This interview with Cianan Curran is about his passion for singing and how his connection to the ancestors inspired him to use a song to support fundraising for the Hopi Native American Tribe.
Cianan isn’t just a singer and an artist, he is also the owner of 4 goats and he releases videos of their adventures on his YouTube Channel.
Check out our conversation here and please connect with him using the links below!
Connect with Cianan:
www.facebook.com/cianancurran
www.youtube.com/user/Cianan111
www.instagram/cianancurran
Support this podcast:
www.patreon.com/confidenceinsingingpodcast
0:45
Welcome, everybody to our podcast today. And this is Aideen from confidence in singing and my guest is Cianan Curran. You’re very, very welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Aideen. Thanks for having me. And Cianan is an Irish artist and singer whose style is emotive, raw and grounded in traditional Irish folk music. In the last two years, his music has reached more than a million people, and has helped raise funding for the Hopi and Navajo tribes. His music is an anchor that keeps him centered and was born from a need to express emotions more so than a want to perform. And tell us a little bit firstly about the Navajo and the Hopi tribes. How did you end up raising money for them? And what happened there?
1:34
Yeah, so I’d come back to Ireland for a lockdown, basically. And it was the summertime it was last summer. And I was on in the forest and the fields near my family home. And I was just cleaning up some sheets of galvanized that we’re on the grass. And as I was cleaning the galvanize. I heard, I heard the voices of what I would consider to be my ancestors. And they said to me, they said you need to make a video acknowledging the relationship between the Irish people and the Choctaw people. You need to make a video acknowledging the Irish people who’ve never forgotten the Choctaw donation. And you need to support the donations that the Irish people are currently given to the Navajo and the Hopi. So a bit more backstory on that. A lot of people are aware, a lot of people are aware that the the Choctaw tribe in America donated money to the Irish during the famine times. And there was a massive gesture from the Choctaw people and Irish people have never forgotten that. There’s many people on this island, who have held that gesture and kept it alive. And the Navajo people and the Hopi tribes, they were very much hit hard by COVID-19. And there was a massive outpouring of support from Ireland to a GoFundMe and the Navajo and the Hopi were unaware of this, this relationship and this reverence that the Irish had for the native tribes of America. So I felt like that was something that I had to do. So I said, Okay, I’m gonna honor this. And, and I was spending a lot of time on the land. I was camping out a lot and just, you know, spend the time to myself, we recorded the video, and I uploaded it to Facebook. And it got a lot of traction for me, it got a lot of traction, you know, it felt like a lot happened. And we had Navajo people Hopi, we had Choctaw and Irish, all commenting on the video. And that’s when the Attorney General of the Navajo Nation got in touch with me and was like, Look, this, this has really kicked off on the reservations. A lot of the natives are watching this video, and are very, very grateful for what you’ve done. And it felt like it just felt it was it was huge for me. And hundreds of messages come in from Irish people, Navajo people, Choctaw, Cherokee, Cree, Apache, they were all just really championing the essence of it. And it became a place where there was cross pollination of the cultures and it was a very, it was a very special moment for me and for my family and I was immensely grateful for for what came off the back of it so they said that, you know, when everything lifts and and things settle down, that they’ll have me over on the reservations and, and, you know, we’ll we’ll we’ll break bread and and get to know each other a little better. It was an it was just it was an amazing An amazing thing to happen and something I’ll hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.
5:06
I love that I love it. And one thing I thought was interesting was that the moment when you got the idea, because I think when we get these little nudges, you know, like you said, you felt that the nudge was from your ancestors. Sometimes we mightn’t know, we mightn’t know where the little that idea pops in sometimes times into our minds. And we know it’s not our own thought. And would you like to tell us a little bit more about that moment? And how you knew that you could trust that how you knew that that was important?
