DIY folkie gets the mix right for Irish tour

The Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell

English folk duo David Harbottle and Freya Jonas play Monroe’s Live in Galway on Thursday, February 20. Last year Harbottle released the eight track EP Dawn Breaks with Friendly Cats. David is inspired by English folk luminaries like Martin Simpson, Richard Thompson and Bellowhead.

David began playing music when he was 13, and not long after he came across a piece of equipment which set him on a path of writing and recording.

“The key for me was buying a little four track recorder, it’s the best investment I ever made,” he says. “I had a bit of a misspent youth, doing that instead of playing outside with my pals. Overdubbing, experimenting with vocals, different guitar sounds, trying to master the production side of things.”

David was playing stuff like Thin Lizzy in rock band with his friends when Damien Rice’s O  was released in 2002. It was a record that had a big effect on the young Englishman.

“Damien Rice changed my world to be honest,” David says. “That intimate sense of guitar and microphone laid bare – that’s when I decided I wanted to write my own stuff.  After that, Glen Hansard, Van Morrison – there’s definitely an Irish influence.”

Dawn Breaks was the second self-produced EP  from David Harbottle & The Friendly Cats, and continues with Harbottle’s enthusiastic DIY approach.

“We recorded all the strings, brass, vocals in my house, then we had a friend who allowed us to record the drums in a separate location,” David says. “Typically, we’ll record a live draft, and then from there we’ll have a look at how we can clean it up. In an ideal world, if I had a big budget, I’d love to be in a studio with all the instrumentalists in separate rooms, but playing it live.”

David also mixes his music, which is something that can make some musicians want to pull their hair out. Does he enjoy sitting in front of a mixing desk and computer?

“I absolutely love it!” he laughs. “I spent half a year mixing our first E.P Ferrari Girl. I went to Liverpool Univeristy, where I met a lot of the band. We spent a few weeks recording, and I spent a year mixing six tracks. I just couldn’t let it go, I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted the music to have an impact, I don’t want to give people something half arsed.”

David honed his songwriting style at university, where he shared accommodation with seven rugby players, an audience he describes as ‘unforgiving’.

“When it came around to showing them my music they’d say ‘it’s too long, it’s too emotional’,” he recalls. “I’d think hmmm, ok, how can they access it? So make it straight to the point, come it with something strong and meolodic, make it short so they’re not hanging around for ages.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.