Paul Butler, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter for contemporary Irish folk band The Young Folk, says the band is excited to play a few different types of sets during their current tour of Australia.
“If it’s a festival, we have a bigger set-up: keys, piano, guitar, bass, mandolin, trombone, synths and an electric drum kit I sort of stomp and things like that.
“If we’re playing smaller venues, we take away the electric drums and possibly the synths. We also have an electric guitar. We’ve learnt over the years to be adaptable to different venues.”
That said, no matter the environment or change in sound the fundamentals are always the same. “All in all, we’d still have the four-piece harmony, which always comes through no matter how many instruments you have.”
Of the dozen instruments the band has brought on tour, Paul says his favourite is the melodeon; an accordion-like instrument that he compares to a child’s toy piano.
The melodeon cost Paul a mere 50 quid. But compared to the high-end keyboards and synths he brings on tour, he says it's the melodeon people inquire about the most. “Always at the end of gigs people have more questions about this thing I’m blowing into on stage.”
One venue the band is particularly excited to return to is The Memo Music Hall in St Kilda, where they will be releasing a limited stock of a recording of last year’s show titled ‘Live At The Memo’. “It really is a special venue, for us.
"We had such a lovely gig there last year, the venue itself is beautiful; beautiful sound, just a great venue. Not to mention that we absolutely love Melbourne and St Kilda.”
In fact, the band loves the area so much they have decided to record a single for their upcoming, but unnamed third studio album while in Melbourne. “We’ve been trying out a few songs in the set, especially in New Zealand and Australia and we’ve decided we’re going to record our next single in Melbourne.”
While it isn’t official what song will be recorded, Paul says the band is leaning towards ‘Apple Tree’; a song he wrote the lyrics for and fellow band mates Anthony Furey and Tony McLoughlin collaborated musically.
The band has been toying with the song on stage in order to get it right, but Paul says now is the time to record. “Once you have the audience’s reaction to it, then you can change it slightly as the gigs progress.
“It was only a couple of weeks ago that we decided we were really happy with how it sounded and we literally want to record how it sounds now.”
Paul says this sort of collaborative songwriting has been the norm the past couple of years. “Myself, Anthony and Tony are the songwriters… Lyrically we write separately, but musically we bring it together.”
In regards to beer, Paul says he won’t be drinking any Guinness while on tour. “When we first started touring a few years ago I used to try Guinness in different towns and different countries and there’s just something different about it… We’re so picky, we’re so stuck up about it.”
The Young Folk Tour Dates
23-25 Mar - Yackandandah Festival (Victoria)30-31 Mar - National Folk Festival (Canberra)