5:42
Yeah, I think that’s a great point. You know, that is a, that is a great point. I feel like, you know, not everybody feels or believes like, that’s possible for your ancestors, or for anything outside of your physical domain to be able to communicate with ya, or contact with ya. And I understand that, I totally understand that if someone doesn’t think that that’s possible, you know, I respect that. In the experiences I’ve had, in the life that I’ve lived, I feel like there’s been times when I have felt something reaching out to me, or something, showing me things. And over the course of time, I feel like I’ve learned to respect that and honor it and acknowledge it and I’ve been blessed in a sense that I’ve been able to travel and travel in a way where I was looking for answers, and I was looking for experiences, and I was looking for challenges. And I feel like, I’ve been to the Himalayas many times to study meditation and to spend time with sadus and gurus and the the vedantic philosophies. And I learned a lot from that. Going to the Amazon, been to the Amazon, and studied with the shamans there, taking plant medicines, and exploring the indigenous cultures in particular of Bolivia. And that also consolidate it a lot for me, as an Irish person, as an Irish man. And when I come home to Ireland, I feel a lot of magic on the island, I feel a lot of love, and I feel a lot of history. And when I came home, in the last year, in particular, I felt a deep connection with my surrounding, and also with my ancestors. And that was a very clear communication. And I just said, Look, I’m going to honor it. And even now for me to speak about it, you know, I, that’s the decision I had to make. I was like, Okay, do I talk about this, from a truly personal perspective? Am I going to be vulnerable in this am I going to invite people in to where my creativity can come from sometimes? And, you know, that is what happened, that was my experience of it so, for people. For people, I feel like, if you are being given a gift, from whatever you feel that gift is coming from, it’s from, from the universe, if it’s from nature, or if it’s from your ancestors, or whatever, whatever you feel it, where it’s coming from, you’ve nothing to lose by by honoring that and going for it, you know, failure is not as damaging, or it’s not as hurtful as, as you think, you know, you can make failure a lot more than what it is. So if I made the video, and if it didn’t do anything, you know, what would I have had to lose from that? If I speak now and say, look, I feel my ancestors told me to make that video, and the energy that came off that video and what it did for people and what it’s done for me, you know, that was that was a positive thing. So that’s where I that’s what I feel about that moment. And if other people don’t feel that’s what the moment was, I’m more than happy for you to think and feel that, you know, I respect that you have, you have the right to feel that.
9:07
Absolutely, I like I think that what you said there is so interesting, you had to make a decision where you’re going to allow yourself be vulnerable in telling your, your your experience because everybody experiences things like that differently. And, you know, sometimes we get an intuition and we just go for it. I think that’s the most important thing is that you trust yourself, trust that what’s coming in, and whether you think it’s coming from your ancestors or you think it’s coming from your higher self or you think it’s coming from your own brain, but we get those little nudges and I feel like that’s where people start doing something different and they they take the they get given something to do that seems a little risky. But there is not a huge downside. Do you know like that just said sometimes we overestimate how the downside so I’m just so it’s just, it makes me feel really, I don’t know, inspired to talk to you about this because I feel like musicians and singers do have a connection, they are a little bit more sensitive sometimes. And they have to trust themselves. And they’re taking that risk to be vulnerable all the time by putting out a song. And for a lot of the people that I work with, and my listeners, they may not sing much at all yet. And what would you say to people to, you know, that if they want to kind of find the confidence to start expressing themselves? For the first time in that way? What would you say to them?
10:40
Um, that’s, that’s, that’s interesting. And that’s also something that I would I can relate to, I feel like, for me, music has always been, like a survival mechanism. Singing in particular, I feel like when I was younger, there was a lot of emotions that you kind of can’t identify or articulate. And when I would hear a certain song, it would resonate with me. And I think, okay, this song is hitting something in me, I try and learn the song with the guitar and singing it. And as I was singing it, it would be a way for me to vent the emotion that the song was evoking. And it became a tool for expression. And, and it was, it was a vital part of me, clearing debris from my emotional body. Now, I used to find it very hard and very intense, singing in front of people, because I would be at home, I’d sit on the end of my bed, I’d close my eyes. And I’d go into that pocket of emotion wherever it was in me, and I’d sing from that space. And I would really honestly feel like I would I was tapping into pockets of energy hidden in my own body, and just exuding that. So then when you’re asked to sing in front of people, you’re like, ah, what do I do here? Like, am I going to open my eyes? Or am I gonna give a little dance or a jig? Or, you know, what do you do like, and I used to find it very tough, because it was such a vulnerable, personal thing. And I thought do you know what for ages, I was like, right, I’m not