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Regulars Seanchai and the Unity
Squad Fenian flava: Seanchai
and the Unity Squad at Rocky Sullivan's Walking into Rocky Sullivan's, you might expect to find an Irish pub offering pints of Guinness and, if you're even slightly familiar with its reputation, a good political debate. But on Friday nights, the joint is jumping to the only Celtic-influenced hip-hop band on either side of the Atlantic. Seanchai (pronounced shan-a-kee) and the Unity Squad take the stage each week with their mix of hip-hop, rock, reggae, and traditional Irish music. With the in-your-face politics of Northern Ireland and laments about the commercialism of hip-hop, lead rapper and songwriter Chris Byrne meshes these eclectic styles. DJ Flo mixes it up on the turntables, offering the hip-hop backdrop that drives Byrne's slamming rap rhymes. Adding Fenian flavor is David Monaghan on the mandolin, Dublin-born vocalist Rachel Fitzgerald, and Byrne himself on the tin whistle, uilleann pipes, and bodhran. It doesn't take long for the audience to hit the bar's small dancefloor. Byrne began his rapping career with Black 47 and now takes it to a higher level with the Unity Squad. In the tradition of hip-hop, he offers up celebrations of his native Brooklyn in songs like "718 Baby" and "A Sunday at the Turn of the Century." But his politics are never far behind. In "Rebel Hip Hop," he berates the industry's rampant materialism: "Gold chains and clever rhymes/I see chains as somethin' to be broken/Wrap 'em round ya neck, look it, you're chokin'/On the same old thing that keeps the people down/Ya should know by now a real king wears no crown/Versace, Hilfiger, minks, or sable/When I shop for gear, I look for the union label." Though Byrne cites Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash, KRS-ONE, and 3rd Bass as early influences, he also notes "summers spent in Ireland with no TV," where he listened to the spoken rhythms of storytellers and ballad singers. "I Am Garvaghy Road"&emdash;which blasts the annual English Protestant march through the Irish Catholic enclave&emdash;is perhaps the most distinct blend of those two major influences. The song offers a staunch chorus typical of Irish traditional music "I am Garvaghy Road/I demand equality/I am Garvaghy Road/There'll be no more walking on me") coupled with free-flowing verses ("Since the state's creation/Ruled by domination/Through intimidation/And humiliation/To cause isolation/To a population/It's an aberration/Not a proper nation" It proves the band can as easily segue into an Irish reel with uilleann pipes and mandolin as they can a hardcore rap with DJ Flo feeding in Motown, reggae, or early-'80s dance music. Then Fitzgerald takes center stage with a version of the traditional ballad "Field of Anthenrye," which surpasses the conventionally slow-paced rendition. By adding a strong beat compliments of DJ Flo, the crowd favorite allows fans to abandon the old 45-record version of their parents' generation. *&emdash;Deirdre Hussey
By
India Blue Magic is the art and science of changing thought into form. Whatever the definition, Seanchai, a band who book themselves as Irish rebel hip-hop, certainly create magic when they're onstage. The impromptu musical caravan began Saturday night with Mike Bradley's (of The Thang fame) Birthday Soiree with a stop at the Brickyard to support one of our local original favorites, Rane. How did they get a gig at the Brickyard, home of the cover band? I heard it was serious perseverance by Rane. The crowd was totally receptive to their intricate jam blend. Next, this 10-member troupe headed to the Half Door to check out Seanchai, a true smorgasbord of sound. We walked in on a hip-hop number as lead singer Chris Byrne was shouting, "If you want to be hip-hop, stop acting like a rock star." Byrne, formerly with Black 47, MCs with vocalist Rachel Fitzgerald from Dublin on backup. DJ Flo is set up behind the mandolin player Monty. When Byrne asks for a heavy downbeat, DJ Flo kicks in with a drum loop and off they go. Add in a few cover samples, such as "River of Babylon," and Marvin Gaye's "Brother, Brother." But don't get too comfortable there because then the music moves into an Irish dancing jig, which brought people to their feet. Let's not forget the reggae songs in the middle of the set so the other half of the room would get up and dance. If none of those sounds were right for you yet, wait, Fitzgerald sings an incredibly beautiful original Irish ballad that has a traditional air (that's Irish colloquialism for the word melody). Byrne on uilleann pipes completes the haunting sound. Seanchai's rebel part can be found in a T-shirt hanging on a front monitor read "Unrepentant Fenian Bastard," referring to the Republican Party for a United Ireland, not anything like our Republicans. In one ballad, Byrne continually sang the word "saoirsa," and Fitzgerald would call back with the English translation, "freedom." Byrnewas in the band Black 47 for over 10 years. Seanchai, which means storyteller in Gaelic, was a side project of his for the past three years until he went full-time with them last year. He owns a pub in Manhattan called Rocky Sullivan's and splits his time between that and playing music. His roots are in Ireland--his parents are from Donegal--although he grew up in Brooklyn. After being a cop in the NYPD for 11 years and playing on the side, he went full-time into music. If you want to be challenged by totally different genres coming at you all the time, check these musicians out. The power of their art and the rebellion in their message can change form into peace. It's all part of the science of magic.
