Band: Cruachan, Member: Keith, Conductor:
Carlos Flores, Date: April 29, 2002
Cruachan is an Irish Folk Metal band that was born after Minas Tirith
split in 1992. The name is taken from a cave in Ireland that is pointed as
the entrance to the Celtic otherworld, that christians later on, labeled
as the entrance to hell. As you can imagine, their metal music is plenty
of celtic influences as well as their lyrics. Being a huge Skyclad fan
myself I am very glad to have found Crauchan music in these days plenty of
elves-like musicians. The band has three albums and a single, Folk-Lore
being the last one, released at the beggining of the year. In these
e-interview we chat with Keith, the former member, about Cruachan music,
history and future plans. They also have a very nice web page that you can
check out!
Q: Hi, please tell us about Cruachan's Music?
A: Cruachan play a very strange type of music, we are a hybrid of heavy
metaland traditional folk music. We use genuine instruments such as
Flute,tin-whistle, Banjo, Bouzouki, Mandolin, Bodhrán etc. to create an
authentic folk sound.
Q: In the biography of the band I read that in the beginning you were
labeled as a Black Metal Band and now you are more into "Heavy Metal". Is
that due to the kind of music that you are hearing nowdays or is just how
your music has been developing through the years?
A: We never did intentionally drop our black metal influences and even
today I would say that they are still with us in a small way. There was a
5 year gap between our first and second album and a lot can happen in 5
years. For one, we all became a little bit more mature and wanted to
create serious music that people will appreciate. I still listen to a lot
of old black metal but it does not have as much influence over my writing
compared to the old days, which is a good thing because now we have become
one of the most original metal bands ever. Sure, some black metal
die-hards will not like that fact but you can't please everyone so why not
please yourself?
Q: What do you think of bands like Manowar, Stratovarius, Hammerfall &
Heaven Gates? Do you feel that Cruachan music and lyrics are related with
this kind of bands?
A: I don't like Manowar but the others are ok. However, I don't think
Cruachan have anything in common with them, Cruachan lyrics are factual
and historical, you can learn from our lyrics.
Q: Which are the main influences of the band?
A: The only bands that have ever influenced my writing of music were
Skyclad and a band from Ireland in the 1970's called The Horslips. I
listen to a lot of music and a lot of musical styles. The last few days I
have been listening to Therion, Death, Hekate, System of a Down, No Doubt,
The Dubliners, Rebaelliun (our label brothers), and many others. I think
when a band have no direct influence, it means they will create something
unique, this is certainly true for Cruachan.
Q: Which are your favorite records from the last year?
A: I hate these questions, I always find them very hard to answer.......although
the worst question of all is when you get asked "who is your favourite
band?".......I can never answer that. Anyway, some memorable releases of
last year: The Dubliners - Greatest hits, System of a Down - Toxicity,
Therion - Deggial (I think that was 2001), Hekate -Sonnentanz, etc. etc.
Q: I know you tell old histories of Ireland in your songs. Are you also
telling histories of the present conflicts and fights of your country?
A: Yes, not to the same extent as our main lyrical topic which is
mythology but on this album there is one song about modern Irish history
called Bloody Sunday. This song was written at the time of all the media
attention to the new tribunal that was set up to investigate what happened,
it is also a subject that I feel strongly about and I thought people need
to know what happened on that day. The song itself gives an un-biased view
of the events of the day.
Q: In these ten (almost) years of Cruachan, there is any dream that the
band has yet not accomplished?
A: Yes, a proper tour. To date, the only country that we have played in
outside Ireland is Russia and it was a great experience. To actually get
on the road and play for our fans is the next step that Cruachan will take
and it will be soon.
Q: Since you are a former-member of "Minas Tirith", looks to me that some
of the members of Cruachan are big fans of Tolkien. What do you think of
the last film of "The Lord of the Rings"?
A: Lord of the rings was amazing. I know there were a few changes in the
story and a lot of stuff was left out but the way I see it is that Peter
Jackson had to make those changes or simply not make the film, I am glad
he did make the film! I think the film might create an interest in old
pagan ways, maybe some kids will see gandalf and think that they want to
be him and will want to find out information on druids, magick etc. I must
also mention that the band Minas Tirith was actually Cruachan.....we
changed the name after awhile.
Q: Any plans for a tour including Chile? In here we have 1 liter Guinness
bottles!!! (no kidding!!)
A: As I said, a tour is a major priority for us, we will probably begin
with a European tour but we would love to play in Chile, also all of S.
America.
Q: Thanks for your time and please feel free to say whatever you want to
the people that will meet Cruachan through this interview...
A: Hail to all!!!! Find out more info. About Cruachan at our website:
www.cruachan.cjb.net
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