going to try and perform this song, I am literally going to close my eyes here, I just pretend them at the end of the bed, or I’m sitting on the floor in the room. So I’d often early doors, I’d sing keep my eyes closed, I’d open my eyes. And I’d immediately leave the room, I’d go to the toilet or whatever. Because I couldn’t handle that thing of opening your eyes and people clapping and looking at you, and you’re like, the awkwardness for 30 seconds afterwards where nobody really knows what to do, because you’ve just sang the song. I was very, I was very uncomfortable in that. So I’d leave the room, go to the toilet, maybe grab a little drink in the kitchen if you’re at a house party or whatever. And then when things kind of settle down, slowly work your way back into the room. So maybe talk to the first person you meet at the door on the way into the room and ease your way back in because you’ve just opened up, you’ve just showed people something that is so personal. And that that is hard. You know, there’s no, there is no other way of looking at that that can be tough, especially if you’re truly committed to, you know, singing, if you’re if you’re singing from a place of expression, you’re really really expressing yourself when you’re singing. That is not something that general conversation allows you to do. So you know, that can be difficult. What I would say it goes back to failure, it goes back to that failure thing if you are a singer, or you love singing. And even if you’re like singing, and you just want to be able to sing a song in front of people and just do it. And even if you get through to the first verse, and you forget, you draw a blank. And you forget the chorus and this that and you’re like, who cares? You know, who cares? If you’re if you get up there and you’re feeling a bit quivery and your first two or three lines of the song are a bit chalky or croaky or do ya know what I mean who cares? Like you can’t be you can’t be putting yourself under that pressure. You know, this is ultimately we’re playing music playing playing is the key here this is playtime. This is this is fun, this should be this is inner child in its totality. And we have to allow ourselves the freedom to fail. And we have to allow ourselves the freedom to not be perfect and it can be an intense experience expressing yourself in a group of people. And that’s okay. It’s okay to feel like that’s intense. It’s okay to feel like, tt’s okay to be nervous. If you’re not nervous, it’s not really worth doing. I feel I always said anyway, if it’s not nervous, it’s not worth doing. If you’re not nervous, it’s not worth doing so.
15:12
That’s really great advice. Yeah, I think that that’s I mean, to me, but when I work with people that are new singers or beginners. And when we work on a song, I always emphasize that a song is a way of communicating, and expressing something, and when we bring our true emotion to a song, the actual, the quality of the singing becomes secondary to what people feel when they hear the song, and there’s plenty of singers and very, you know, very well known singers, that their voices wouldn’t be considered very good, but they are considered, like bards, almost, you know what I mean? That they, they have that ability to touch people with their music. And I think that’s a nice access point to singing for someone who doesn’t usually sing. Because everybody has the capability of bringing their heart to the song, it takes a while to learn to sing really well, if you haven’t been singing for, you know, years, or, if you’ve never sang before, it can take a while to even learn how to pitch and get the notes, right. But if you can bring the feeling to it. So much of that is completely forgiven.
16:31
100% percent. Commitment is key. If you if you commit, truly commit, then a lot changes. And also another thing I would, I would say to somebody, or anybody who likes to sing, and wants to sing in front of people, if you know the lyrics of a song, it makes a big difference. And there’s two types of knowing the lyrics I feel. If you if you stand up on stage or in a group people and you take the lyrics out on a phone and stuff, you’re mentally engaged because you’re reading and singing at the same time. So yeah, isn’t going to be that sense of oneness with the song, because your split in two you’re reading and you’re singing. If you know the lyrics to the point where you can, you can you don’t have to close your eyes, but that’s just, you know yourself, if you’re if you’re at the point where you know the song well enough to just be able to sing it. So you don’t have to read it, but you’re trying to remember it. That’s that’s one stage you’ll get. That’s one thing, and that does help. If you get to the point where you know, the song, where your mind isn’t in any way engaged in the lyrics, or remembering the lyrics, your mind isn’t involved in trying to, you know, direct your lungs, your breathing, your throat, you know, your your mouth, you’re not trying to focus on your body as an instrument you’ve gotten past that. Your body knows what to do, your mind knows what to do. So they’re just in autopilot, then that’s when you have the time and the space to go into yourself. And find the emotion and the inspiration for the delivery, when that comes into one clean space. And you’ve committed wholeheartedly to opening yourself to that delivery. People feel that, that you can bring people to that place with you. They hear it in your tone, they hear it in your in your they just they feel it off ya. And you don’t have to be technically incredible. You don’t have to be, you know, classically trained, you don’t have to be perfect. But if you can move people with that, with that voice, that’s, that’s massive. That’s not only healing for you, but it’s healing for for the people around you. And it is healing!
