Interview Transcript from Illawarra Stories Wollongong City Libraries Oral History Project – John and Keelan Spillane
Interviewer: Jo Oliver
Interview Date: 2020
Jo: I’m speaking with John and Keelan. And, um, John tell me you’ve been involved in this festival for a long time.
John: Yeah, from day one.
Jo: Which is, when, when would that’ve been?
John: Ah, ’86, yeah, 1986.
Jo: Okay.
John: And I’ve played at everyone except one. I was away in Tasmania when it was on.
Jo: Uh, hm.
John: So, I missed that one, but other than that one I played, played at everyone.
Jo: And what do you play?
John: I’m playing, I’m a whistle player basically but I play a fair bit of bodhrán, which is the Irish drum, and I play bagpipes. But mainly, my main instrument is the penny whistle, tin whistle.
Jo: Mm.
John: Yeah, Irish music.
Jo: And can you describe what that looks like?
John: It’s um, yeah, it’s um, a thing you blow into, it’s got 6 holes in it and, um, it’s a tin whistle, but they’ve been around for hundreds of years. They had them made out of stone, that’s how long, that’s how far back they go. They’re, they’re mostly an Irish traditional kind of instrument. So just 6 holes, two octaves that’s about it.
Jo: But you can do a lot on them I imagine?
John: Yeah, yeah, yep. You get the hang of it after a while. [Laughs].
Jo: So, when did you first learn?
John: I was about 15, which would have been ’52, ’50, ’57 or something like that, yeah. We, we had, um, a priest. Well, I came from a little village in Ireland, a tiny little village, I think there’s about 300 people. And we had a priest came, and, to the village and he noticed we were all getting into trouble because we didn’t have a cinema or a hall or anything so we, at night-time we were getting into trouble so he brought us all, um, a penny whistle and, um, got us to play. And then he, he finally got us some bagpipes as well. He couldn’t play he was learning as well.
Jo: He was learning too.
John: But he was very young priest, and he was great, he was.
Jo: Yeah.
John: Yeah, yeah, so that’s…
Jo: He got you doing something constructive.
John: Yeah. And then then about 35 years ago I became a full-time player.
Jo: Really?
John: So, I’ve been playing full time for the last 35, 40 years.
Jo: Amazing.
John: Yeah.
Jo: And what does playing full time involve?
John: Ah, a lot of travelling. Yeah. You, you can’t make a living staying in the one place. So, I played with a lady called Geraldine Doyle and she was an Irish comedian but she’s also a lovely singer. And, um, she used to be on television quite a lot. And, um, so we’d go 7 weeks at a time with her away and then come back and do the pubs and then go away for another 7 weeks and come back and do the pubs again.
Jo: Right.
John: And that’s kind of…
Jo: And was that in Ireland, or was it here?
John: No, no, in Australia.
Jo: That was here?
John: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jo: Okay. And you’re still doing that?
John: Yeah, I’m kind of semi-retired now.
Jo Oliver: Yeah.
John: [Laughs].
Jo: And folk festivals, how did you become involved in this folk festival?
John: Um, I was on the committee, so I’ve been here from day one. And I was, I, I did [clears throat] 15 years on as a committee member for the first 15 years. And then I woke up to myself thinking a lot of work you’re doing like. [laugh]
Jo: And how did it start, the Illawarra Folk Festival?
John: Um, there, there was a festival that started before The Illawarra and it was run by Blacktown Folk Club and Illawarra Folk Club and one other folk club, I can’t remember, and they used to have it up at, um, Wilton. And, um, we decided that Illawarra was kind of big enough to do its own rather than be, it’s, it’s always awkward when you’re with 3 other folk clubs because they all got their own ideas. So, we moved to Jamberoo and, um, started there. And we were there for 14 or 15 years I suppose at Jamberoo. And then we moved on to Bulli after that.
Jo: So how long has it been in Bulli then?
John: Um, 26, um, 20, must be nearly 20 years at Bulli.
Jo: Mm.
John: It’s quite a long time, yeah. Jamberoo was beautiful though. It was a lovely place.
Jo: Yes.
John: It was a much, much smaller festival in those days and, you know, your volunteers were people that were at the festival for the weekend. They bought their weekend tickets and then they, they’d say, “All right, I’ll do so many hours.” And now its volunteers and people at the festival you never, never go to a festival and volunteer now, yeah. They’re all, they’re already pre-planned, you’ve got your volunteers.
Jo: Yeah. Needs to be organised.
John: Yeah, yeah.
Jo: A bigger operation
John: Yeah, yeah, it’s much bigger now, so it needs, needs a bigger operation.
Jo: And how many times would you play during this festival?
John: Well, I, I kind of got the second record at Bulli. The first record is Liz Frencham, she did 24 gigs over the weekend and I did 22. [Laughter]. This year I’ve had a bit of a health problem so this year I’ve got, um, 7 gigs I think, so it’s quiet this year.
Jo: And how long would you play for at each of those?
John: Usually 45 minutes to an hour, yeah. If I’m doing a workshop, workshops are usually 1 hour, concerts are usually about 45 minutes.
Jo: Mm. And what sort of things do you play?
John: Ah, mainly Irish stuff with me, but I played in an Italian band as well, Zumpa, which are here this weekend. And, but they’re, they’re now based in, in Brisbane. Nearly always been Celtic, Celtic music, yeah.
Jo: Mm. And they’re things you’ve sort of learnt over time, do you, do you, add to your repertoire, or..?
John: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. You do, even though some of the stuff you’re playing is 300 years old or whatever because it’s traditional. But there’s so much of it around you could, you could play for years but not repeat the same tune because it’s, yeah, yeah, there’s some great players. Yeah.
Jo: But you, and you still love that little instrument by the sound of it.
