Aniar - On Our Radar Q&A: "Our relationships with the west and the history of that side of the country will play a huge part in the music that we do write"

What was the genesis of Aniar?

Jennifer: Me and Sorcha were in America and wanted to perform under an Irish name, so I suggested Aniar, as we’re both from the west. It comes from a turn of phrase, ‘Taim ag dul aniar’, meaning ‘I’m going west’. We thought it had a nice ring to it.

Abby: After they got back, I was at a Cliffords gig and met another musician who invited the three of us to the trad session in Mary’s Pub. We sang a version of ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, and it really hit – the crowd loved it, and we realised, wow, this works!

What do you think has led to such sudden success?

Jennifer: There’s a renaissance happening with trad music and the Irish language at the minute, which we reckon is the reason that the songs we sing in Irish are so popular. Coupled with that, I think people find the music we sing resonates with where we film, which is usually a landscape back home on Leitir Mealláin.

How do you plan your covers?

Jennifer: We all listen to a lot of sean-nós, trad and folk, so we all give suggestions and pick the ones we want to do.

When it comes to harmonies, we work through it together – usually one person picks out the melody and then we work off that.

Sorcha: It’s pretty easy to come to a decision. It usually ends up as, ‘Yeah, I’m happy with that!’

What do you have in mind for your own releases?

Jennifer: We’re flat-out in our final year of college, so it’s a bit of a juggle, but we’ve been writing away when we can.

Sorcha: I think our relationships with the west and the history of that side of the country will play a huge part in the music that we do write. The songs we’re singing right now are from all over, so when it comes to our own stuff, the west will be a pillar of it.

• Aniar’s covers can be found on Instagram and TikTok @aniarmusic