FT: Thanks for taking the time to talk to Folk and Tumble Damo. Can I start off by asking, does anyone call you Damien anymore?
DD: Eh, No, Me mother, that’s about it. (Laughs) Some of the older folk call me ‘Dayo’!
FT: It’s been 7 years since ‘Soulsun’, your last album of original material. ‘Hold Your Joy’ is a double album, so obviously you’ve had a lot of songs waiting, but can I ask why the long gap between the albums?
DD: A lot was to do probably with John Reynolds, my producer, whom I work so closely together with. When Brexit came along, it horrified John and his wife, Fiona who’s from here in Dublin. They had living in Kilburn and decided to move back here. Moving house is a huge thing, but moving country is immense. And moving from a country, not in the EU to a country in the EU, was an added headache. So certainly, that was part of it. We had great times in that studio in Kilburn, but it had gone stale, it didn’t have the same spark, then lockdown came of course, so everything was knocked off for a good few years. That’s why we did a double album; we’d been away so long, we wanted to give people something to get their teeth into, you know.
FT: The album itself, ‘Hold your joy’, is a continuation of your musical philosophy, of music as a remedy, a balm for the soul?
DD: There’s a lot of healing to be done, and there’s a lot of healing in the music. I think it started with myself trying to get some healing from the music myself, and it works for others, and I really hope this album will help a lot of people, which many need at the moment. I suppose it’s an accumulation of things I’ve learned from traveling the world and meeting people. It’s things I learned about how to stay above water, amidst the modern madness. It’s the life lessons I’ve learned.
I read a book called ‘The Book of Joy’ by a fella called Douglas Abrahams, who was going through some bad headspace, and he brought together the Dalai Lama, and Bishop Desmond Tutu, to talk about how to stay joyful and grateful with all the madness around us in the world. It’s an amazing book; I thoroughly recommend it to anyone.
FT: There’s a line in the book that says ‘ To choose Hope, is to step firmly forward into the howling wind, bare one’s chest to the elements, knowing that in time, the storm will pass‘.
DD: There’s a lot to learn for everybody in the book. I really recommend it, it talks about mindfulness and meditation, and just stops the mind racing. It’s once a day, but you have to practice it. It’s like playing the guitar, you have to practice. It’s not like doing it for a week, and if it doesn’t click, you just give up. You have to get at it, and when it does work! You wonder, how did I ever live without this?
FT: ‘Hope calling’ seems to be a case in point. Music gives people that lift. Your music seems to have that spirituality for many people
DD: Maybe the vibration or frequency in my voice that people latch on to, or just lifts them. There’s a young girl, Adrienne in Clondalkin, she’s very badly disabled mentally, but whenever she hears me, she gets up and dances. Whenever she hears my voice, for some reason, she changes, I’ve done a gig for her, incredible to see that change in her, just from hearing my music. It’s the only music she reacts to.
FT: When you going through your own mental health issues, were there voices or particular artists you turned to?
DD: Yeah, absolutely. Sinead, Christy, Bob Marley. Soul singers, ones who put their lives into the music. A song li you can hear their Empathy, their positivity, and their struggle shine through and it lifts you. Luke Kelly would be another one, and someone like Nat King Cole.
FT: You mention Sinead O’Connor, and Christy Moore, as those voices you turn to for solace, and in your early days, they both were real stalwarts in terms of supporting you.
DD: Absolutely, they took me under their wing, and gave me great advice. When the critics were slamming me, they gave me encouragement, and when people like that give you encouragement, you’re able to withstand anything. It was hurtful, but when Christy likes you, it’s like ’Who the fuck are they’? (Laughs)
FT: Getting back to the album, ‘Louise’ is a wonderful anthem to women. It’s a hugely affecting piece. Can you give us a bit of a background to it?
DD: I was talking to a good friend Phlair, about the damage patriarchy had done down through the ages, and thinking about my grandmother’s generation. Me granny had 9 kids, my other granny had 11, and that was small to many other families. I just wondered how their bodies actually survived and then raising the kids, with no money, working all hours cleaning and feeding their families. I wanted to give them a song and thank them for their strength. And yet they still struggling for real equality. I think they should run the place. I think we would have a fairer society, with a lot less violence. When I was young, abortion was illegal, contraception was illegal, and homosexuality was illegal. It was like the dark ages, and women bore the brunt of a lot of it.
