Kíla Explained

Kíla
Origin:Dublin, Ireland
Genre:Irish folk music
Years Active:1987–present
Label:Kíla Records
Associated Acts:The Frames, Hothouse Flowers
Current Members:Rossa Ó Snodaigh
Rónán Ó Snodaigh
Colm Ó Snodaigh
Dee Armstrong
Brian Hogan
Seanán Brennan
Dave Hingerty
James Mahon

Kíla is an Irish folk music group formed in 1987 in Irish language secondary school Coláiste Eoin in County Dublin.

History

The original lineup of the band was Rossa Ó Snodaigh (whistle, bones); Rónán Ó Snodaigh (bodhrán); Eoin Dillon (uilleann pipes); Colm Mac Con Iomaire (fiddle); Karl Odlum (bass); and David Odlum (guitar). In 1988 one of Rossa and Rónán's older brothers, flute player Colm Ó Snodaigh, joined the band. Rónán, Rossa, and Colm are brothers of TD, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, and sons of writer, publisher and historian Pádraig Ó Snodaigh and writer, artist and sculptor Clíodna Cussen.

In their first year, they busked on Grafton Street nearly every week and played 44 concerts, most of them at their father's publishing company's book launches, their mother's art exhibition openings or their brother's political campaign launches. Their first paying concert was upstairs in the Baggot Inn and was attended by only three people, one of whom was the broadcaster Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh.

In 1988 they went abroad to play at their first festival, in Germany, and made their first recording. Since then, Kíla have played in 35 countries on five continents and at some of the world's biggest festivals, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival, Vorneo's Rainforest World Music Festival, Electric Picnic, Womadelaide, Glastonbury Festival, Hungary's Sziget festival, Stockholm Water Festival, Scotland's Hogmany Festival, and Irish and Celtic music festivals in the US, Canada and Spain. They performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics in Ireland in 2003. They have composed music for film and TV, have been nominated for Oscars, and have won awards for their music.

In 2003, in a BBC review of their album Luna Park, Kíla's blend of Irish traditional music and world music with a modern rock sensibility, was credited by Malachy O'Neill with breathing new life into contemporary Irish folk music.[1]

In 2008 Kíla, along with U2, Shane MacGowan, Sinéad O'Connor, Glen Hansard, Damien Dempsey, The Dubliners and other artists recorded "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" as a tribute to the Dubliners singer.

In 2010, the band collaborated with French composer Bruno Coulais on the soundtrack of Cartoon Saloon's Oscar nominated movie The Secret of Kells. In the same year, their music was featured in three other feature films: Maeve Murphy's Beyond the Fire, Ciarán O'Connor's Trafficked, and the award-winning Peter J. McCarthy documentary Fight or Flight.

In late 2011, Kíla published Book of Tunes, containing over 100 of their compositions, photos, poems and prose. The book was described as "a masterpiece" by Seán Laffey in Irish Music Magazine.

In 2015 the band collaborated again with Bruno Coulais on the music for the Oscar-nominated animated feature, Song of the Sea, and they received an Annie Award nomination for 'Outstanding Achievement in Music in an Animated Feature Production'. They also received an Emmy nomination for their work on the 'Crossing The Line' production called 'The Secret Life of the Shannon'.

In 2020, Kíla recorded music for two more films: Cartoon Saloon's Oscar-nominated, award-winning Wolfwalkers; and Tomás Ó Súilleabháin's debut film Arracht, which was IFTAs entry for the Oscars. Arracht was nominated for 11 IFTA awards and won two, with Kila awarded 'Best Original Score'.

During the two Covid lockdowns, the band performed six online lockdown concerts, culminating in a Wolfwalker's-themed St Patrick's Day broadcast, live to all the Irish consulates across the world. After lockdown they went on tour and produced three larger shows: Kíla & Tumble Circus (Sept 2021); Kíla le Prás - (New Year's Eve 2021); and Kíla & Cairde for Tradfest in the National Stadium (Jan -2022).

Members

Kíla's line-up saw many changes between 1987 and 2024. In 1988, flute player and singer Colm Ó Snodaigh joined; in 1991 fiddler Colm Mac Con Iomaire and guitarist Dave Odlum left Kíla to join Glen Hansard's band The Frames; Dee Armstrong replaced Colm on fiddle and guitarist Eoin O'Brien and lead guitarist Dave Reidy joined; (Reid emigrated to San Francisco a year later). In 1994; Karl Odlum left and joined Mick Christopher's band The Mary Janes: he was replaced by jazz bassist Ed Kelly, who left in 1995 along with Eoin O'Brien after the release of Mind The Gap. Drummer and rhythm guitarist Lance Hogan took Eoin's place and Laurence O Keefe filled in on bass until Brian Hogan became bass player prior to recording Tóg É Go Bog É (1996). In 2009, Donegal guitarist Seanán Brennan joined the band to replace Hogan, who was on a sabbatical. In 2010 drummer Dave Hingerty was invited to join the band. In 2015, piper Eoin Dillon left and James Mahon replaced him. Dee ArmstrongDee Armstrong is from a musical family. She is a self taught musician and began playing with Kila in 1991. She plays fiddle, banjo, hammered dulcimer, bodhran and tuned percussion. Dee studied film and wrote and directed “Changelings” short film in 1993. She has been working on film soundtracks ever since. Notably writing with Kila the score for three animated feature films with Cartoon Saloon. Dee has a first-class honours degree in Performing Arts and a Masters in Set Design. She also plays with Free Speaking Monkey and The Armagh Rhymers.Dee designed and directed many of Kíla's visual shows in Vicar St, Olympia and other theatres. She has four children and a grandson.

Current members

Former members

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Soundtrack albums

Compilation albums

Remix albums

Singles

DVDs

Books

Solo albums

Rónán

Colm

Brian

Dave

Rossa

Eoin

Books by Members of Kíla

Colm

Rónán

Rossa

References

  1. Web site: O'Neill . Malachy . BBC - Music - Review of Kila - Luna Park . 2022-10-03 . www.bbc.co.uk . en-GB.

External links

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