sea first, and get into the sea, and just let the waves wash over me. That usually makes for your voice to be strong, when the sea just cleanses you. The sea air and the salt water makes you sing better, you know?

MD: Well that’s one thing we’ve got plenty of here! [laughs]

DD: Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. There are people saying “Oh it’s too cold to swim”–
MD: Oh no—
DD: –oh, it’s nice is it?

MD: Oh yeah. I mean, it’s summertime here, so that’s as good as it gets!

DD: Great. Lovely.
MD: It was pretty warm today. So you’re here in a what, a couple of weeks?
DD: I am there playing Wellington on Saturday.

MD: Oh okay, so it’s very close. Excellent. I know you have a “Greatest Hits” or a “Best Of” album that you released just a couple of weeks ago, and there’s one new track on there called St. Patrick’s Brave Brigade. This being St. Patrick’s day, I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about that song and how it came about?

Listen to St Patrick’s Brave Brigade here:

DD: Yeah, well I have a lot of friends in the States and it would be cops and some guys in the military, and I just wanted to — they know this anyway, but I just wanted to remind them that when the Irish first came there they were treated like dogs; they were looked down on and spat on… they were like fourth-class citizens when they first got to America. So the song is about the Irishmen?? and the US Army when they were fighting the Mexican army to get Texas and California, when Mexico had these places. The Irish, a few of them were getting treated so badly in the army by the officers that a few just left and joined the Mexicans. They were treated well by the Mexican army; they were respected and they had a battalion called the San Patricios. They had a few victories against the States but eventually the States won and then they hung them all.. It’s just an interesting bit of history, to let the Irish know that they were once like the Muslims, you know – they were once being treated badly and looked down upon, and feared and despised. So I suppose just to take people at face value… I just think, never go with the group, never go with the mob mentality, just always try and put yourself in other people’s shoes, I suppose.

MD: Have you spent much time playing in the States? Do you have a following there?

DD: Yeah, I do. I used to live in New York. I love the place – I love the States. I used to travel around, I used to go out west and go to San Fran and LA and Seattle, and I’ve been around Chicago and Minneapolis and Saint Paul and down to Texas and Austin – I think it’s an amazing country, you know? I’ve got some great friends there. You meet some people who are just very small-minded – but it’s like anywhere, you know?

MD: [laughs]

DD: Where are you from yourself?

MD: I moved to New Zealand from upstate New York, from a city called Rochester, which is near Toronto.

DD: I played a bit of upstate New York, Danbury and up in Buffalo – I’ve done a few gigs up there.

MD: Well Rochester is in between Buffalo and Syracuse.

DD: Ahh, Syracuse. Sure, sure.

MD: I also noticed when you were discussing the making of Almighty Love, your last studio album, you were quoted as saying that you tried to make the songs not as “preachy” as you had in some albums. I was wondering if that’s something you have to think about a bit, finding the right balance between songs that have a message and songs that people just wanna drink to and sing along to?

DD: Maybe I’m just chilling out a bit, I’m not as… you know, some songs, I used to shove ‘em down people’s throats, you know? And now I’m getting more reflective, I suppose, and just like letting people make their own mind up. I suppose maybe I’m just not as angry as I used to be. I’m just seeing the world a bit differently, you know? It’s just maybe getting a bit more peaceful within myself, and I suppose I’ve gotten it off my chest now, what I wanted to say. Now I just write more personal stuff, rather than big historical statements, you know?

MD: And as you travel around the world to different places, that must have an effect on your worldview and your music and the lyrics that you write?

DD: Yeah, it does, exactly. When you see what’s going on around the world, sometimes in Ireland you can get a tunnel vision view because you’re on a small island, but you forget, you think that the island is the world, you know? Whereas when you travel, it’s really good for you. I think it’s good for Irish people to travel. It’s good to broaden our perspectives. Many Irish are in Australia now and it’s great. And New Zealand, I think – as long as they don’t get caught in the Venus flytrap of the Irish pub, and just mix with Irish people. Once they mix with New Zealanders, Kiwis or Maoris or Australians, Aboriginals, when they get out of the Irish scene it’s really good for them if they want to expand their mind – I think they come back better people.

I’m writing a song at the moment with an Irish Aboriginal guy, his name is Dan Sultan. I think he was number one there in Australia a few months ago for one of his songs. But I think it was 1966, up in the Northern Territory, all these Aboriginal stockmen walked off one of the cattle stations, because they were only getting half the wages that the white fellas were getting. So they walked off and had a protest in Wave Hill, and the Lord Vestey, who owned all the land, he was a British lord, he said, “Okay, we’ll give you the same wages” and they said “No, we want our land back”. They wanted just the few miles of land that were theirs, the Gurindji people. And it started the whole aboriginal land rights movement. In 2016, I think it’s the 50 year anniversary, so me and Dan are writing a song about that. So it’s great to know all these things and learn about other people’s struggles.

MD: Right. And do you write on the road quite a bit?

DD: Not really, no. I have to be at home and off the drink. [laughs] And just feeling good, you know, I’ll wake up in the morning feeling good and – how do you say it – in a good head space, and that’s when I do the writing. But when I’m on the road, I’m picking up stories and talking to people and getting ideas, you know? I have a good retention when I’m talking to people; I have a good memory, so I take it all in on the road, and then when I get home I give up the drink for a while and do a bit of work.

MD: Well, since it’s St Patrick’s Day and you’ve got a gig tonight, I won’t keep you for much longer! It’s gotta be quite a show tonight, I imagine, and I know folks will be looking forward to seeing you when you get here; you’re doing four shows throughout the country, so you’ll get to see  a good portion of the place, anyway.

DD: Absolutely, yeah. And where are you, you’re in Auckland?

MD: I’m in Auckland.

DD: Is there anywhere you would advise me to go or to see when I’m in Auckland?

MD: Well, I would go out to the beaches in the west – there’s a beach called Piha that a lot of folks go out [to]. It’s got black sand, and if you wanna go and get a little bit spiritual before doing something, that’d be the place to go, I think.

DD: Ah, great, that’s brilliant. That’s great advice.

See Damien Dempsey in New Zealand:

Friday 28 March Coronation Hall, Maori Hill Dunedin

Saturday 29 March The Jax Munster Inn, Auckland

Tickets from Eventfinder www.eventfinder.co.nz