Mórga, a young Irish Trad four-piece, are one of the most hotly tipped acts on the Trad scene at the moment. They are composed of Danny Diamond (Fiddle), Dominic Keogh (Bodhrá¡n), Barry Brady (Button Accordion) and Jonas Fromseier (Greek Bouzouki and Banjo).Ashbourne native Danny talks to Kevin Donnellan.
The four guys in Mórga are all from quite different areas, how did you get together?
Well in the Trad scene you tend to get to know most people that are out there playing, but it still took us a while to all get together. I’m from Meath, but based in Dublin, I met Jonas when I was over in Denmark for an event. And then Jonas in turn met Barry when he moved to Galway and then Barry brought in Dom. So it took a while but we got there in the end.
How would you describe the style of Trad that you play?
Well, we all love a lot of the older stuff, say from the seventies. So we are trying to emulate some of that. I suppose a lot of bands try to be very innovative and rewrite the script on how Trad music is played, which is good, like it helps it evolve. But I think that maybe some of the great elements from Trad can be lost as a result sometimes.
You’ve an album out now, are you hoping it brings in converts to the scene?
Yeah, well like sometimes it can be a bit of a closed shop but you do get people, particularly in Europe actually, who, out of nowhere, just get into Trad. It’s maybe a bit harder at home, but yeah it is great when someone who maybe had no knowledge of it gets into it from seeing you play.
As far as touring goes, what are the plans?
We are just trying to play as many different places as possible. For instance in the New Year we’re touring Denmark and we already have gigs booked for the summer in France. The summer is generally very good for a lot of festivals in Continental Europe. Obviously at home there are a lot of places to tick off the list still.
Is that surprising, the level of interest you get abroad for Trad?
Probably not to us, because from being partof the scene we’ve seen that there’s a loyal fan-base in the likes of France, or say Austria. It maybe is surprising for people not involved [in Trad] that there is so much interest abroad, like maybe there is a bit of a perception that it’s just in a few pubs around the country that Trad is played.
Any plans for the future?
Just keep playing, we’re getting better the longer we’re together I think. So it’s just a case of making sure we keep enjoying it.
Finally, what in the name of Jaysus is a Greek Bouzouki?
Oh great! Right, it’s like a round backed instrument with a long neck. Jonas plays the Greek one which has six strings. There are Irish Bouzouki’s now too, which are eight stringed and flat backed. It’s kind of like a lighter tinklier version of a guitar. Ah you’d have to come see us play to understand!