Review ofIrving Plaza
Show opening for Mike Farragher
.......Chris Byrne, the former rapper/singer/uillean pipe player from Black47, displayed a highly entertaining comedic side to his personality duringhis on stage banter. "We're Seanchai and the Unity Squadand if you like us, we play Rocky's(Rocky Sullivan's, located on Lexington Ave) every Friday night. If youdon't like s tell your parents to get married already!" Byrne was able to support this puffed-chest bravado with a blistering setthat drew heavily from his fine new album 'A Sunday At The Turn Of TheCentury.' "I Am Garvaghy Road" was the highlight, with Byrne barking outpolitical raps while prowling the stage like an overcaffeinated panther. Asa no to the roots of their leader, the band turned in a retooled version ofthe Black 47 classic "It's Time To Go" with mandolins andhorns. Singer Rachel Fitzgerald's sweet voice was a perfect foil to Byrne's hardened persona. Her tender version of "Fields of Athenrye" made thireviewer squint back the tears..........
Seanchai and the Unity Squad provided the album of the year on account of the fact that, in these days when republicans are well dressed and badly-advised, it refreshes the parts the other bands can't reach to meet a bunch of unrepentant fenian bastards. Seanchai & the Unity Squad is Chris Byrne of Black 47's other band and Rebel Hip-Hop is the debut album. Just in the way that the Pogues could only have come from London, the Unity Squad are made in New York, and look for rebel inspiration not (only) back down along history but out wide across the world, which of course is well represented within the city limits. This is an east Clare ceile fuelled by mphetamine, hip-hop battered out on and off bodhran, killer-riffs coaxed from uillean pipes and fiddle, a come all ye shout to the brothers off the block, a hooley for Terry and all angel-headed hipsters. THE MEN BEHIND THE DESK? What to do with rebel songs now the war's been declared retrospectively over? The slim black briefcase of the IRA? Oh Gra Mo Chroi I long to see the boys of the old interim solution? I believe Danny Morrison is writing a play called "The Shadow of an Executive". Chris Byrne writes: "Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh/ Like Yeates' third 'Byrne I'm diggin in/ thats what I'm sayin by the rebel hip-hop/ we up off our knees and ye know we won't stop../ Tennn thousand Fenian Bastards pumpin their fist/ Jammin the verse not sayin they any better/ But sure as fuck ain't worse than any other". The only way to push on ahead from here is with arms linked to them who have just as long a way to go. We all stay down unless we rise up together. The merger of music exactly matches the political message. Hip-hop hooray for the workers' republic. "Hold on brother man me beggin ya hold on/ Hold on, all my sisters' n me beggin ya hold on/ Hold on one day there'll be liberation". This is the most now Irish album for an age, made in the space where --Ra and rasta meet and apprehending something beyond either or both. Whether there'll be a living in it tomorrow is something else again. Advise to bands and to former revolutionaries who have scaled the height of fashion: "Record companies an unnecessary evil/ Will help your career like a crash will Knieval/ Offer ya blow, take all ya dough/ That's how a pimp runs a ho/ How low can ya go/ Ain't nothing any lower/ Still dont get it/ Take it even slower/ If you want to be hip-hop/ Stop acting like a rock star".
