Balkan Alien Sound / 01 August

Balkan Alien Sound founded in 2007 after Bouzouki player Martin Coyle returned to Ireland from his travels and studies of Eastern European and Balkan music and culture. With a vast interest in the folk and gypsy music of the Balkan regions and Klezmer music he approached a group of his close musician friends to form what is now Balkan Alien Sound. The seven piece ensemble ranges from Irish traditional players, Blues and Jazz musicians and Classical and Folk players.With this melting pot of backgrounds Balkan Alien Sound provide their own fresh take on the music of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey along with various other gypsy stylings and improvisation.
The instrumentation of the group is mostly string based with Bouzouki, Violin, Bass/Contra Bass and Guitar, but also has Accordion, Whistles, Percussion and regional Vocals from various Balkan countries. The music that comes from this is often fast and furious demanding to be danced to verging on ska with odd time signatures and rhythms often ending in riotous crowd participation. However they also approach the slower folk songs of Serbia, Bulgaria and Macedonia which vocalist Aideen McGinn tackles with precision and subtlty.

Read more on ARTIST’S PROFILE