Comrade Hat

 When I asked if he had a specific genre that he followed he said, “Absolutely not!” Neil, unlike many artists, has tried everything from pop to electronica to chamber music, via folk and jazz. “It's constantly evolving, I would be concerned if it wasn't. I think the essence of your style can still come across, whatever the genre. And genres are fun to explore."

Up n’ Comin NI is thrilled to introduce this week’s, Derry based artist, Neil Burns aka Comrade Hat. 

 

“My whole life revolves around music. My day-to-day life includes teaching, community music and accompanying.”  However, his true passion is composing. “I have been making song-based music under the Comrade Hat banner for a number of years. At the time it seemed like a useful distinction between it and other projects. It's carried me across the airwaves and across the world, in one way or another, so I can't complain, really. I'm restlessly creative and very disorganised too.”

 

Neil started a band in my teens, while simultaneously learning classical piano and studying music at school. He then went on to pursue it at university, first at undergraduate level and eventually to a PhD in composition.

 

While Neil claims that he has too many inspirations to list, he did say, “My formative influences were the likes of the Beatles, Paul Simon and Irish folk tunes. In recent years I've been orbiting jazz in my songwriting, so everything in that zone from 'classic' stuff like Antonio Carlos Jobim to recent figures like Louis Cole or Ryan Power, via Steely Dan. Anyone who pushes songwriting to its outer limits, especially harmonically. I also love classic pop, from the Beach Boys to Abba. I'm just as likely to be listening to Ravel, Piazzola, Sakamoto, film soundtracks, choral music, ambient, all kinds of things, however. Seeking out new music is one of life's great pleasures for me.”

 

While Comrade Hat is strictly speaking a solo project, Neil has been fortunate to get regular work with some of the finest jazz musicians around. “They really bring my music to life, especially live.” This includes Meilana Gillard (tenor sax), Andrew McCoubrey (drums), Rohan Armstrong (bass), Joseph Leighton or Stephen McClenahan (guitar), Jack Kelly (bass, fiddle), James Anderson (drums). “They're all hugely talented artists in their own right with various projects that you should check out!”

 

From an early age, music has played a significant role in his life. “We had a piano in the family and I was sent to lessons. I wasn't necessarily won over by what I was learning initially, but I got interested, and started working things out for myself. I was creatively inclined so I started writing my own tunes.”

 

Neil, first and foremost, would refer to himself as a composer, so I asked him about his creative process. “I don't feel there is anything particularly methodical or novel in my method. I start with inspiration - usually a line, word, musical idea, or thought and expand on it, using varying ratios of perspiration and inspiration. I'm usually sitting at the piano or guitar, but not necessarily. I am also a composer, somewhat in the old-fashioned mould, I do sometimes jot down ideas on manuscript, even for a song. If I am composing an instrumental piece for a lot of instruments, I will go straight to score. I feel a lot of different currents that pull in different directions in my music. I've learned to live with that.”

 

“Circumstance has led me to work alone more often than not, which I love, but I also enjoy collaboration. Apples and oranges.” When discussing types of collaborations, he said, “”. 

 

 I have done a few 50/50 songwriting collaborations, which are fun. I’ve also done other things, like, for example, on the track Total Eclipse Of The Self, from my last album (Old Gods, Vol. 2), I was lucky to feature the great Neptune M. I directed some parts and left others open for her to improvise - she brings something magical to it. Something similar happens playing live with the band, we're always bouncing off each other, giving each other room to bring our own sensibilities to the music - as in a jazz gig, somewhat. I've also collaborated with Phil Kieran, the Ulster Orchestra and a string quartet in Canada. I'd like to do more.”

 

With such a heavy focus on his writing, it is inevitable that a lot of what he writes is inspired by his own experiences. “My latest project (Old Gods, Vol. 1 and 2) has a lot of obliquely confessional writing, as well as lockdown-induced claustrophobia (it's more fun than I'm making it sound, trust me!) Places, people, memories, all seep through no matter what strategies I attempt. I think I'm mostly trying to nail a mood, though.” You can also see a lot of his personality in his music; a personality which he describes as “mischievousness and otherworldliness.”

 

“I bonded with another composer over an unlikely shared love of the Beach Boys. He said he admired how they took risks, which really stuck with me. Rightly or wrongly, I interpreted it as a validation of some of my own artistic decisions where I followed my instincts over the better judgment of convention, and that that was possible inside a pop setting.”

 

In terms of gigging, lockdown threw a spanner in the works for all artists. It did, however, encourage more creative approaches for Neil like making 'live' videos and doing a live broadcast gig from the Playhouse, in Derry. “Since then, I have gigged at Brilliant Corners festival, Belfast, the Derry Jazz Festival, as well as gigs to launch my album and recently, in Galway supporting Myles Manley.”

 

Comrade Hat has been extremely successful and has taken Neil as far as Canada. In saying that, however, “One of my fondest memories of a gig was in Bennigan's, Derry (the spiritual home of jazz and beyond) on Good Friday, 2017. The stars aligned. The bill featured my own band alongside two of my favourite Irish acts - the Bonk and Cal Folger-Day, with a special guest appearance by Adam Schatz (of US indie band Landlady) who was passing through. The place was packed and the atmosphere was electric.”

 

Neil’s proudest achievement to date was when he was flown over as a guest of honour to perform an original song with piano quintet at the Toronto Summer Music Festival in 2019. “It was off the back of a life-changing songwriting and arranging residency I did at the Banff Centre a few years before. But really I am touched to hear that anyone is inspired by my music.”

 

So, what’s next for Comrade Hat?

“I recently received an award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to record an ambitious new album project that I'm pretty excited about. Stay tuned! Aside from that mainly I just want to keep making music and keep growing as an artist.”

Make sure you follow him and keep up to date with all his songs, events and gigs: 

Instagram: comradehat

Facebook: Comrade Hat

Spotify: Comrade Hat

YouTube: Comradehat

Bandcamp: Comrade Hat