Fenians Fenians: Pump your fist if you love Freedom, Fenians: Pump your fist if you love culture, For 150 years you been creating us, Be hating like Satan by berating us, In Punch cartoons you depicted us as swill, And wack TV shows like that dead fool Benny Hill, Amazing you never came to your senses, Figured out you'd have to face the consequences, Sent us across the water but you didn't stop the tide, And now the tide is rising worldwide, Fenians: Pump your fist if you love freedom, Fenians: Pump your fist if you love culture, From Devoy to O'Neill and John O'Mahoney, To Joe McGarritty and Michael Flannery, Sedition's our tradition and it won't just go away, Say it loud, say it proud that I will stay an, Unrepentant Fenian Bastard, Unrepentant Fenian Bastard, Unrepentant Fenian Bastard, Respect to all who refuse to be mastered Seanchai - A Fenian Bhoy from New York Chris Byrne is Seanchai, lead singer, musician and songwriter of the band of the same name. Chris is also a member of the New York Irish band, Black 47. Regular readers of TAL will know that we are great fans of both bands and it was a thrill for us to meet the man in person and interview him. It might come as a shock to our readers, but Chris is a former Captain in the New York Police Department. However, this unconventional ex-cop is a rebel rouser who now owns Rocky Sullivan's Bar in New York City. O'Malley welcomed Chris to Scotland recently and then fired a few rapid shots from the hip which Chris parried well... TAL: First up Chris, what's the score with Black 47 and Seanchai. Does the emergence of Seanchai mean that Black 47 are finished? Seanchai: No, far from being finished, Black 47 has two albums ready to be released. It's only a matter of fitting it all into a schedule that we can all work to. TAL: Given the political content of your songs and the detail and knowledge of Irish history in them, which I might add is spot on, what is your own background. Seanchai: My family hails from the west of Donegal. I still have lots of relatives there. In fact I'm heading there for my holidays tomorrow. TAL: We are sorry to hear that due to a busy schedule you will be unable to see any Celtic games this trip, not even a tour of Celtic Park, but I understand that you now have a Celtic Supporters Club based at your bar, Rocky Sullivan's in New York. Seanchai: The New York Fenian Bhoys CSC now runs from Rocky's. In the past, at the local Celtic Club, there used to be a bit of a dispute about what the music should be at half time when we were watching the games. Our crowd wanted Eire Og, the other lot wanted more traditional folk stuff, so we decided to start our own club in Rocky's for like-minded people. So, if you're in New York and you like watching Celtic and listening to bands like Eire Og, come to Rocky's and be with people like yourself. If you like the traditional folky stuff, go to the other place. TAL: Why the New York Fenian Bhoys CSC? Seanchai: The lads named it after "Fenians", a track on our last CD, 'There Will Be Another Day', and it suits them just fine. TAL: Is Rocky Sullivan's likely to be full of cops? Seanchai: The bar is popular with some local cops. I just hope it will be full! TAL: And will visitors get their pints pulled by Chris Byrne? Is it a hands-on type of pub? Seanchai: Yes, it's a small bar. A hundred people and we are packed, but it all lends to a great atmosphere. And, yes, I will be behind the bar unless I'm somewhere else like off on tour with the band. But I'm not going to let it give me a heart attack. The bar is looked after when I'm not there and I don't phone up to find out what kind of crowd is in. TAL: Your new CD, 'Rebel Hip Hop' has just been released. Rachel Fitzgerald singing "The Ballad of Mairead Farrell" is the highlight for me. Are you getting a good reaction to the new bigger band? Seanchai: Yeh, Rachel is very popular and a great talent. The new enlarged band is going down a treat. Every time I turn around someone else is in the band! The bigger the better! TAL: What kind of music do you listen to yourself if you're, say, driving around in the car? Seanchai: Without a doubt, Bob Marley and, at the moment, The Boys of the Lough. I'm also really looking forward to getting hold of Bob Dylan's new CD as it has been highly recommended to me. TAL: You were over at the West Belfast Festival again. You seem to be in residence in Ardoyne come August. Is