19:11
100% I really love that. The song has a song, every song has depths that sometimes even the recording of the most popular recording of a song sometimes doesn’t even reveal the full depths of a song. I’ve had experiences where a studenta has sung a song that I know from the radio, and the student made me feel something much deeper than the radio version. Because when you’re, especially when you’re in the room with someone, and I think this is where I think there’s so much value to singing for friends. And a lot of people who listen to music a lot on the radio or you know, they listened to really high quality well recorded music. Sometimes they discount the value of the raw, you know, the raw song, just with friends with a, almost a few mistakes on the on the guitar and maybe that getting a little choked up halfway through – all those things are so raw and real. And they can be very profound moments of acknowledging something, acknowledging an emotion, acknowledging pain that some people are going through and connecting with the listener and connecting with the singer, about something that matters.
20:34
100% the element of humanity and music is, is vital. That’s why sometimes I find like my little sister, Sinead, she’s 21. And she has a great taste in music, she actually has a phenomenal taste in music. Sometimes she will play me songs that are of trend, the current and drum tracks low resolution, cheap drum tracks, hit me, like a ton of bricks. Because the humanity the pace, the resonance of a drum kit played by someone who’s really in it, is so unbelievably far ahead than a low res, click track. And I just, it’s like, the voices can be like that, too, you know, and if you have the equivalent of a voice that’s in a click track. And, and it’s you know, heavily mastered, and maybe a little bit of auto tune. And sometimes that really works, I have no problem with that. But sometimes you’re like, that’s your you’ve stripped away anything worth holding on to there. And then sometimes you’re flicking through videos on your phone, and you see a random clip of like a 14 year old boy singing a song at a funeral or something. And, you know, you can hear the wind on the yer man’s phone, and it’s just so like, you know, it is what it is bought the whole experience looking at that phone video, you’re like Jesus, this, this is unbelievable. And then you listen to something that’s majorly produced by an artist and a studio somewhere in Los Angeles. And, you know, it sounds like a Bop It or a Tamagotchi, or, you know what I mean, an old Casio watch, just beeping at ya and you’re like Jasus? Like, no.
22:24
Absolutely, I know. Tell me a little bit, Cianan, about your kind of that, that journey, that spiritual journey you’ve been on, because I know, you were talked about earlier that you’ve gone to different places and you’ve kind of connected with, you were able to trust that the ancestors are talking to you because of a journey you’ve been on. I’d love to hear a little bit about that journey.
22:52
Yeah, so my, in my bloodlines in my mother and father’s lines, there was herbalists and healers and, and you know, people did blessings and it was, that’s common in Ireland, you know, that is very common in Ireland, we have in the Celtic cultures, which, you know, us and Scandinavia and Scotland and, you know, parts of northern Spain and stuff like there’s Celtic people in the… in well… in Ireland in particular. So we do have a culture of wishing wells and you know, blessings, and there’s, there’s a lot of magic in the country. And I grew up in a family that were that worked in that way. And as a result of that, I feel like we were always open to exploring belief systems, do ya know like? Your belief system for us was always something very personal, you know, you were never there was never like, oh, this is what life is, this is why we live, this is how we live, you know, this is your religion and wasn’t like that. You were you were allowed to formulate your own beliefs. And the idea was that your belief system should be dynamic. Like if you believe something at the age of 14 and still believe that by the age of 44, you know, you haven’t really been challenged, or even unbelievably tight belief system, and it has been challenged and you’re just smashed it as a 14 year old, which is possible too. So, in Ireland grown up in Catholicism, and you know, you sing in a mass and playing the tin whistle and the usual crack, fairly tame but, you gave it socks at the time, because sure you were 8 like, and then the opportunity came to go to India at 16. So I went over to India at 16 and I spent time with meditation teachers there, went to the Himalayas and went to the river Ganges and you know, you’re you’re in a completely different world and your this wild little testosterone fueled thick, country 16 year old lad. Like, you know, there was no other way of looking at that exactly where I was but, I loved the variety of Indian culture, spending time with the Muslims and the Hindus and the Sikhs, and really spending time with them, go on to the mosques and the Gurdwaras and the temples and, you know, really seeing how other people expressed their their faith. And it was, I remember one time in particular,
25:37
