MacD on Music: Strength in numbers

Being Irish, we know a thing or two about having neighbours that want to invade and murder us. Probably one of the reasons we are so vocal in our support of the Palestinian people who have suffered almost eighty years of terrorism at the hands of Israel.

Since Israel upped it’s genocidal efforts in October 2023, there have been countless Gigs for Gaza held across the country, and next month will see another one taking place in St. Mary’s Hall in Buncrana, featuring a line-up of (amongst others) Delta Fuse, Liam Rodden, String Empire, James & Rory, Mary, Lydia and Stewart, Teknopeasant and, the subject of this week’s column, Strength N.I.A.

I caught up with Strength’s Rory Moore to chat about the gig, as well as his upcoming gigs in Bennigan’s this Friday (27th June) with Jinx Lennon and in London next month.

“We’ve been kind of busy the last couple of weeks. We were doing some shows down the country, down in Dublin with Little Gem records, then we did a show in Dundalk with Jinx Lennon, we did a show up in Rodden’s in Buncranna and we’ve got a couple more shows coming up over the next few weeks.

“We’ve a show this week in Bennigan’s with Jinx. It’s going to be an early enough show. Doors open at 9.30 and the music probably starts at ten. Then we got quite a nice request to come and perform in the Camden Arts Centre on the 2nd July as part of an exhibition called akâmi. One of the artists in the show is Duane Linklater, of the Omaskêko Cree. These are an indigenous people from Ontario, in the Canadian territories, and he’s asked Strength N.I.A. to come and perform at the opening of the exhibition. He’s been listening to our music online and he’s going to be in England for this so he requested that we come over. We’re looking forward to that and meeting Duane and all of the new curator fellows who are running the event.”

“Then, on the 26th July there’s a fundraiser for UAWC in Palestine. They’re connected to the agriculture in the Palestinian lands. It’s a two day event starting on the 26th July in St. Mary’s Hall in Buncrana. There’s going to be a talk with Ollie Moore, who spent time in the West Bank in 2024 as a delegate for the La Via Campesina.

“The talk is going to be followed by a fundraiser in Rodden’s. It’s going to be a DJ night, then the 27th is going to be a band night that we’re playing at. That’s going to begin at seven o’clock and it’s going to end late and there’ll be approximately ten artists and bands playing.”

Next, we spoke a bit more about the Bennigan’s gig with Jinx Lennon: “It’s going to be the first gig I’ve done in Derry in a while. We’ll be playing tracks mostly from the most recent album I’ve released, ‘Just Rory’.

“The new album is mainly guitar-based songs, so my friend Robert McClelland from String Empire has been helping with the guitar work. The songs from the new album are sounding really good with the two guitars. When I released the album last year, I did a bit of a tour by myself. I played some shows out in Eastern Europe, in the Czech Republic and Berlin, but I was just playing on my own. I’ve kind of sided up with Robert, because the album was made with me playing all the parts myself, so it’s nice to hear the two parts being played. I’m really happy with how it sounds. It’s really nice to be playing. It’s kind of a different sounding Strength.”

Speaking of playing with Jinx Lennon: “Jinx is a Shaman, or a druid. He’s got quite a druid approach to his work, where he shape-shifts. He goes into this vacuum of creative spontaneity. You can never really be sure of what he’s going to do. Nothing seems rehearsed with him. He’s in full command of what he’s doing, but when he goes into the zone it creates almost a ritualistic kind of presentation of his work. I find it very refreshing to see him, because you’re never quite sure what’s going to come out whenever he goes onto the stage. I guess that’s a part of the creative process. Whenever you’re creating work, you go into that vacuum of spontaneity and chaos, and he very much does that on stage. I do enjoy playing with him because it never gets static with him. It’s never mundane. It’s never something that’s too set or too fixed.”

And that’s it from Strength N.I.A. He’ll be playing Bennigan’s this Friday with Jinx Lennon. Tickets are £10 and doors are 9.30.

He’ll also be playing Camden Arts Centre on July 2nd for anyone reading this who may be in the area (you know who you are!). Finally, the fundraiser for Gaza will be taking place on July 26th and 27th in Buncrana, starting off in St. Mary’s Hall and finishing with the DJ (26th) and gig (27th) nights.

READ MORE: MacD on Music

Now, onto other business. This week also sees the release of Cora Harkin’s new single, ‘Record’s Over’. It comes out on Friday and will be available on all good streaming platforms.

And now, time for the socials. Cora Harkin can be found on Instagram @coraharkinmusic and Strength N.I.A. @strengthnia_. Strength’s music can also be found on Bandcamp and in Cool Discs.