We last spoke to Joy four years ago, but things have changed since then (including all of her social media links!). Get up to date with her and her latest release An Chailleach…
Simple things first – where are you from?
I am from California in the United States, but my family is from Tullamore in Ireland. I grew up in the Los Angeles area, but also went back and forth between the two countries. My time in Ireland has always inspired my studies of ancient Irish mythology, language and sacred sites. This research informs the themes behind my music.
What are your main influences?
The history and lore of Ireland is my main influence, but then beyond that, the archaeology of ancient cultures, in general, captivates me. When I start to write a song, it often comes from a place where I am inspired by an ancient idea, spiritual concept or historic event.
Musically, I am very inspired by artists like Nick Cave, Gavin Friday, Leonard Cohen, Kate Bush, Wardruna, Heilung, Sinead O’Connor, Osi and the Jupiter, and Lankum.
This is your first record in a while, what inspired you to return?
Every one of my albums, has a different theme that has inspired me to write and grow as an artist. My previous album “The Cave” was inspired by the ancient use of caves as a place of meditation, solitary connection to the spirits, and rebirth. One of the cave sites I went to during the creation of that album was the Caves of Kesh in Ireland. Those caves were associated with the Irish crone or winter goddess called An Chailleach.
That was my first experience being in a place associated with her. The beauty and the intrigue of the place inspired me to research her. The pandemic happened shortly thereafter and I began writing songs about her and her themes around death and rebirth. She is the goddess of the dark times of the year, from Samhain or Halloween to Imbolc, or the start of spring. It felt grounding to create songs about her, during a dark and confusing time in history.
What are the core lyrical themes behind An Chailleach?
Lyrically, this album was the first album I pushed myself to include more Irish language, in addition to my English lyrics. While I have a long way to go studying the Irish language to fluently write songs in it, with lots of from native speakers, I was able to write some songs in Irish for this album.
One of the major themes that came forth was the ancient idea of shape-shifting, between the animal and human world. Many of the Irish goddesses I wrote song about, Corra, Caer Ibormeith, An Chailleach, all were believed to be able to shape-shift into various animal forms, symbolic of their power. This informed one of the themes that emerged on the album.
The goddess worship of ancient Ireland had been largely forgotten, left behind in the pre-Christian days. Yet the megalithic sites of these goddesses still stand on hill tops. When I wrote the song “Mo Corra”, about the shapeshifting snake goddess Corra, I wondered “perhaps all these goddesses still are with us, they just shape-shifted as our culture shape-shifted.” Just like the goddess Brigid, became the Saint, I looked for where and how the stories of these goddesses still are told.
Another theme that emerged, was how these goddesses are treated today, seems to mirror how women have been historically treated as well. On my song “The Crone of Loughcrew”, I wrote about the ancient site of Loughcrew, which were beautiful burial mounds and carved megaliths on a hill, dedicated to the goddess An Chailleach.
Strangely, below the site, within a stone’s throw, is a Magdalene Laundry institution, now closed. This particular one was significant to my family, as my grandmother was imprisoned there for being pregnant with my father out of wedlock. While thankfully the abusive tactics of these institutions have been condemned by the Irish government, the abandoned buildings still stand as a reminder of a dark past for women. In my song, I wondered whether the goddess on the hill could help the women suffering below. My heroine in the story sings “I dream of when the gods were women and it was not a sin to be me…”
If you like what we do, consider ing us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
How does “An Chailleach” differ from your earlier work?
Every album, I challenge myself to grow somehow as an artist. This album, I delved into learning to sing more in the Irish language. I love Irish, but also have felt nervous to write and sing in it, for fear of making grammatical or pronunciation mistakes. On this album, I did my best to bounce the songs off Irish speakers I know, amongst my cousins and I also began taking lessons from a wonderful teacher called Mollie Guidera.
This album also differs from my past work because I collaborated on most of the songs with a variety of artists: Kai Uwe Faust from Heilung, Osi and the Jupiter, Aerial Ruin, Justin Fox from Fox and the Red Hares, Emily Jane White, Leila Abdul-Rauf, Jessica Way from Worm Ouroboros, multi-instrumentalist Syd Lewis and singer Amelia Barron. I was also able to work with two incredible producers: Greg Chandler from Esoteric and Dan Malsch who had produced Ghost and Gojira among many others.
We also were able to create a significant amount of music videos for the songs, more than in the past. I collaborated with horror film directed Matt Kollar and created some intriguing and ritualistic videos, telling the story of the goddess “An Chailleach”.
What’s your live show like?
I play harp and sing and sometimes incorporate my cello, with drone pedals. I imagine my shows to be like a ritual that one would see if you went into a cave site associated with the underworld, with Druids or priestesses singing to you.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
My favourite live shows I have ever seen have been Heilung. I have been able to see them quite a few times and I think what I love most is their absolute focus, energy and incorporation of Native American dancers with the blessing of their stage and their cathartic end to their show. Those shows feel like a communal ritual of catharsis.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
For this album, I still have one more music video to finish and release for the song “Corr Bán (Tar Árais Dom)” that I recorded with Kai Uwe Faust from Heilung. The music video and extended mixes come out on November 29. Then, we have one more release of two remixes of the songs “Mo Corra” and “The Crone of Loughcrew” by the incredible producer Dan Malsch, who had worked with Gojira, Ghost and lots of amazing metal bands. That comes out December 21. [Note that this interview was done at the end of 2024 – all of that material is now out for you to enjoy! Mosh]
After that, I will continue to play shows and start to research for the next album. I am not sure where that may go, but I am always excited to see it unfold.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
If you want to check out more new music, then fire up our Headline Act playlists on Spotify and YouTube!
Joy Shannon: official | facebook | instagram | spotify | bandcamp | youtube | patreon