We were with a sadu. And a sadu who was like, almost like a monk, but there are more rogue, and they have an individual way of doing things, the Hindus have a lot of freedo in their belief system, which is interesting, I found that interesting. There’s a lot of, as a Hindu, you can connect with your God, pretty much anywhere you choose under so many gods, that there’s there’s no concept of ownership over this deity is better than that deity and everything like that. Now, for me as a 16 year old, I’m looking at these deities. Some of the Hindu gods are blue and orange, and they have 20 legs and 40 arms, and they’re standing on the back of a rhino and all, you’re just thinking, it’s hard to relate to that, because you’ve been looking at Jesus there on the cross, and he looks like your Uncle James. And you’re thinking, yeah, I get it, like, you know, so that was just the imagery I was surrounded by. So I never attached to Hinduism. But I enjoyed I enjoyed the way they went about doing things. So with this Sadu anyway. And he he, you know, hit jet black skin and, you know, matted black and gray hair. And he just had the most powerful face. And he wore nothing but a little cloth around his body. And he was, he didn’t speak and he was just, it was just such an amazing experience to be around him. And the feeling I got from him was was huge was about 18 or 19 at the time. Then I came back to Ireland, and I came back to Ireland, and I met up with an old friend and we were walking together and he was chatting and he said, let me go see my granny, we pop in to see my granny and I was like yeah, I’m game for that. So we walked into the kitchen, and the granny was asleep on a little stool beside the stove. And, and I could see she had her little apron on and proper Irish granny like she was before 4 foot 2″. She was tiny. And she the rosary beads in her hand. And the radio was playing and the doors are wide open. And she jumps up and she’s like, oh, would you like a cuppa tea? And I was like, yeah, I’m game for a cup of tea, right? And she handed me a cup of tea. And when she gave me a cup of tea, I realized I felt the same love and the same power and connection from her as I did from the sadu in India. And what that was a huge moment for me because I realized that the magic that I had encountered in India was also in Ireland. And if it wasn’t for me going to the Himalayas to encounter that. Because in the Himalayas, you’re so out of your comfort zone. There is no there’s no there’s no Jambons, there’s no Twirls, there’s no tea, the milk is ya know, it’s hard to call it milk even, compared to what we have here. There’s no toilet roll. There’s no toilet, even, do ya know? Yeah, you’re sweating. Everything is spicy. You know, there’s horns beeping at you all the time. There’s just it’s different. There’s no comfort zones. So you get there, you feel that you come home. And you’re you’re used to seeing it and feeling that you’ve identified that energy. And next thing you’re in the Granny’s kitchen and it hits you like a ton of bricks that it’s there too. So that that for me is a homecoming. It was a homecoming. Then when I was like I said, look, I want to go to the Amazon and I want to take the plant medicines. And I want to learn from the indigenous people of South America and I want to go over there as an Irish man, and I want to honor my ancestors. I want to represent the Currans and the Balfs and the Maloneys and the McGanns. I want to represent them humbly. And I want to acknowledge these indigenous people and I want to learn from them. And when I got to South America and saw the indigenous Bolivians, the cholitas, as they call them, they’re like claddagh women. They looked like women from the west of Ireland in the early 1900s. Couldn’t believe it. Like there was women. There’s old ladies I know in Athy. And if I had to pick them up, if I had to pick them up and dropped them in the middle of Bolivia, it would have been you wouldn’t have put them out of place that I couldn’t believe the cheekbones, the size of them. I was like, I was like, you look Irish, you actually look Irish. And then I come back to Ireland and I look at some of the older people here and I think you look like an indigenous Bolivian. I was one what, what these similarities sometimes is unreal. So I feel like that, you know, the spiritual journey is something you could call it. I feel for myself the word spiritual, it feels like ya know, it’s been it’s been hijacked in certain senses and it’s hard to define spirituality in a way that means anything anymore because it’s spirituality and the word means so many things to so many different people now but all I can say is that my my traveling has always been motivated by personal growth. And everything I learned from the the cultures that I encountered, when I came home to Ireland, it just made me appreciate Ireland, all the more. And it made me feel more fulfilled with being on this island, and engaging in the people and enjoying with the people there. And also it was it’s it made me feel much more empowered as an Irish person, and it’s made me feel more proud of my people. And it’s made me feel, I don’t know, it’s humbled me, that’s for sure.
31:26
It sounds like you, you did find a part of yourself like you’ve deepened your understanding of who you are and how you connect with your your environment in Ireland. And by going somewhere that was so out of your comfort zone. I was wondering, has that affected your singing and your creativity in any way?