this going to be a regular part of your diary now? Are you coming back again in 1999? Seanchai: I hope so. When I play the West Belfast Festival, it's not work, it's my holidays. I like the travelling and meeting people, so yeh, I will definitely be back. TAL: We recently watched the new Arthur Mac Caig film, "War and Peace in Ireland". I was pleased to hear that Seanchai's music was used in the film as it really adds something to it. I also heard that. along with Brush Shiels, you gave a lot of support to the film. Bearing in mind that Black 47 did the soundtrack for 'The Saint of Fort Washington', is there any chance of Seanchai doing the score of a mainstream film? Seanchai: It is great to be associated with the films of Arthur MacCaig. I am a great admirer of his work. We are showing the film in New York with Art MacCaig as special guest. As for films, if someone liked our sounds that would be great, but we are not going to hold our breath waiting for it! TAL: Finally, any last words to TAL readers? Seanchai: Yes. If you're in New York, look us up at Rocky Sullivan's Bar. It's at 29th Street & Lexington Avenue. Seanchai are on most Sunday nights and the first beer is on Rachel! O'Malley
Seanchai & The Unity Squad - Rebel Hip Hop (Unity Records) Seanchai is the alter ego of Black 47 rapper and ex-NY copper, Chris Byrne and friends. This is their third album and it lives up well to the previous two which in my opinion were superb. A little bit more subtle and moodier than the previous two, I was well impressed with it. Chris lyrics about the war in Ireland and historical events are really the best stuff being currently written. Anyone who has seen them perform at the Ardoyne Fleadh in front of thousands will know the energy and committment that the band put into every concert. The music is a varied mix of styles, from hip-hop and reggae to folk and rock. A band who proclaim their politics proudly and defiantly. They should be huge, but , like Black 47, their upfront Irish republicanism probably means that cult status will be their lot. Rebel music for the new millenium. See the interview elsewhere in this issue. (Eck)
SEANCHAI & THE
UNITY SQUAD Rebel Hip-Hop [CD] Mark K.
BYRNE: an " UNREPENTANT FENIAN BASTARD" Some things sound just too funny to be true, and this next story is certainly one of them. Black 47's Chris Byrne, who is also the leader of a side band called Seanchai, was slated to play the recent West Belfast Community Festival. To publicize the event and get everyone into the spirit of the festival, organizers set up a community radio station, which broadcast throughout the entire city of Belfast. The person (obviously rocket scientist) who was in charge of the radio station put the controls on automatic, and left the turntable unattended. Yes, bom-bah-bum-bum............. Someone, realizing that the station was unmanned, slipped a copy of Byrne's catchy new record, "Unrepentant Fenian Bastard" on the turntable. The song played, uninterrupted, 240 times. Five hours straight. When the band took the stage that evening and launched into "Unrepentant," the entire audience mouthed the words. Wonder if Big Ian was listening to his boom box.
The Bronx is the cradle of hip-hop civilization. Afrika Bambaata, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Sugarhill Gang, The Rock Steady Crew -- all come from, or got their start in, this much maligned borough that alwasy keeps it real. Or reel, as the case may be. Nearly two decades later, Seanchai and the Unity Squad are performing a brand of socially-biting rap that can trace its attitude straight back to Melle Mel firing off :The Message.' They play their first Bronx gig this Friday at Sam Maguire's, Broadway and W. 262nd Street. This column is already on record lauding Byrne and his fellow 'Fenyunz' as instigators on a bland pop landscape. But when a well-respected vetran Hot Press journalist singles out your record as Album of the Year, that's heady stuff. Eamonn McCann recently wrote, "Just in the way that the Pogues could have only come from London, the Unity Squad are made in New York, and look for rebel inspiration not only back down history but out wide across the world, which of course is well-represented within the city limits . . . This is the most now Irish album for an age, made in the space where 'RA and the rastas met and apprehending something beyond either or both." High praise indeed.
