Hayes still relishing musical challenges

MARTIN Hayes says he’s more passionate about music now than he has ever been and when he talks about it, it’s clear how motivated he is at the moment.
“I’m probably more excited about it now than I ever was,” he says. “In the last number of years, I have challenged myself more and I’ve tried to do more different things and that has kept it very fresh for me. Every single gig I do would be a genuine effort to get to the bottom of it.
“Every time I would sit out there and go at it, in my mind I would be going for the almighty best ever attempt I made at it. Over the course of time, day after day, it pushes you along a little bit and the further along you get, the deeper the pleasure. The more effort, the more focus, the more commitment, the deeper the reward. That’s what I’ve learned over time. I get a deep reward from playing it all the time.”
Martin and Dennis Cahill will be playing at Limerick’s Lime Tree Theatre this Friday night. The two have been working together for around 20 years and Martin says by now they “know each other as well as you’d want to know anyone”.
Growing up in East Clare influenced his playing. He says it’s still the basis of what he does, even if sometimes it doesn’t sound like that.
“It’s fair to say it [his style] has changed. The more I’ve played, the more things I’ve experienced. It’s like me starting out with an East Clare accent, which isn’t as strong as it was but it’s still there.
“It’s still the foundation that other things are built on. If someone asked me if it sounded like East Clare music, I’d say it does but I don’t know anybody in East Clare who sounds like me.”
He’s having a busy year, with shows in the US and Japan, as well as different parts of Europe. When he spoke to The Clare Champion he wasn’t long home from America and he says sometimes he needs a rest to recharge.
“When I get back from a tour, where I would have been doing nothing but playing for weeks, I put the fiddle in the case for about four or five days and don’t go near it. Then I start back into it gradually again.
“It isn’t just about how much you play; it’s nearly more the appetite. Sometimes you have to take a pause from it and build it up again.
“I remember many years ago I had appendicitis and it was awkward to play so I didn’t play for a week and a half or something like that. Well I never made as much progress in my life than immediately after that. When I didn’t play at all was when I made right progress. Sometimes you just have to let music assimilate and settle in the head as well. It does its own thing, even when you’re not playing.”
Over the years, he says he has evolved to the degree where playing in front of crowds brings the best out of him.
“When you start out playing, you’re in a room by yourself and that’s the only place you’re comfortable with and it’s where you play your best stuff. Then you think it’d be great if you could bring that out and actually do it in public. Over the years, gradually, bit by bit, you make the stage your comfort zone, the place where you’re most likely to play your best music. I think over time that’s kind of happened for me. The larger the crowd, the more I think it brings it out of me. When there’s a sense of occasion, I tend to respond to that.”
All over the world, people pay to hear him but by no means does he claim to have mastered his instrument.
“It’s always challenging. I’m not a fast learner of music for example, so sometimes I will struggle in a situation where people might expect me to be exceedingly fast and it could be very embarrassing. You learn what your limitations are. We all have weaknesses and strengths in things we do and I would know my weaknesses and strengths. In terms of playing a melody that I know, I feel complete freedom with that. That’s a completely natural thing to do and I wouldn’t have any inhibitions whatsoever.”
He has some interesting observations about the importance or otherwise of talent.
“Talent in music isn’t talent per se, it’s a mixture of having heard something inspiring at the right moment, catching the bug and getting excited about it. Once you become obsessed about something, you’re likely to improve at it and once you get past a certain technical threshold, it becomes easier. I think that’s all there is to it really.”
He says the fiddle he uses most he has owned for the last 10 years, while another one he uses he has since he was a child and his father used it before him. However, there’s no need to focus too much on instruments, he feels.
“The real amateur goes crazy sometimes trying to get the best stuff and always thinking it’s the tools. I know the tools are important but they’re not everything. I wouldn’t obsess too much on that, unless it becomes problematic. You might as well have the best tools you can have but they in themselves are not the answer.
“You can have the greatest fiddle in the world, but if you don’t have the ability to make tone, you won’t get the tone, it’s latent within it. The technique for that is still very important. A great musician can still get a good sound out of anything really but with more difficulty,” he concludes.