31:51
Absolutely. Absolutely. When I was a young lad, I, I can’t read music right away. I’m not classically trained when it comes to music. I haven’t done any guitar grades, haven’t done any singing grades haven’t done anything like that. So when I was starting to learn songs when I was younger, in Ireland, you’d be singing them at the odd house party trying to get the old show going, you know, and a few pints in ya there. And you’d be singing them in an English accent or in an American accent. Now, I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing. Because I was just trying to mimic the sounds of what I was hearing. Then I was in London, I was in Soho square, sorry. And I was sat on one of the monuments in Soho square. And I was singing songs. And this lady comes up to me. And she was like, oh, would you like to come over and drink with us on the grass? And I was like, yeah, I’m up for a few cans like, and she said, She’s like, oh, you’re Irish? And I said, Yeah, I’m Irish. And she said, Why aren’t you singing in your Irish accent? She said I love the Irish accent. And I said, I thought to myself, I was like, sure I am singing in my Irish accent like, Oh yeah, are you talking about? And then I went home and you’re singing and you’re like jeez Cianan on, you’re not singing in your accent at all. Like you’re not, you’re actually you’ve been you’ve been mimicking the sounds of the Americans and the Brits. So it’s changed your vowel sounds, it’s changed your consonant sounds, it’s changed or, you know, your tone is not Irish. So that for me, that was a big check. So I thought, Okay, you know what, I’m going to try and sit a little deeper into my accent when I’m singing. And when I did that, that’s when I felt a completely different power in my voice and the resonance of my voice when I was singing, and that that was a huge change. Also, when I went to the UK and lived in London and was playing and singing in London, you know you are the Irish lad. Do you know what I mean? And I’ve like anyone who knows me. I have I’ve long hair, I have a beard and I’ve quite a large head massive head or if the head like a bull do ya know, I mean, I was like, I just have to accept that you know, my head the size of a basketball. And when you’re when you’re on when you’re in these trendy pubs and cafes in London and you’re with the people playing music, and they’re very well dressed and kinda a chic and they’re very metro, and they can all harmonize and they’re French and they’re vegan and they’re nice and thin and lovely and tanned and everything. I’m stood in the middle of them then just looking like Pumba, do you know what I mean? Like I don’t know, I stood out like a sore thumb. So I they were always like, oh, you’re the folk guy. You’re the Irish guy. And that’s not something that I would have. I wouldn’t put myself in that category when you’re at home when you’re at home. And you’re just another chap that can, that can sing a few songs, you’re not considered anything other than than that. But then when you’re thrown into the mix of this kind of continental group of musicians, it nearly accentuates how unique the Irish tone and the Irish essence of music can be, how impactful it can be. So, in particular, my time in the UK that that really did help me dial in how my foundation in Ireland has has, you know, how that shines through in my music that’s definitely been polished because of, of the time I spent in London.
35:39
So it’s really interesting. And I had a really interesting conversation with the Edel Mead who study jazz music would me. And we kind of were in college together. And she’s had a turning point for her own singing, where she’s starting to sing in an Irish, traditional way. And she’s leaving some of the jazz music behind because she started to realize that she wasn’t being authentic, it wasn’t truly her. And she had something actually very different to say in terms of the lyrics that she wanted to write. And she didn’t want to just be singing about you know, feeling so young and like bouncing around and catching the moon with a string. And you know, all the, the fun lyrics of the jazz that at jazz tradition that were really written to cheer people up during the Depression in the USA. So her music her new album is all about all you’ll have to listen to it Cianan, you’re really enjoyed. And it’s about women in Ireland and the and, you know, really raw issues that women have been dealt with. And one of our songs is that Oliver Cromwell. And like one of the songs is about Bridget Cleary who was killed by her husband in Clonmel, which is where Edel is from. But I really love that that’s been the journey where you are finding who you are, by seeing, by comparing, by being around people who are not like you. And I think in Ireland is a lot of people that really value travel as a way to learn. But that isn’t always the case. And sometimes I feel like people need to travel more, but it sounds like you’ve made it made a big difference to you.
