Sister Act

When you come from Ireland's most successful musical family dynasty and you've been performing since the age of five, your career options can appear limited. For Bridin Brennan, younger sister of Maire and Enya, it seemed inevitable that she would join the family firm, sooner or later.

"Everyone expected me to go straight into music after I'd left school," she explains. "One teacher in particular used to say to me, 'don't worry Brennan, sure you'll be off singing and touring with the rest of them soon enough'."

Instead, the youngest of the nine Brennan siblings surprised everyone and moved to London, taking up hairdressing for a time and immersing herself in the local Brixton scene where she lived.

"I wasn't really rebelling," she insists. "I knew I wanted to go down the arts route but I didn't know whether I wanted to do acting or music or whatever. Hairdressing suited me fine and I did the usual nine to five thing for a while."

Eventually, however she drifted back into music, first as a backing singer with Clannad with whom she toured Europe and the US and more recently as a solo artist in her own right. Her first single 'Hang On' has just been released and she has almost completed her debut album, recorded with renowned Dublin based producers Chris O'Brien & Graham Murphy.

However, unlike the traditional airs and Celtic textures that characterise the music of Clannad and Enya, Bridin Brennan has chosen a more pop oriented direction.

"It's more natural for me, especially with all the influences I was absorbing in London listening to stuff like Massive Attack and Garbage," she explains. "I love everything from classical to trad but I prefer the pop end of things. I'll probably disappoint a few people when they see me perform but I hope I'll open up a new audience.

"People will probably say there's a similarity between my voice and Maire's or Enya's and there's nothing I can do about that. I can't get away from the fact that we're all in the same

family."

Has she considered changing her name to avoid the inevitable comparison with her older more famous siblings?

"I don't get asked a lot about my family, not yet anyway so it doesn't really bother me. I thought more about changing my first name actually. Bridin is quite hard to pronounce - one interviewer in the UK called me Brian! I said to him 'is that how you spell Brian?' But if they can pronounce something like Björk they should be able to handle Bridin, eventually."

Despite being an unknown quantity in the public eye, 28 year old Bridin has already had a taste of the rock and roll lifestyle, touring with Clannad.

"It was great fun and a real education for me especially in America," she says. "We did the Jay Leno Show and Later With Jools Holland. I'll never forget that one. The Jesus & Mary Chain were on at the same time as us and they were so obnoxious and rude to everyone. They were drinking and smoking on the stage during the rehearsals and I remember the producer giving them an ultimatum."

Clannad on the other hand were she insists a tad tamer on the road.

"Oh they'd have their little tantrums from time to time but they wouldn't be throwing TV's out the window or anything like that," she laughs. "When we'd have a few days off, we'd let our hair down and have a few glasses of wine. But if you're doing a few dates in a row you'd be on your best behaviour."

Unlike her multi- platinum selling sister Enya who never performs live, Bridin is planning to get a band together and tour when the album comes out.

"I'll definitely be playing live," she says. "It's a buzz to go onstage but I really do get nervous. Even when I was with Clannad the others used to say I made them nervous."

Currently involved in negotiations with several major record companies, Bridin's debut album is expected to come out before the summer with an Irish tour to follow.

"If I can crack the Irish market, I can do well anywhere," she says. "Like I say, I'm the youngest and they say you save the best wine till the last."

'Hang On' is released on Grapevine