John: Oh, yeah, I do yeah, yeah.
Jo: What do, what do you love about it?
John: Um, I, I, the simplicity of it I think. You got 6 holes and that’s about it. You can play, you can make it 12 holes because it’s got 2 octaves, I don’t know if you’re into music or not, but, um, you can make it, you can go up the scale and then go up a higher scale.
Jo: Right.
John: And if you want a half note you just open half a hole, yeah. So it’s a little bit of technique. You can, you can make it very, if you’re doing something really slow you can make it really mournful and then you can play something fast like jigs and reels and that sort of stuff, which makes it, yeah.
Jo: So, it’s a very expressive instrument.
John: It is, it is yeah and and there is a fellow here this weekend first time, he’s out from Ireland and he’s the most brilliant fid-, ah, whistle player I’ve ever seen.
Jo: Really.
John: He’s on, he’s on this weekend, um.
Jo: Mm.
John: There’s always somebody very good around. [Laughs].
Jo: And is it something that young people would still play do you think?
John: It is but, um, there, there’s a lot of good, ah, whistle players around but they don’t play in public, you know. They’re, they, because it’s a cheap thing, you can buy them from $15.00.
Jo: Yeah.
John: That’s, you know, I, mine cost, I mean, I got ones worth about $380.00 but you can buy them for $15.00 and they’re, they’re perfectly good.
Jo: Yeah.
John: And, yeah, lots of young people get into it and they have a school here, um, every year for two days over at, um, the Church.
Jo: Oh, really.
John: And, um, so I usually, usually do workshops there for the weekend. And you get a lot of people come and do workshops but then, then they don’t, they don’t stick with it then. It’s something they want to do it as a hobby type of thing.
Jo: Yeah. And that’s all part of the festival, the workshops?
John: It is, yeah. I’ve been doing slower. This year, ah, I’ve been doing what they call slow sessions so It’s, what I discovered was that there’s a lot of people coming to festivals with their instrument, but they kept them in their bag because they weren’t up to speed.
Jo: Yeah.
John: So this is a really slow festival, so we start off really slow and then get the hang of it and then move, speed up a little bit, um, and that’s, that’s kind of, yeah, that’s, that’s pretty successful.
Jo: Mm. And we’ve, ah, got Keelan here today. Now do you play the, the whistle as well?
Keelan: I play a, I play the, ah, 5 string banjo.
Jo: Oh wow. So, tell me about that. How did you first get to play that?
Keelan: Um, I don’t know. It was, ah, I was sitting at home, and I wanted another instrument because I already played bass, just something to do on the side as fun. So, I kind of thought of, oh, like a Irish kind of instrument t- because I used to play with, um, all his friends. So, I, ah, thought I might get an Irish instrument to like, ah, more balance it out a little bit. So, yeah, I play that for fun now pretty much.
Jo: Right, so you used to play the bass?
Keelan: Yep.
Jo: With the, with the others.
Keelan: Yep.
Jo: And now. Yeah. So, tell me about the 5 string banjo, is that Um, what sort of music. Is there a particular sort of music that you play on the banjo?
Keelan: Um, I prefer to play like old time stuff like, ah, old American stuff, but you can pretty much play anything on it.
Jo: Yeah. And what do you particularly like about it?
Keelan: Oh, it’s really unique, that’s, I don’t know, it’s, there’s a certain sound about it.
John: He’s only been playing for 5 weeks.
Jo: Okay. And you’re playing for here at the festival, that’s fantastic.
Keelan: Yeah, I got lucky because he knows everyone here.
Jo: Oh, wonderful. [laughter] Okay, so what are you going to play, are you going to play on your own here or with..?
Keelan: Ah, no with a band with him.
Jo: Fantastic, mm. And what, and what sort of, can you name some of the pieces you’re going to play?
Keelan: No not at all [laughter]
Jo: No, you just know the music [laughter].
Keelan: Yeah.
Jo: Yeah. Fantastic.
John: He knows the stuff that he knows but he won’t be playing that this weekend.
Jo: Oh, okay.
John: He’ll be playing with me.
Jo: Playing your stuff, yeah.
John: He likes, um, what’s the band you like?
Keelan: I, I pretty much like anything, I can listen to anything, yeah.
Jo: Ah, that’s good.
Jo: Ah. And what are your ambitions with learning the banjo, are there particular things you want to learn?
Keelan: Ah, no, not at all. I would like to maybe get a little bit better at it, but I wouldn’t want to go any further than that.
Jo: Yeah, okay. And what things do you enjoy about, this is your first festival is it?
Keelan: Yeah.
Jo: So you’ve just been here today?
Keelan: Yeah.
Jo: Is this your first day? So what, what have you noticed that you like?
Keelan: Well, it’s, it’s a lot busier than I thought it would be. And everyone here’s like being really nice and everything.
Jo: Good.
Keelan: And there’s all different levels of instrument players from beginners to like, ah, people that are really good.
Jo: Good. And people are quite supportive.
Keelan: Yeah, yeah.
Jo: Of each other then? Yeah, yeah. And you’re quite, quite young. Are there other young people, many other young people here?
Keelan: Um, not as many as but there are a few.
Jo: Yeah. Well, it’s nice to think that there’s a new generation coming through. Do any of your friends play music?
Keelan: Ah, some of my friends play music but not Irish stuff at all [laughter].
Jo: Okay [laughter]. Wonderful. So what are you looking forward to today at the festival?
Keelan: Ah, definitely like playing music. I, I’m really, really excited for the next gig.
Jo: Fantastic. Well thank you so much both of you for talking today.
John: No worries.
Jo: It’s been really interesting and now I’m just looking forward to hearing your music.
John: Yeah, yeah.
Jo: Seeing the tin whistle. So, thanks so much.