37:16
Yeah, it was massive. I was absolutely massive. I definitely feel like a nomad, I feel nomadic. I feel like, you know, I’m in a situation or a space for a certain length of time. And I get this unbelievable “gra” to just go somewhere and be and be challenged. And I do I actually love people, you know, I love I love people in two ways. I love people. Because I think they’re so interesting, people are so interesting, and to hear people’s stories, or thoughts and opinions. I think that’s fascinating. I love pulling stories from people by asking them the right questions. If you ask anybody, well formulated open questions, they’ll tell you a story, you can pull it from them. And people work, everyone has a field of work, or they have hobbies and interests, they have, everybody has is a wealth of knowledge in some way. And the second way I love people is physically I think we’re actually a very beautiful animal. Like there’s people out there that love bird watching. There’s people out there that love going on safaris and looking at the wild African animals and people love Irish native species and stuff like that. And I’m all for that. I actually think human beings are incredibly beautiful as as animals, as entities. And so we all love people watching a lot of people love people watching. And I love people watching on a really just deep level. And I love going to foreign countries where people have completely different genetics completely different cultures, and absorbing them as people, go into their communities and being a witness, do ya know. And then I love in here in Ireland as well. I love seeing people from different countries in Ireland. And what’s gas is when you’re in London, if you meet foreign people in London, you can really see that they’re like from their country and a little bit London and then when you come back and walk through Dublin, let’s say and you see foreign people in Dublin you’re like I see how Irish you actually are because if we were in London now you wouldn’t be anything like you are now so you can really see the Irish rubbing off on foreign people when they come to Ireland as well I love to see that. Yeah, I love people absolutely love it.
39:38
Yeah when you when you have someone who’s Polish with they have an Irish turn of phrase. It’s always so fun. And we’re we’re getting towards the end of our time but I did want to let people know a little bit about your, your Aslan Chronicles and would you fill us in quickly about that, and we’ll be finishing up with a song of yours as well, which I’m really looking forward to sharing with everyone. But could you tell us a little bit about Aslan first?
40:09
Yeah, 100%. So this is kind of this is something I actually wanted to say as well, right over the course of this lockdown. There has been times when I have not been playing music. There have been times when I have not felt it in me to sit down and play the guitar and sing. And that’s happened that’s happened to me in periods over my life, ya know there could be two months there, you don’t pick it up at all, there could be three months, there could be six months. And there was times if just say I haven’t sang in six months, about four months into that six months, I’ve been getting a bit worried like, Am I losing my love for music here, you might get into a bit of a panic. But then it always comes back. And what I’ve began to realize over the years is that my energy swells and contracts and swells and contracts. And when it’s in that point, when it’s contracted, I am kind of growing as a person. And then when I come into the next swell as an artist, I feel like I’ve actually matured, so I’ve had more patience with that process. So over the course of the lockdown, I felt like my music kind of contracted a little bit. And my creativity was still open and flowing. It just, it just wasn’t in when it came to the music right. So I we have a little patch of ground here in the home. And I wanted a couple of goats to keep the grass down in an area that we have there. Right. So I was thinking very practical. And I contacted a family friend and I said, I’m looking for a couple of goats. Can you try and pick me up a few to get me going you can actually probably hear the goats now, can you hear me? Is that the goats? That’s the goats, yeah!
41:52
I thought it was I thought it was like a power drill or something like that in the background or the two.
41:58
The two boys actually set outside the door of my office now. So on the porch as I opened the door to two goats are literally sat there just waiting for me as well.
42:08
That’s hilarious that they started chatting to us as soon as you start chatting about them.