A few weeks ago in West Belfast, someone didn't so much as fall asleep at the switch as they hit the 'repeat' button before leaving the building. The result was that for 12 hours straight, those listening to a limited licence, community radio station, which was supposed to have shut down operations at midnight, got to hear an endless repetition of 'Fenians,' a controversial-enough song by New York hip-hopper Shanchaí. "it was due to some technical glitch,: said Shanchaí, better know as Chris Byrne, one of the members of Black '47. "Or maybe it was some technical know-how." The incident made the front page of the Irish News, one of the two main dailies in Belfast. It was considered a mix of hooliganism and scandal, due to the song's fiercely-strong nationalist sentiments. Not everyone was happy to hear a 12-hour chorus of Byrne proclaiming himself to using [sic] an "unrepentant Fenian bastard." 'Unrepentant' even now, safely returned to his native New Yrok, Byrne says the song is about reclaiming a word which has for years been used by anti-nationalists as an insult. "It'd be the equivalent of how black hip-hoppers use the 'N-word," says Burne. "that is, I use the word 'fenian' in the song in the same way black hip-hoppers use the N-word -- I reclaim it as a term of abuse and throw it right back at people, it changes the whole scenario. It's not a 'RA-Ra' song," says Byrne, meaning a pro-IRA Song. "It's just basically taking an expression that's been used as an insult and flipping it back." The Irish News printed lyrics to the song which was voted a crowd favorite at the annual West Belfast festival. Needless to say it will not be added anytime soon to mainstream playlists of Ireland or Britain. The single as well as the Seanchaí album, entitled There Will Be Another Day, will get its relase in Ireland in October; it has already sold well in the New York area on Byrne's own independent label. Byrne says that from what he heard from aspiring hip-hoppers in Dublin and Belfast, the time could be ripe for Seanchaí's release. "I was in Ireland in April and I heard very little hip-hop, north or south," reports Byrne. "But in the last couple of months, maybe thanks to Puff daddy, hip-hop is getting more of an audience over there. In the psat, the hip-hop there was horrific: rave stuff coming out of London. Now I see more and more kids especially from certain areas in the cities, like the neglected suburbs of Dublin, where hip-hop is taking root, like it did in New Yrok years ago. I talked to New York-based label artist such as urban Dublin songwriter Damien Dempsey and the Seanchaí group's own Rachel Fitzgerald, who is working on a solo album. "This 'Celtic Tiger' thing ain't helping everybody, and in the areas it's not reaching over there, that's where the good stuff is gonna come from. That's what hip-hop did in New York, and I think we're gonna be seeing a lot of good stuff coming our of parts of Dublin, soon." For now, Byrne and his Seanchaí cohorts can be found every Sunday evening at a very unusual rap hootennany , a gig at Rocky Sullivan's bar in Manhattan which, before it was discontinued earlier this summer, this critic labled the best free rock and roll show in New York. "We're gonna feature a different act each week," says Burne. "this week it's a great singer from Belfast, Terry O'Neill. Down the road we've got Greg Trouper and John O'Shea and other local acts, really good stuff. I'm very adamant about these Sunday night gigs remaining a throw-down. It's a party, and if you want to get up and try some rhymes, so be it. That's supposed to be the spirit of hip-hop. I want to keep it a party."
