Folk is a genre often likened to gentle vibratos, quiet guitars and a hushed sense of secrecy created between listener and artist.
Though this is often the case, Irish-Canadian wordsmith Irish Mythen can only be described as an unexpected but very welcome powerhouse of her field; though physically unimposing, her formidable – and at times urgent – voice can command and control an audience, effortlessly wavering between tenderness and force.
Mythen first picked up guitar as a teen. Her parents devised that she needed something to do while they were travelling, and so handed her a six string with the hope that she’d learn something useful. Little did they know their daughter would quickly find her life’s calling and pair it with a vocal talent nobody knew existed.
“I was out in the Middle East with my parents, and they gave me a guitar so that I’d have something to do. I started to learn how to play, and then taught myself how to sing, and then I was writing songs from there. I think I was sixteen or seventeen when I realised that this was what I wanted to do with my life.”
As for ending up in folk, Mythen believes it was a natural progression of events for someone as politically minded and expressive as herself.
“I think folk has a responsibility more than any other genre to do or say certain things that may not be the best career move otherwise,” she laughs. “I sing songs about how the Church and the State were in cahoots in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and what they did to children. What we continue to do to Indigenous people in Canada and Australia.
“But it’s not all that; folk also has room to tell stories of great loves, and great wants, and great needs. Overall, folk to me was more confrontational than any other genre of music at the time, and still is.”
Mythen has toured the world, having played hundreds of shows in Australia alone; her upcoming tour Down Under in early 2019 marks her fifth tour to Australia and New Zealand. Her inimitable strength and unadulterated skill in engaging with a crowd – no matter the size – has seen her perform on the main stages of huge festivals like Byron Bay’s Bluesfest and Canberra’s National Folk Festival, then casually play bars and pubs whose single room capacity is a fraction of the crowd from the night before.
“I’ve spent my entire career learning how to read crowds. It doesn’t matter to me if the crowd is ten people or 100,000, I always aim to take those big subjects head on but in a way that the crowd doesn’t feel like it’s being preached at.”
Seeing as this is Mythen’s fifth tour to Australia, the question must be asked; what is left for her to do?
“I think I’m more established down in Australia now. When you do it the first couple of times, I guess… you don’t really know what to expect and you don’t know if people are going to be susceptible to your music. But from my very first tour, the Aussie audiences were just incredible: they followed me, they sold out shows. It couldn’t have gone better,”says Mythen with an almost audible smile.
“This time, I’ve got a real fire in my belly to really raise that bar and give the audiences what they deserve. I’ll try to put more energy into my shows – which will be hard because I already go for broke – and new songs as well. That’s very important to me.”
Irish Mythen will play Caravan Music Club on Friday February 1 and The Spotted Mallard on Saturday February 2. Tickets via Moshtix.
