Madra Salach is on the rise

The group – whose name translates to dirty dog – have built a reputation for rapturous live shows which circumvent the traditional folk canon by way of distortion and experimentation, winning comparisons to their contemporary idols Lankum and John Francis Flynn, with only having a handful of songs to their name. Now with their debut EP It’s a Hell of an Age is on the horizon, and the band are fast gaining notoriety beyond the Irish Sea.

Madra Salach is fronted by vocalist Paul Banks, a Dubliner in his early 20s. Talking alongside fellow bandmate Jack Martin, Banks enthuses that his love of music stems back to the age of nine, where learning guitar to the songs of The Beatles, Squeeze and The Cure sparked a light within him. Martin points out his core memories of singing traditional songs at family gatherings in a circle in his home kitchen - “that makes me sound like I grew up in some idyllic Irish family!” he laughs.

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The pair have known their bandmates Adam Cullen, Maxime Arnold, Dara Duffy and Jack Lawlor since their early teens, and each of their creative pursuits - in various band projects as well as music teaching for Martin and Arnold - has led them to where they are now. “At the start, myself, Adam and Dara formed a trad group and started getting gigs playing some folk standards and whatnot at our local pub,” Banks explains. “Around the same time, myself and Jack [Martin] got talking about contemporary Irish bands that we liked, and we thought we could do some production type stuff playing with synths and making weird sounds. I still don’t really remember the moment when we decided to merge the two projects together. But to be shooting for one thing and coming out with something totally different, like we are now, we’re excited about it. I like to think it’s pretty unique and interesting.”

The city they call home holds a special place in their hearts: “I love Dublin so much - but it’s also a city that can be very harsh on you if you don’t have the money,” Banks sighs. Despite working full time as a special needs assistant at a school in Baldoyle last year, Banks mentions that there was “no way” he could have afforded to rent a place in Dublin. “This interview is coming live from my mam and dad’s house, you know? That’s the reality for most people our age. People who don’t necessarily want to leave are having to, because of rent being cheaper elsewhere.”

Emigration has been prevalent in Ireland for generations due to a lack of opportunity. Irish music spearheads CMAT and Fontaines D.C. have both recently written songs covering their own fractured relationships with home. Whilst the band are keen for their music to spread beyond Dublin, they don’t feel a need to jump ship elsewhere. “You don’t have to be Irish to resonate with our music - it’s not mutually exclusive,” Banks affirms. “We are very much a product of Dublin, and a product of Ireland. I don’t think we could ever really leave that behind, regardless of what we’re doing.”

With this in mind, it would be easy to pin Madra Salach to the coattail of Ireland’s current cultural trendiness, which has prompted newspapers like the LA Times to coin the term the “Green Wave” and Londoners to fetishise over Guinness. However, Banks feels that there’s more to all of this than meets the eye. “I have a theory…” he grins. “There’s a rebellious nature to our culture that’s appealing to people. I think there’s some similarities here to the likes of Cool Britannia in the 90s, but Cool Britannia couldn’t happen now. Everyone is more politically inclined nowadays. The main thing that I’m glad of among this wave of Irishness being cool is that it’s not totally vapid. Sure, you can enjoy Guinness and wear Arran jumpers, but you can dig deeper into the folk and mythology here. Kneecap did a fantastic job of translating the history of this island. Ireland isn’t cool because we drink loads and wear green. It’s more comprehensive than that.”

Comprehensiveness is what also etches through into Madra Salach’s debut body of work, It’s a Hell of an Age. Ranging from lyrical balladry and turmoil to sonic distortion and ambient drones, the band’s experimentative tendencies is what’s making them stand out from the crowd. “It’s about change,” Banks summarises. “The music that we’re making is inherently a juxtaposition baked in, because it’s traditional but also forward facing.”

Written at varying times since they formed in 2023, the EP was self-produced by the band both at Sonic Studios in Dublin and in their own practice room. Martin, a self-confessed music gear nerd, is the forerunner when it comes to trying out new things in the studio, from modulating synths to pieces of plywood in the shed. “I don’t think we ever set out with the intention of making something strange,” he ponders, “but keeping things interesting for us is what matters, and that usually translates into something that sounds new.”

“I Was Just A Boy” exemplifies this newness. Split between three minutes of verses and a four-minute instrumental outro, it feels closest to the realms of Lankum in sonic flair and lyrical vulnerability. “I turned 18 and finished school during Covid, so I found it hard moving from the end of my adolescence into my early 20s,” Banks notes on the song’s lyrical subject. “I went into a bit of a tailspin, overindulging, among other things. It’s basically a reflection on all of that, and its tumultuous nature.”

When Banks last spoke to BEST FIT, he analysed his writing as being a mirror to the thoughts in his own head. Having been writing lyrics and short stories for the past eight years, this openness in his writing is what Banks feels resonates most with others. “I’ve always liked playing around with language and the emotions it makes you feel,” he says. “I think the honesty that comes across in writing is my biggest philosophy. If you’re telling the truth, people will come to it."

“The Man Who Seeks Pleasure”, another EP highlight which first gained traction after this live session in 2024, is a trad indebted stalwart from Madra Salach’s live sets. Its rambling tale of drunkenness and longing shows the best of their tender yet fiercely passionate qualities, while their roaring debut single “Blue & Gold” owes to the bittersweet hope of a scratchcard win and to be pulled out of poverty. The Irish folk standard “Spancil Hill” and the reflective “Murphy Can Never Go Home” complete the five-track EP - it all makes for a debut body of work that’s not only rich in detail, but wholeheartedly raw.

There’s nothing quite like the live stage when it comes to Madra Salach, though. Thankfully, not only can you watch them as part of BEST FIT's Five-Day Forecast this coming Monday [12 January], they’ll also be embarking on their first headline UK and Ireland live tour this Spring, as well as a support slot with Kneecap at Crystal Palace Park this summer. Things may be growing, but the band remain humble with their successes. “We played at The George Tavern recently and to have lots of people come down purely to see us, it felt like a watershed moment,” Banks smiles. “We’ve just upgraded our London venue [at time of this recording], which is unreal. I’ve always been more live oriented, that’s why I want to do music. You feel like you could go out and lift a car after you’ve played. It’s a serious buzz.”