Irish Echo -
9/3/97 THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DAY, by Seanchaí. Of course, this album is by now famous -- or infamous, perhaps -- for its novel and hilarious introduction to the Irish public during the West Belfast Arts Festival a few months ago. The day that Seanchaí were to play live, the local AM radio station DJ hit what he thought was the "off" button just as the track "Fenians" was finishing -- then he left the station. Unwittingly (so the story goes), he had hit "replay track" instead. The result was that for eight solid hours, listeners were repeatedly treated to the joys of that particular song, with its moving chorus, "Unrepentant Fenian Bastard / Unrepentant Fenian Bastard / Unrepentant Fenian Bastard / Respect to all who refuse to be mastered." To put it mildly, Seanchaí got pretty far up the noses of the powers that be in a major way, but became a huge hit with attendees of the West Belfast bash. As the lads came onstage later that day, they were astonished to hear that each and every last one of the audience sang along with "Fenians" word for word, and made sure to pump their fists rigorously at the appropriate moments. Otherwise, this album would probably have been a hit anyway in West Belfast, since it is highly political in content, and deals with everything from the destruction of Irish native culture by the cultural imperialism of Britain and the United states, to call for the admission of guilt an an apology from the British government for the Bloody Sunday massacre. The former theme opens the album. "There Will Be Another Day" is a brisk, tongue-in-cheek anthem that warns about "Beware of Greeks bearin' gifts and Yankees bearing dollars / Before you cut a deal think of J.R. from Dallas / I see Golden arches cut across Newgrange . . . / how about White Cashel?" The latter theme is dealt with in "Bloody Sunday." In fact, the nature of the album overall is illustrated by its opening sentence: "Right from the start this here's a rebel song . . ." it begins. The last verse goes on to ask: "How long must we sing this song / 'till the government finally admits that they were wrong / and finally show some decency / reparation to each family?" Thus , be warned. If you are squeamish about this subject, the album won't be for you. However, musically, "There Will Be Another Day" is on its own terms well worth a listen. The album is a blend of rousing rap beats and traditional tunes, which are splendidly handled by Seanchaí, which comprises Chris Byrne and Andrew Goodsight (also of Black '47) enhanced by the clear, attractive vocals of Rachel Fitzgerald. Fiddler Eileen Ivers also contributes. This blend is a pleasing one, with its combination of programmed synth sounds and whistles, uileann pipes, bodhrans, mandolins and more. There is even a son on the theme of this kind of fusion, "Spancillusion," a wake up call to those locked like pit bulls into the conservative school of Irish tradional music. It is quite funny and upbeat. Perhaps the only real dud on the CD is a mighty strange cover of Woody Gutheries's "This Land," which sounds like it has a popcorn machine going in the background. Finally, you don't have to listen to Seanchaí's "There Will Be Another Day" for eight hours straigt to appreciate it. It works just as well to take your time. Unless, of course, you live in West Belfast. Irish News -
8/12/97 A station once again was the defiant closing message from Feile Radio Triple FM yesterday. Listeners were meant to turn off, tune out and drop off to sleep at midnight Sunday when the station officially played its final track Fenians by New York based rappers Seanchaí. But this was one radio station that refused to lie down -- even after staff had departed to party at Springhill -- and continued to broadcast Fenians for the next 12 hours. By the time feile officials raced to the station yesterday to pull the plug at noon the airwaves were not so much tricoloured as true blue. The song with its chorus "Say it loud and say it proud, I will stay an unrepentant Fenian b*****d . . . " had been playing for 12 hours straight -- approximately 240 times Taken from the There Will Be Another Day album, Fenians proved to be a big hit on the four-week long festival radio with requests pouring in. Lines like "seditions are tradition and it won't just go away" follow on from a roll-call of the Irish Republican Brotherhood names including John Devoy. Festival director Caitriona Ruane yesterday described the broadcast as a "mistake". She explained that staff had put on what they thought was the last track before heading off with the understanding that the radio authority would cut them off. Ms. Ruane said the feile apologised if any offence had been caused. She said: "The station was a huge success and we're sorry if an isolated incident caused offence." Triple FM broadcasted to all of west Belfast including the Shankill. According to the festival director, the station tried to reach out to all groups. At one stage community workers from the predominantly loyalist district took part in a phone-in on a current affairs programme. A spokesman for the Radio Communications Agency -- the body that pulls the plug on illeagal radio stations -- said he was sure a genuine mistake like Triple FM;s would not jeopardise any future licence application. So it looks certain that feile FM will rise again next year and go on, and on, and on, and on...
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Village
Voice
Irish
Voice - 12/6/00
Cartoon
published by APRN
HOT
PRESS/ Christmas New Year Special --98
TAL
