An Irish Christmas with Aoife Scott

The piercing cold of Delhi바카라�s winter did little to diminish the energies inside The Piano Man Jazz Club on December 13, where the Embassy of Ireland had invited Irish folk singer Aoife Scott and her band to perform for an Irish Christmas event. The audience hooted, danced and clapped to the rhythms of the bodhrán, as Scott and her band raised their spirits with their lively songs. Outlook spoke to the Irish singer, who comes from the legendary Black Family바카라�one of the most important musical clans of Ireland. Excerpts from the interview:

Q. What brings you to India? Have you been here before?

We have been invited by the Irish Embassy for their Irish Christmas event. We performed at an event in Netherlands when the present Irish Ambassador to India, Kevin Kelly, was an ambassador there. He told us, 바카라�You need to come to India!바카라�, and finally we got to come here. It is my third time visiting India, but I바카라�m coming here as a band, along with the other two members, for the first time. It바카라�s only on this trip that we are really experiencing India and its amazing beauty, and we have been blown away.

Q. Which kind of music genres interests you?

I바카라�m very interested in folk music. I바카라�ve been here before to perform at a World Music festival. We played in Delhi, Jaipur and Goa back then. It was amazing to see people from all over the world come together. We all collaborated with each other. I like all kinds of folk music. Irish folk is my favourite, probably. I like Scotch folk too. Music that tells a story is the most important for me.

Q. You come from a long legacy of music and a lot of your family members are musicians. Did singing come as a natural choice?

No! It didn바카라�t. My mother was a singer all my life. Now she is a politician, an independent Senator. I actually got my degree in media. Initially, I worked in the media because I felt a lot of pressure of being compared to how successful my family was. I decided that I didn바카라�t want to be a musician, because of the fear of failure; I was scared of failing. When I got a little older, I realised that I actually wanted to perform and sing. I was very shy as a kid. I probably got up on the stage on my own at 17. From then, for a good few years, I was very nervous because I would get up on the stage with my mother at her shows. Eventually, I got over my nerves.

Q. Quite a few of your songs, like 바카라�All Along the Wild Atlantic Way바카라� and 바카라�Sweet October바카라� talk about Ireland and its scenic geography. Do spaces form an important part of your musical imagination?

Ireland is a very inspirational place. I write about Ireland as my breath gets taken away with how beautiful it is. A lot of people who belong there take it for granted. I travel a lot, and I see all kinds of places and then go home and realise that we are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. I grew up in Dublin, the city centre. Maybe, that바카라�s why I appreciate the beautiful countryside. I live in the countryside now, outside of Dublin. My granddad is from an island close to Giant바카라�s Causeway, a famous Irish place. We used to go there for our vacations. It was an island with nothing on it바카라�no TV, no car. We had to walk miles to get to the place. It made me appreciate the beauty even more.

Q. Is your musical style different from your family바카라�s?

It바카라�s funny that when I sing, I do sound similar to my family because it is genetic. I tried not to change it because that바카라�s who I am and that바카라�s where I바카라�m from. I think, this is why I was afraid to be a musician because I sounded so similar to them and there바카라�s always going to be a comparison. Eventually, you realise that it바카라�s actually okay because that바카라�s where I came from. But then, I do something different바카라�I put a little bit of traditional Irish music into my songs, whereas my mother바카라�s and aunt바카라�s is more contemporary folk. My cousins are very successful in Ireland and are even more famous than my mom and my aunt. They바카라�re rockstars and play more pop and rock.

Q. Your mother is a politician. Does politics interest you?

Yes, definitely, politics interests me, but I don바카라�t think I would have the patience to be a politician because I take everything personally. You can바카라�t take anything personally as a politician because you have to keep your head on your shoulders. I don바카라�t have the right temperament for politics. But I keep track of politics, and I바카라�m addicted to the news. There was an election a couple of weeks ago in Ireland and my mother is going for election again, very soon, so we are all watching.

Q. Are there any political endeavors you are engaged with?

We are really passionate about Palestine, especially my mother. It바카라�s very important to us to speak about it. I talk about mental health as well. I think there should be more funding from charities as well as the government for mental health. There is also huge homelessness in Ireland so I바카라�m very passionate about that as well. These are the three issues that I engage with, mainly.

Q. Do you think art should be overtly political?

I think folk music is very political. As a folk musician, that바카라�s where we come from. We바카라�re there to make people think differently about what they believe. Sometimes that바카라�s not very comfortable for a lot of people in the audience but we바카라�re not there to make people comfortable. We바카라�re there to tell them stories, particularly from history. We바카라�re the storytellers; we pass on what happened in the past to the next generation. It바카라�s important not to forget that, and not to forget what바카라�s happening now and to not sweep things under the carpet. Lot of people want you to not say things that are controversial. Sometimes that바카라�s good, but sometimes, there needs to be a place to be able to say such things. That바카라�s why I do write political songs as well. I think art is always political.

Q. Can art inspire significant political interventions?

Yes, I think it can. There is an Irish band called Kneecap, whose members are Irish language activists and are also very passionate about Palestine. Their music is inspiring the Irish language to have a huge comeback in Ireland. I바카라�m an Irish language speaker as well. For us, to see a band be truly themselves is so important because Irish is a minority language and we바카라�re trying to make it less of a minority and want it to last forever. They바카라�ve just won the British Film Critics' awards for their film바카라�which is about the Irish language바카라�and are on the Oscar바카라�s long list. They are opening the doors for the proliferation of the language, and it is a huge example to me about how music can change people politically.

Q. You have been campaigning proactively for Palestine with your music. Do you want to say anything to fellow artists about this issue?

What people can do is they can speak to each other about it and they can stop pretending that it바카라�s not happening. What바카라�s happening in Palestine is genocide and what is different about this situation is that we can see it live on our phones. But there is a way of turning off, when people feel, 바카라�I don바카라�t want to see that, I don바카라�t want to believe this is happening.바카라� I think speaking about it is very important. We must talk to people that might not know about it and keep reading and looking for different sources on it.