FT: Social issues have always been to the fore of your songwriting and another song that caught my attention was ‘Landlords and the Government’. Can you tell us a bit more?
DD: We are one of the richest countries in the world, and the workers cannot afford a front door. The chorus is ‘Vote them out’! It would be interesting to see neither Fianna Gael nor Fianna Fail in power for the first time in the history of the Irish state. I would love to see what a Left-wing coalition could do for the country. Just give someone with different ideas a go. We have an election coming up, and I really love for a shift away from the ‘I’m alright Jack’ politics and see what a socialist government could do.
FT: ‘Let it go’ is another wonderful song on the album
DD: I do some work at Coolmine which is a project attached to Merchant Quay Ireland, working alongside people struggling with addictions. The song is about things in people’s past that are dictating their present and their future. It’s holding them back, It’s eating them up, and killing them. Sometimes you have to face up to those things, and let it go. You can do great things when you let go of these things in the past that you can’t change. People find it very affecting when I’ve played it to them.
FT: One of the classic songs from your songbook, is ‘Ghosts of overdoses’, which you kindly donated to the ‘Kindness on the Streets’ charity album for the People’s Kitchen here in Belfast. Sadly the issue of drugs and deaths from drugs, is an issue I suppose you feel you have had to address again in the song ‘Devil’s Dandruff’
DD: Yeah, it’s about the cocaine epidemic. I remember the Fairyhill area near where I live, before cocaine and when it arrived. The violence went through the fucking roof. I know loads of people I went to school with who were stabbed, shot dead, or killed themselves. It’s done an awful lot of damage. So many people think it’s just a recreational drug, but I’ve seen how deadly it is. Now friends of mine in New York are telling me they losing people over there, who are doing cocaine over there, but they’re putting fentanyl in the cocaine. And that’s goin’ happen over here. The next line you do with fentanyl in it, you’re fucking dead, end of.
FT: It’s a horrible thought. And things, sadly look like they will only get worse.
FT: ‘Ray of Sun’ is another stand-out track on the album.
DD: Thank you. It’s just me and the guitar, it’s about a youth worker I know in Ballymun, Ray Corcorran, and people like him, who just work relentlessly to help put people on a better track, put people back on the road. Saving lives in a fact. Steering them in the right direction. We all have a role towards the younger people, to show them some soul and guide them towards the sun.
FT: Damo, I was watching television last night, and your film, ‘Between the Canals,’ came on. I was wondering if you were going to do any more acting roles.
DD: I’ve been in three films, and I’ve been a gangster in everyone. I’ve been offered about twenty roles, all gangsters, and I said, ‘Would yous ever fuck off lads’! I’m not a gangster!
FT: To be fair Damo, you’re not built like a childminder?
DD: (Laughs) Fair point, although, I’m the pipsqueak of the family, I have two big brothers, who used to do security in the nightclubs. I may consider doing another film, but not as another gangster, but who knows?
FT: I hear you’re working on an album of traditional songs?
DD: I am indeed, hopefully, be out late next year. It is a collection of songs I love. Maybe songs that are a bit more obscure. Old songs but a bit more obscure. I’ve a lot of young fans. A lot of my songs are quite political, they’re not abstract, they’re straight, so the message keeps across and the kids can understand them. So I know if I do this album, the kids will singing them old songs, and hopefully pass them on.
FT: You’ve a lot of tour dates coming up, on the back of this album Damo. To anyone who hasn’t been to a Damo Dempsey gig, what can they expect?
DD: A big spiritual singsong, full of healing and hope. An incredible band that will get the people, jigging and dancing! Old songs and new. Bring them up, bring them up, make the cry, and make them laugh. An emotional evening!
FT: Hopefully, I can catch up with you at the gig in Belfast in February. Damo, I hope the album flies, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
DD: My pleasure Damo. I’ll keep my eye out for you!