Daithí shares stunning 'Familial' video exploring relationships in rural Auckland

One of Ireland’s foremost electronic artists, Daithí, has unveiled the incredible video for his multi-layered new single ‘Familial’ today, directed by Ayla Amano.

A track steeped in both tenderness and strength, ‘Familial’ is grounded by an underlying beat that echoes the solidity of the song’s subject matter.

Daithí has chosen to collaborate with New Zealand filmmaker Ayla Amano in the ambitious project, which aims to explore the ways families and communities communicate with one another; what is said and what is unsaid. What is spoken about through language and what is spoken about in more subtle, non-verbal ways.

The ‘Familial’ music video has already been shortlisted for three prestigious Kinsale Shark Awards - for Best Music Video, Best Direction and Best New Director.

Through Daithí’s music and Ayla’s accompanying film, common themes are explored between family relationships in rural Ireland and in New Zealand, in an attempt to ultimately say something about the world at large.

“‘Familial' started out life as a track I wrote around an uncertain feeling I had about returning to my home county of Clare," Daithí explains. "Growing up in a remote area, there was a stifling feeling of repressed emotions; people in the area would sometimes find it difficult to say what they really felt.

"It was quite a personal piece of music to me, but it was transformed into something with even more to say when I began to collaborate with Ayla. The idea of finding common ground and themes with a community so far apart from my own got me really excited, and I started seeing the track in a new, more global perspective. The themes are universal.”

Ayla's original concept for the ‘Familial’ video was set to film in Ireland.

"We’d discussed themes of family roots and community; ideas Daithí had been exploring around returning to his hometown in Clare," Amano says. "Then, while on holiday in New Zealand visiting my family, my partner and I discovered that we had a baby on the way, so we decided to stay there for the year. Apart from finding myself in a similar situation - reconnecting with my hometown and the community I grew up in - I was also reminded of New Zealand’s unique position in the Pacific.

"Our Pasifika communities are so integral to the spirit of Auckland, and after spending time in Ireland, I could draw some unexpected parallels between the two cultures - wildly different on the surface, but both with a real strong sense of family and community, as well as a humour and warmth that my Irish partner immediately connected with.”

Gifted actors Jeremiah Tauamiti, Villa Junior Lemanu and Samson Vaotuua perform in the video, channeling emotion into New Zealand and Samoan culture.

The opening scene was filmed at the Otara Markets, a centrepiece of the Pasifika community in Auckland, where Villa recalls spending Saturday mornings as a child. The home scenes were filmed in Samson’s mother’s house. Jeremiah helped Ayla immensely in understanding the role of the church in Samoan culture and psyche.

“There was a real sense of community both on and off the screen,” the Kiwi director recalls. “Filming while I was six months pregnant provided yet another layer to the story. We spent a lot of time on set talking about family and reflecting on where we’d come from.”

Two time Choice Music Prize nominee Daithí is known for combining nature recordings, old Irish samples and analog synths to create a unique type of house music that’s soaked in Irish culture.

A mainstay in the Irish gigging scene, his live show is an improvised performance, creating on the spot dance music using synths, drum machines and live fiddle. A few years ago, Daithí found a forgotten recording of his grandmother, where she talked about how she met her husband, and what it was like living in the west of Ireland for the past 90 years.

Daithi sampled this recording to create ‘Mary Keanes Introduction’, a track which captured the imagination of millions of Irish people across the world, and became one of the most successful Irish singles that year, staying no.1 in the Spotify viral charts for 6 weeks.

Following his 2019 album L.O.S.S., Daithí joined forces with Bell X1's Paul Noonan to form HousePlants. Dry Goods was an album created during the darkness of lockdown, in an attempt to find a glimmer of collaborative magic and common understanding in the midst of global misery.Read our October 2021 interview with the duo here.

Check out the powerful video below: