Life on the Hedge

“The whole idea behind The Hedge Schools was that they were hidden,” says Pat Barrett, explaining his current moniker.

“Even in the days of Penal Law, they were the places where children were taught, musicians played and poetry was read, but you had to go looking for them. This album is similar in that it’s not in your face, I’m quite happy for people just to go out and find it.”
The beautifully understated confection, Never Leave Anywhere, comprises 12 tracks of heart-wrenching melancholy, a country mile from the fare he cooked up with indie rockers Ten Speed Racer.
“Many of the songs on that record were written between the first and second Ten Speed Racer albums,” he points out. “We all wrote songs, but the ones I was writing were drifting towards the more soulful, spiritual, melancholic songs that my record has become.”
Barrett remembers his previous troupe with great fondness.
“Every one of us can say that we made good records. We’re very proud of the band, it just ran its course,” he avers. “The others are still making music; Joe has put out two cracking records, Dermot, my brother who lives in Norway, is in the middle of doing an album, John is also in the middle of doing a record in Perth, and Terry has the whole Dae Kim thing going on. We worked well together as a unit, but there were always going to be branches off it. Then I had the brain situation and that was a total wake-up call.”
The situation he refers to was a near-fatal aneurism, a life-changing event.
“We’d just played a gig in Cuba in Galway,” he recalls. “We drove back to Dublin and I got home and just collapsed on the floor. The last thing I remember was hitting the remote control. At the time the band were living in Wexford, we just stopped off in Dublin to stay with my folks. If we hadn’t, I’d be dead.”
The recovery period saw the crafting of some of the more philosophical tracks on the album.
“I was in hospital for six weeks. ‘Breathe It’ was written during that time, as was ‘Don’t Call It A Heart’ and ‘Winter’. There may even be songs on my next record inspired by it.”
Pat, who’s just returned from visiting his brother John, confirms that the follow-up material is ready to go.
“I did a bit of recording when I was in Australia. There’s definitely a second album ready whenever I decide to go back into the studio. I’m going to give Never Leave Anywhere a year, I need to let it have its own legs.”
When he does, he’ll return to Cauldron Studios where this outing was recorded.
“There’s just something about that place, it’s very spiritual,” he muses. “Cauldron is a real undiscovered gem, it has the only real working Hammond organ in this country and a beautiful grand piano.”
The marriage of location with the production skills of Joe Chester was an inspired union.
“I knew from day one that I wanted to work with Joe. We worked with each other for seven years. I’ve known him for 15 years, even before he was in Ten Speed Racer. He’s an amazing producer and so underrated. He just hears things, he heard straight away what I wanted from the record.
“I knew Joe would just get it, he knew what I wanted,” Pat continues. “I could talk to Joe on a musical level, saying I want this to sound like Talk Talk or I want this to sound like Richard and Linda Thompson. Because he knows me, we’re on the same page straight away. We always had similar reference points.”
With a few impressive supports under his belt, Barrett is already relishing the prospect of returning to the live circuit.
“I’m only getting back into it,” he admits. “I hadn’t performed in a long time. I supported Sun Kil Moon and Colm Mac Con Iomaire and they were great shows. We’re doing a full band show for the launch. Joe will play guitar and keys and Tony and Brian, the rhythm section from Future Kings Of Spain, will play too. The first time we went into the rehearsal room together, it just made absolutely stupid sense! I can’t wait for it!”