We already focus on the name: Kingfishr. A contraction of the English name of the kingfisher, a bird widespread along Irish waterways that remains sedentary until it runs out of food: at which point it climbs up the mountain in search of what it hasn’t found at home. Terrific analogy, right? Like the kingfisher, each member of this band – which we will still be able to define as emerging for a short while – looked outside their own existential bubble for the nourishment they needed to survive. They all found it in the same place: music.
Kingfishr are an Irish folk trio who have just crossed national borders and conquered the UK in an amen. Even outside the British Isles radars were activated, so it became necessary to fly across the Channel to meet Edmond “Eddie” Keogh (vocals, guitar), Eoghan “McGoo” McGrath (banjo and many other stringed instruments) and Eoin “Fitz” Fitzgibbon (bass) and find out what’s so special about these young musicians.

The past

Eddie, McGoo and Fitz met a few years ago, at the University of Limerick. «We were dating, badcomputer engineering,” says Eddie, with great emphasis on the adverb. They seem to care about their status as losers, which actually fits perfectly, in the most romantic and affectionate sense possible. The passion for music brought them together and the shared awareness of not really wanting to become engineers did the rest. From then on everything was very fast: they wrote a song, they understood how good it was, a friend of theirs was opening a recording studio at that moment and since he had no artists to record with he proposed to three friends to do it for free, to get started. “Everything happened so fast that I didn’t have time to tell my dad I was playing,” Eddie says. «He discovered it with excessive surprise when my sister dragged him a couple of hours from home to see us play. Once he got over the shock of discovering that I would be playing, he was expecting a pub with a few dozen friends to hear us improvise some covers and instead he found himself in front of a crowd of people singing, in a full-scale concert.”

For them, as for any self-respecting band that wants to survive in this business ready to cannibalize anyone left behind, the concerts are the most important thing. For this reason, they really can’t help but talk about their first Glastonbury Festival, which took place just a few months ago. The topic frantically slips out of his mouth at the first good opportunity: «We weren’t on the main stage, but there was a lot of anxiety. As well as insecurities! We were ready to play just for us and the entourage” says Fitz. «Yes, but it would have been enough for us. For us the important thing was to be at Glastonbury and deserve that stage”, specifies McGoo, the most emotional of the three in the presence of a memory as fresh as it is impressive. Except that Kingfishr, at the most famous festival in the world, didn’t just play for the roadies and the tour manager. In front of their stage every centimeter of living space was occupied in a few minutes, so they found themselves playing for ten thousand people. And they have no doubts: it was the most beautiful and important concert of their career. At least until now, that is.

The present

Today the Kingfishr are in one of those situations where the traps are many, but the possibilities seem endless. They are still defining their artistic imprint, sometimes at the risk of resembling their reference points a little too much, but they are in full creative eruption. They just finished a pretty amazing tour, where every single announced date was sold out in advance. All this without a studio album having been released yet. Without any hits or viral songs on TikTok. A word of mouth based on the quality of the first singles released and the live performances, which stand out from those of any folk band.

The feeling is that the size of stages and audiences will grow exponentially, because it is live that Kingfishr reveal themselves in all their freshness. Eddie’s energy overwhelms the audience from the moment he enters the stage. A true frontman, an authentic showman who has the stamina of twenty-year-olds but the cunning of a finished performer. Furthermore – and this is perhaps the most important thing of all – he has a powerful and enveloping voice which alone could already make sense of his career. Fitz and McGoo are much more introverted, but they play very well and appear entertained. And this is also the beauty of being able to see artists live at the dawn of a promising career: they enjoy every single moment immersed in gratitude and enthusiasm, before the disillusionment and wear and tear of life on tour comes to corrupt or standardize their contents. The Kingfishr on their part have a very strong cultural identity, especially in reference to their sense of belonging.

According to Eddie, Ireland is experiencing an unprecedented cultural explosion. Fritz is also very convinced of this. He is the most taciturn of the three, but his gaze lights up when we talk about his land. We talk about the books of Sally Rooney, perhaps at this precise moment the most commercially relevant author in the world, and of Paul Lynch, who with his novel “The Prophet’s Song” won the very prestigious Booker Prize 2023, while here in Italy he was a finalist for the European Strega Prize and among the most interesting guests of the Turin International Book Fair. And what about cinema? Just think of the success of a film like “The Banshees of Inisherin” by Martin McDonagh, Irish in every frame, with a slew of Irish actors known and loved throughout the world.

«But let’s think about music, with Dermot Kennedy, Hozier, Fontaines DC and many other successful artists who are taking our nation to every corner of the planet. What Kneecap are achieving is also unique in its own way. This is a golden moment for our music.” Sure, we’re talking about the homeland of U2, but according to McGoo, it’s different now. «It’s difficult to say how much dignity there was in claiming Irish origins at the time. Ultimately U2 are the ones who taught American bands how to be more American. But today for us, like for many other artists, saying we are Irish is a strength, as well as a source of pride.” Their Bandcamp bio says so too: “Kingfishr are evidence of the modern Irish experience, dealing with love, loss and the struggle to find your place in society.”

The future

Apparently they have found their place in society for now. There is no doubt that Kingfishr’s path leads to a bright future. But doesn’t the voracity of the music industry scare them? «A little yes, and we have already dodged two or three bullets in the last few months. Indeed, this semester has been fundamental in realizing the dangers of the sector and realizing that we are perfectly capable of resisting them and continuing on our path. We are not focused on fame, but we have great ambitions and great confidence in our means.” They’re figuring out how to move, as well as fine-tuning what their sound will be. It comes naturally to bring to light the sources of inspiration that kids talk about with great passion, the same as those who still see music as a great love, even before a profession. We talk about Bon Iver, Ben Howard, Hans Zimmer – Fitz seems quite obsessed – and, inevitably, Mumford and Sons.

Mumford, at the height of their fame as the standard bearers of a completely unexpected new folk movement, decided about ten years ago to hang up their banjo, pick up electric guitars and become a rock band. For many it was a natural transition, so as not to remain anchored to a repetitive sound that was too old fashioned to stand the test of time. Does this also apply to Kingfishr, who are betting a lot on McGoo’s banjo? According to them, yes. «We are in no rush to think about the future sound, since we are still understanding what today’s sound should be, but we have no intention of remaining just a folk band. Indeed, in a certain sense we are already ceasing to be so even as we speak about it. The Saviour, our latest single, already has one foot in rock and we are convinced that our identity lies in the middle.”

There are no limits and, in this sense, including Hans Zimmer, the composer of the most pop soundtracks in the world of cinema, among the main artistic influences makes more and more sense. «We feel very cinematic, in the most sensational sense of the term. We look up to artists who write epic, evocative songs, which is why we love soundtracks. Our “flowers-fire” for example was born with that intent and as soon as we have finalized the final details for the album we will be ready to move towards something even broader.” That something that will most likely lead them to conquer Europe and maybe, why not, the world.