Interview with Basciville

Basciville are a multi-instrumentalist folk/indie duo, based in Co. Wexford, Ireland. Brothers Cillian and Lorcan Byrne began creating music together in 2016. They have just released their debut album called ‘Hymns to the Air’. No More Workhorse caught up with the brothers to ask them some questions about their early life, lockdown and the feeling of holding your debut album in your hands!

You can buy the album on their Bandcamp page here.

How many of you is there in your family?

There are five brothers, no sisters. Don’t think that was the plan somehow!

Did you always get along as children or was there the normal sibling rivalries?

We have always got on boringly well, no hidden biography gems, unfortunately.

Was your house very musical growing up or where did your interest in music come from?

Both our parents nurtured and provided a lot of musical stimulation in our house, be it instruments or just exposing us to good music at an early age. All our brothers play or are passionate about music and being the youngest we got a lot of good music second hand from them.

Were you ever in other bands or did you always want to record together?

We’ve played in many bands over the years both original music and covers but usually always with both of us in them.

Correct me if I’m wrong but you both studied music in college. It’s a fairly atypical way to get into this end of the music industry. What advantages do you think it gives you?

Depending on the college institution it can afford you a lot of great contacts and work through personal networking but in terms of any advantage in a musical sense not much really, as in it’s not necessary. It still comes down to how well you can listen and the time spent with instruments. It does make communicating musical ideas easier and in a profession where communication is everything that is an advantage.

How did it feel to finally hold a copy of your debut album in your hands?

Really great. Now we know how parents feel.

With touring not an option at the moment, it’s having a huge impact on the music industry. Is it possible for a new band to make a living out of music at the moment?

It’s really tough. You have to get lucky with sync placements and have very healthy streaming numbers to have anything resembling a steady wage coming in. You just commit and do it until you wind up homeless or rich I guess.

Were you tempted to wait to release the album in more normal times?

That was certainly a conversation that was had and we did push it out to the second half of the year to give reality a chance to correct itself. There will always be perils and anxieties around self-releasing but I guess you just throw up your hymn to the air and hope it’s of use to someone, somewhere.

What’s next for Basciville?

We’re already working on the next album as well as lot’s of new projects with other artists. We’ll record as much music as we possibly can while we have nothing else to do.