Julie Feeney Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 21st 2010 11:20AM by Jena Gessaman
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Julie Feeney's debut album '13 Songs' won the Choice Music Prize in Ireland. As multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, producer and conductor, Feeney is the driving force in the creation of her music. 'Pages,' released in 2009, won this beguiling newcomer an Irish Music Television Award for her video accompanying the hit single 'Impossibly Beautiful.'

Describe your sound.

I re-score for different line-ups. I make the sound in my head first and then work with the musicians and play it live. I used to work with electronics a few years ago, and now I've gone completely acoustic. I wanted to make a pop album just using orchestra. Sometimes with pop music you find strings brought in to give it a sort of a bit of flavor. I actually wanted to be rooted in the four sections of orchestra -- I wanted to see if that was possible. There is a vibe of comfort I wanted to convey.

Tell me about your band.

My shows are quite theatrical. I'm going [to SXSW] with one player, a harpist [Cormac DeBarra] and I will play keyboards and probably accordion and maybe harmonium. It depends how much we can bring with us. I really like to explore with the same music and re-orchestrate it for a different sound. I am doing a show in May with a full orchestra in Ireland, in the National Concert Hall. Basically, it's me and whatever mixture of instruments I turn up with.

Who are your musical influences?

Classical composers. I am a massive fan of Beethoven. Early music like Leonin -- a mixture of plain chant. Bizarrely, I find a connection between that and traditional Irish music. There is a sparseness that I love, the same sparseness I love in traditional Irish music. In terms of contemporary music, there's sort of a wide range, really. I do love Bob Dylan -- the poetry, the words. There's a folk singer named June Tabor whom I love.

You compose, arrange, produce, design, conduct and promote yourself as an artist. What do you do to unwind?

When I'm in the real thick of heavy work, comedy is something I really think is brilliant. There is nothing like a good laugh, ya know?

What is your musical guilty pleasure?

Is it weird to say Lady Gaga? She's too exposed now and probably so famous in America. So you probably can't say that anymore, but when she started to come out, people didn't really know her and you kind of weren't supposed to like her.

Beatles or Stones?

I think it would be Beatles. But then again, it's hard. I probably know more about the Beatles. Last year I listened to 'Revolver,' and I just thought those songs are so well-written. They're so well-constructed.

Stravinsky or Vivaldi?

If you'd have said Stravinsky or Bach, out of fairness, I would have to go with Bach. Vivaldi is fantastic, but I'm not sure he had the breadth that Stravinsky had.

Do you have any special trips planned or things you'd like to see while in Texas?

I want to get a feel for the people who live there, a real flavor of the city, the arts and cultural side of it. I've visited other states in middle America, and people just rave about Austin. Texas sounds so exotic. My God, it's Texas! You don't expect to actually go there.

Jenna Gessaman is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.