“Celtronica” trio Chasing Abbey discusses their debut album ahead of Warehouse show

Chasing Abbey // Courtesy Fargos Photos

It is rare to find a band doing something completely different from what everyone else on the radio is doing. Irish traditional folk music mixed with electronic house beats is not the kind of sound you’d expect to be growing in popularity. Chasing Abbey, based in Tullamore, Ireland, has broken the mold by honoring their heritage, but still paving the way to the future with their debut genre-bending “tradhouse” album, Cyber Celt.

Fans worldwide are clamoring to hear it live. After 10 long years of preparing and waiting for the perfect moment, the band is ready to bring it to them.

Chasing Abbey will be playing at Warehouse on Broadway on Oct. 4. Details on that show here. Ahead of that show we sat down with the band.

The Pitch: How did the three of you meet?

Ted Conway: We met in school. We went to the same secondary school, which is like high school. We got together for a radio competition, and our music teacher put us together. Bee (Byrne) and I were in the same class, and Ro (Bell) was three years younger. So we grabbed him out of his class, and that was our first musical project together. We stayed on that course for a few years and then we eventually made Chasing Abbey. We’ve been making music together now for over 10 years.

So you guys have been friends for a pretty long time, then?

Conway: Since we were like 12 or 13.

Jonathan Byrne: Well over half our life.

Where did the band name, Chasing Abbey, come from?

Conway: An abbey is used as, like, a center for culture and art. It is used for religious things, but it has other uses. It’s also like a community area. We obviously are big about pushing culture and art and the kind of journey it takes to really get in amongst it. It takes a long time, so that’s where the ‘chasing’ comes in. I think we’ll always be chasing that feeling in a very healthy way, in a way that we’ll always be kept interested by it. The name comes from something that’s hardwired into us to be always chasing after that feeling of innovation, art, creativity, all that good stuff.

What does your songwriting process look like?

Conway: It can look different; we don’t have any specific rules. In fact, we were kind of against rules in general, especially when you’re creating art. The last thing you want is rules to hold you back or to have any preconceived ideas of what your song should sound like or what you should say. We try to get to a subconscious flow state, and the way we do that is we’ll play music together. We let the room’s atmosphere take over and then hopefully drift off into the land of creation. I think if you could describe our process, it’s more about setting the vibe, setting the atmosphere rather than starting with a single thing.

It’s kind of like a jam session; you just figure it out as you go along.

Conway: Exactly, you don’t want to be thinking about it too much. You just want to let it happen.

Your debut single, “That Good Thing,” had millions of streams, and your second release, “Talk To Me,” had a lot of radio play and became the official track for the Football Association of Ireland. Why do you think you got such a huge response so quickly?

Conway: I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. The reasons art resonates with people–nobody knows, I think. Maybe it was something different. I think we’ve always had a different flavor about us. I think that’s what people like.

You’ve supported artists like The Chainsmokers and Rita Ora in the past. Are there any other artists that you would like to work with in the future?

Byrne: It always changes. I don’t even know what acts we’d be suitable with on tour. Maybe like Dropkick Murphys.

Conway: It’s very niche.

Byrne: This question always gets us.

Conway: We’re so independently minded that we kind of are just obsessed with our own thing and we’re never really looking outwards. We always say we would love to do something with Hozier.

Your debut album, Cyber Celt, just dropped. What are you most proud of?

Byrne: There are a lot of things to be proud of. I think one thing we’re really proud of is that we didn’t rush it. We’ve been together for 10 years, and there could have been moments where we could have compiled some songs and put an album out. But something deep down–we knew we were never ready or were never at a place where we were ready to express who we really are. We were still on a discovery journey, like we always are. We’re very proud that we got to a place where we finally felt ready to share a body of work and we did it, just the three of us. We wrote it all, produced it all, mixed it, released it by ourselves.

Ronan Bell: Doing it all totally independent.

Conway: Right, DIY.

Bell: We didn’t have any other people trying to either help us or tell us what we could or couldn’t do with the album, or have any influence on it. It was all from the three of us in Bee’s shed. We have a studio in his shed back home in Ireland, and yeah, we wrote the whole thing there, produced it, mixed it, and now released it by ourselves, as well. I think in the future, no matter where our journey takes us, we’ll always look back and say our debut album was 100% just us.

Byrne: And it’s bringing us all around the world.

What has been your favorite bit of fan reception you’ve heard or seen?

Conway: One thing that’s really standing out to us is, after the shows, a lot of people are saying, “That’s the best concert I’ve ever seen,” which is kind of crazy. Like, if one person says it, you’re like, “Yeah, nah.” But we’ve got that comment so many times now that we’re thinking we must be doing something pretty good.

Byrne: There’s a very strong message on the album, and I think when people experience the full hour and a half, it really brings people together in the room, and it generates this energy that the people are leaving on a high and leaving them with hope for a better world.

Conway: It’s kind of healing.

Byrne: We call it Mass!

Is this your first solo world tour?

Conway: Pretty much. We did 20 dates in the UK, USA, and Canada in March, but this time, we’re hitting Europe, Australia, and Singapore, so it’s more of a world tour.

How do you feel about this huge new range of places you’re now going to?

Conway: We’ve always had it planned, you know, we’ve been on a mission for 10 years to get to this level. We keep on reminding ourselves every day just to slow down and to take it all in and just appreciate how far we’ve come, and all the work and sacrifices and the bad days and good days have led to this moment. We’re just trying to be grateful for it. It’s hard to take it in; it really is very surreal at times. It can be very overwhelming. But it’s what we always dreamed of, to be honest, and this is what we signed up for 10 years ago. We’re glad to be finally doing it, and we’re in a place where we can enjoy it as well, which is nice.

If you have any off days, do you have any plans for what you might be doing in the States?

Conway: We had a day off yesterday, and we went to the pub!

Bell: Even just yesterday and on our last trip, we always kind of have nice, mad plans and stuff to do on our days off, and then when the day off comes–

Conway: Everyone’s just too tired.

Bell: Everyone just gets to drinking.

Byrne: It would be nice to go up and see all the sights, but I guess that requires an awful lot of energy, so a nice air-conditioned pub kind of wins.

Chasing Abbey will be playing at Warehouse on Broadway on Oct. 4. Details on that show here.