Fergus O'Farrell

Musician - Songwriter - Poet - Artist Fergus O’Farrell was the charismatic voice of one of the most compelling and influential groups to emerge from the Irish music scene in the 1990s. Interferences' live gigs and eponymous album were seminal influences on the current wave of innovative Irish singer/songwriters, a fact recognised by their inclusion in the very first proramme of the TV series, ‘Other Voices: Songs from a Room’. RTE’s publicity rightly describes the band as “almost mythical, definitely legendary.” They made several appearances on the series over the years and released a live album from a one hour special Other Voices broadcast. O'Farrell had muscular dystrophy, a progressive wasting disease which finally took him from us in February 2016. The physical demand of regular gigging had meant that he kept a low profile at his studio in West Cork in the preceding years. But O'Farrell also kept busy collaborating with talents such as Liam O’Maonlaí, Glen Hansard, Nina Hynes, Kieran Kennedy, Steve Wall, Philip King, Donal Lunny, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Bronagh Gallagher, Maria McKee, Mundy, Jerry Fish, Colin Vearncombe and Gavin Friday to name but a few.. After two outstanding anniversary shows in 2017 and the release of the long awaited second album, the band decided to continue with a number of guest vocalists most notably Glen Hansard with whom the band toured the Czech Republic in the summer of 2018. Although they play rarely when they do it is a magical force of music from some extremely talented people, the current collective is Maurice Seezer, Paul Tiernan and Camilla Griehsel, along with founding members James O’Leary, Cal McCarthy and Maurice Culligan, John Fitzgerald, Anthony Noonan, Bertrand Galen and Marja Gaynor complete the line up. Trinity College Dublin presented the Band with an Honary Patronage to the TCD Musical Department early last year in recognition of O'Farrell and their contribution to the Irish music world. The continued presence of Interference proves that what they do is as vital and exciting as ever. Their set blends acoustic sounds where folk meets jazz cabaret, with expansive driven rock songs. Their loyal fans are delighted at every fresh chance to see them play and a new generation is coming to appreciate the creative integrity and originality of this unique band. Though their recordings are finely crafted and critically acclaimed it is in live performance that Interference give their best. A new feature documentary film on O'Farrells life, 'Breaking Out' took 'Best Irish Feature Documentary' at the 31st Galway Film Fleadh in 2019, and more recently won the George Morrisson Documentary award at the 2021 Irish Film & Television Awards (IFTA), filmed over 10 years and another five to complete, director Michael McCormack captured the extraordinary story of O'Farrell and his tribe of musicians. The Film was released by Element Pictures to Irish cinema in November 2021 to universal praise.