Kíla means many things. The word itself, depending on the language you speak, means twinkle in Japanese, mosquito net in Hebrew, bloated testicles or hernia in Croatian, everything in Swahili. In Ga, one of the many Ghanian languages it means devil. So, take your pick. Kíla formed in 1987 while the guys were at school together in Colaiste Eoin in Dublin. Encouraged by their music teacher Proinsias de Poire to enter competitions, the boys began busking and even performing sessions at the Brazen Head pub, even though they were  too young to drink.

 

Their first real gig was at the Baggot Inn in Dublin. Three people attended. The band has since converted millions of fans worldwide. Reviews for their gigs and albums are now raving enthusiastic: "There is an energy, an honesty and a cast-iron authenticity to Kíla's music that is as infectious as it is charming. The breadth of influence is wide; they might come from a traditional Irish canon but the song-writing is shot through with shades of Caribbean rhythms, spicy licks from the Middle East and Afro style harmonies," according to The Irish Times.

Kíla now play to audiences in more than 26 countries on the festival circuit and have scored themes for many films and television programmes. Metro Éireann caught up with Eoin Dillon, uilleann piper and vocalist with Kíla on their return from the latest festival, 'The Beautiful Days' in Devon.

We asked Dillon, one of Kíla's founder members about what makes a good gig, plans for the future and what exactly is World Music. "It has been a muddy season for the outdoor gigs," says Dillon. "We had plenty of mud in Devon but the Midlands gig here in Ireland wasn't too bad. That's a great show as it's very relaxed and not too over-crowded. Families with kids go to that one.

“Touring is a great life, but tiring. I've had one day off in the past three weeks.” He was gearing up for the Dún Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures this week."

So what has been a particularly memorable gig for Kíla this season? "The audience makes the gig, they create the atmosphere. A venue can help too. We did one recently and it was open air. There were catacombs under the amphitheatre and it was like playing on a huge bass. The sound was brilliant."

On recent reports that Irish people are no longer buying music by Irish bands. Dillon is resolute: "These reports come out every now and again, it sounds to me like the big multinational companies are having a moan because they are not moving records. They are just having a gripe by blaming it on punters. But if music companies are putting out rubbish then they can't blame the public for not buying it. These companies have taken their eye off the ball, they don't know what's happening around the country."

Kíla's success may have looked like a slow burner, but it has always been on the rise. "What we would like is more radio play. Tune in to the radio and you hear so much chart music, always the same stuff.  Most of our songs are in Irish so that may put some programmers off. We do sing in English too, and we have got some advocates among Irish DJs, but again, it's trying to get the songs heard, that's what it's all about."
Dillon explains the use of Irish in the songs: "We sing in Irish because of the sounds, the phonetics of the language. So, while the lyrics can be written in English as well, sometimes a direct translation will just not sound the same."

What is Dillon's take on the term 'World Music'? Does he feel that Kíla come under that banner? "I do not like the term World Music, it seems to me to be a phrase used by record companies to sell more records." But isn't that the point? "I'm not convinced. It separates music into the West and the rest. Music is music. OK, I'm Irish and we play Irish music, but we could live and play anywhere. It's mad to lump someone playing throat music from Tibet with a musician from Senegal just because they are not Western." What is Dillon listening to at the moment? "Hank Wedell is a singer from Cork who does American country and rock ‘n’ roll, he has a fantastic voice. I love Ivo Paposov too; he's a manic Bulgarian clarinet player. One of the first albums I bought was Moving Hearts. I wouldn't be a music snob though, I do like some pop chart stuff too."

Kíla are keen to encourage a more diverse audience in Ireland but are not sure how to go about this. "If we were to say 'No immigrants allowed, only Irish people authorised to come to our gigs' then we'd get people to sit up," says Dillon with a glint in his eye. "We seem to touch a lot of European people outside of Ireland. The Spanish, French and Belgians are very aware of us. We tour there a lot. Sometimes at the more informal sessions in pubs here Irish music gets a tourist audience; a French contingent or a regular bunch of Basques that live here. But I have some Polish and Chinese neighbours in Dublin and I asked them to come along to our gigs, but they never turned up." So Kíla would like to throw out the challenge to the new international population of Ireland, try a bit of Irish and go to a Kíla gig soon. "There is no word in the Irish language for 'foreigner'," Dillon points out. "The nearest we have is 'eachtranach' which means traveller or adventurer."
 
Kíla's  next dates are:
2nd September: Electric Picnic, Stradbally Hall, Port Laoise: www.electricpicnic.ie
9th September:
Cois Fharrige Surfing Festival, Kilkee, Co. Clare:
www.coisfharrige.ie

And various local dates in the autumn: www.kila.ie