42:13
Oh, yeah, they’re unbelievable. So I contacted the friend and I said, Look, can you give me a goat and they said, get me a couple of goats and they said no worries and I heard nothing for about four months. And then one day I was in Newbridge, which is a town that’s maybe 20 minutes from here. And my sister texted me he said keen on there’s a goal in the garden. And I was like, Oh my god, I actually have a goat, this is mental. And then when I came back to the house and looked into the garden, it was a very young pygmy goat and pygmy goats when they’re small, are tiny, tiny animals. And I thought I looked at this goat and I was like, Oh, Jesus, I’m gonna have to properly look after this thing. Like, this isn’t this isn’t the goat I was expecting. I always expecting a mature hardy animal that I like, you know, basically just have to facilitate its lifestyle. I did not think I’d be handed basically a baby and be like, you know, you know I have to raise this thing from from scratch. And I was like, so we call that go Aslan. And I was looking at him and I was like spending time with him. And I was like, it’s goat incredible, like this animal is, this is a special animal here, like I feel me and this goat are going to have some serious adventures together. And I took out my phone one day. And I made a short video about Aslan in my office because he used to come into the office, and we just chill together, you know. And I posted that, and I was in lockdown. And I was doing nothing else. And I just thought this creative energy was in me to just document my journey with this goat, like I always have to look back on. And I made two I made three, I made four, I made five. And I just kept adding to what I wanted aslan’s experience to be like, because goats are incredible animals, they’re nimble, they’re dynamic, they’re fast, they’re smart. They’re there, they’re just beautiful to watch. So I was constantly trying to push the boundaries of his experience. I didn’t want those Aslan to just be in the back garden. And for 20 years, never seen anything outside of this house. I was like, I want to bring this goat to the top of the highest mountain in Ireland. I was like, I’m gonna bring this goat. I’m gonna bring this goat like down the river Shannon, I want this goat to be hanging out the back window of my car. I want this goat to experience as much life as possible. And then I got Geronimo, who was a companion for Aslan. So Aslan and Geronimo those two became brothers immediately and they’re just like, they’re rule the roost here at home. And then that’s when the two kids arrived Stanta and Darby. So I went from having like, nor goats to having four goats in like, honestly the space of about three weeks, four weeks. Then I started I started to make just videos, I made videos about my journey with the goats and about, the goats in general, because I was fascinated with them. And
45:29
that’s fantastic. I want to I want to do to let people, because we’re finishing up now, unfortunately, where our time is getting short. How do people find those videos? And how would you like them to to start to follow you in terms of your music as well.
45:44
Yeah, so in terms of the the Aslan’s Adventures, which is what I call the little videos that we’ve been making, they’re on my Facebook page and my Instagram page, primarily my Instagram, if you’re looking for the Aslan content, so Cianan Curran on Instagram, Cianan Curran on YouTube, and Cianan Curran on Facebook, I’ve kept it all thankfully, the blessing I have in the name like Cianan, you know, it’s pretty much yours whenever you wanted. So if you’re looking for music as well, same thing Cianan Curran on Facebook. And I’ve, I’ve some stuff on Spotify, but I’ve more to go up on Spotify. So any of those platforms, to be honest, you’re going to find stuff. What if you could subscribe to the YouTube channel? Follow me on Facebook and Instagram. And we’ll just keep it lit. I’d appreciate that’d be great.
46:39
Oh, absolutely. I think after the chat we’ve had, you’re going to have a lot of very interested new followers. And I’m excited to see what happens next with the goats and with your music. So we’re going to play one of your songs to finish up. This song is called Gold, Silver and Bronze. Would you like to tell our listeners a little bit about it? And or is there anything else that you feel you want to say before we finish up?
47:03
And yeah, I just want to say thank you, thank you for having me on and taking this time out. And I really appreciate you know, getting in touch and acknowledging this and I Honest to God, I really do appreciate that. And in terms of his song, this song I wrote, and it’s a true story. Believe it or believe it not the song is a true story. And I there’s a there’s a part of the, this was after a breakup, I’d moved to London, or shook.com as you can imagine, as we often are after breakups, unless it was a horrific relationship. But this one wasn’t simple. And I was sat there, out the window of me apartment, and it was a full moon. And I was looking up at the full moon. And I was at that point where I was a bit shell shocked. And, you know, I knew I had a motion that I needed to release. But it wasn’t coming. So I felt a bit blocked. And I was looking up at the full moon. And I started howling like a wolf. I just felt an overwhelming urge to just howl at the moon. And that became a fundamental part of this of the of this song that you’re about to hear. And I had the Bodhran with me. So I just picked the Bodhran up and put it onto my lap. And I’d say the song was written in about, like five minutes, 10 minutes, it was just one of those things that just came up and came out. Thankfully, I was able to write it down and record it and it was the first song delayed released on on video on it’s one that’s you know, very near and dear to my heart and I’m proud of it.
48:42
Wonderful and I’m sure everyone’s going to really enjoy this. We’re going to play it right now. If you’d like to follow Ciana Curran, you’ll find him on as he said YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. And I will be putting his contact details in the description with the podcast. Thank you all for listening. And I would just like to say you know, take this inspiration follow, follow those little nudges that you’re getting whoever or wherever they’re coming from. And let’s let’s keep singing alive. And thanks so much Cianan for joining me.
49:16
Thank you much appreciated