Growing Up With Country

Sometimes what might seem like an obvious question to one person can be right out of the blue for another. To Patrick Freyne, maker of music with NPB and – for our purposes here – El Diablo, the question of how a bunch of musicians from Dublin have come to make such an authentic album of American gothic country music is one that has never really arisen.

“Me, Anna (Carey) and Pól (Ó Conghaile) all grew up with that stuff,” he explains. “My Dad was always playing Kris Kristoffersen, Johnny Cash and Lee Hazelwood. It’s the music of my youth, before I got into my indie phase. It was always on in the house. For me it makes sense. There’s also a strong Irish connection to country music.”
Indeed, but that’s mainly been a bit crap, hasn’t it? Patrick laughs.
“It’s the music that was always on the really bad rural radio stations. It is this genre but it’s the shit end of it. Half the show bands were country bands. I think it’s because Irish rural life can be a banal, boring existence and country music has been a way that people can romanticise those banalities. One of my theories is that so much of it came from European folk music in the first place that it’s just travelling back this direction again. Country music developed from mountain music which developed from Irish and Scottish trad music and so for me it’s a full circle thing.”
How does he feel the Americans are doing these days?
“There’s some great American music – Calexico, the Handsome Family, Willard Grant Conspiracy. There’s also some atrocious country music. The modern American country is the worst music I’ve ever heard. There’s something spectacularly bad about it. I don’t know why. We took a trip to Nashville a few years ago and you could see it. Every waiter and waitress was a songwriter and they were all trying to mould their songs into a commercially driven type. There aren’t many mavericks in Nashville.”
So, if we have to look further afield for the true spirit of country music, why not Dublin? El Diablo certainly fit the bill. Their second album, The Crooked Straight, was recorded at Patrick’s parents house in Newbridge (“they went away for a week so we mic’ed the whole house up, there were cables everywhere”). It’s a fine album and one that proves that the band are certainly tuned into the country muse. Patrick in particular is a keen student.
“Traditionally it’s a very romantic genre. You use big brush strokes to paint your pictures. The whole Southern gothic thing, murder ballads. It’s high drama and that’s what attracts me to it. In country music you can turn these banal things into this big soap opera, which I think is cool. All the people I love – Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Frank Black – they’re not confessional in their songwriting style. It’s incredibly personal but they tend to romanticise their lyrics, everything is a big story.”
Which perhaps brings us back to our initial question and the reason why it is possible for anybody to make country music? “When we started there was a real tendency to Americanise everything”, agrees Patrick, “but I think there’s less of that with this album. Occasionally we’ll use the odd Western metaphor but we’re not claiming to be cowboys.”
Since their debut, the band has grown into a six piece (including Pat Daly, who also masterminded the spectacular production job). Does Patrick feel he’s among like minded individuals?
“There’s a really nice musical community in Dublin. From doing El Diablo and NPB I’ve got to know a lot of people and it’s cool to work with friends. We’re a six piece now but we’ve had people drop in as we need it. If there is a scene at the moment one of the good things about it is that it’s not about genre. The bands that I feel most kinship with are ones that are completely different, like The Jimmy Cake or Life After Modelling, just people who I respect. One of the things that has happened recently is an element of quality control. People are less likely to pat each other on the back for just doing something; you have to do something worthwhile. You have to prove yourself now and become a little bit more ambitious.”

El Diablo’s The Crooked Straight is out now