Interview with Willie Kelly (Rackhouse Pilfer)

Short interview with Rackhouse Pilfer drummer and songwriter Willie Kelly specially for M.S.S.

1.- When and why you started playing music?

W.K.-"I come from a long line of musicians. Both my parents and then my Grandparents and Great Grandparents on my Mother's side were travelling road show people, going from town to town in Ireland and entertaining people with Music, Theatre and Comedy long before TV exsisted!! So it's just in my blood, but more to the point of your question... My Grandfather lived with us when I was small and his drums were around, I think I could hold a beat on them at age 4, at age 7 I was going to his pub gigs with him and he'd get me to sit in on Drums for him while he went to the bar to get a pint and chat up the ladies haha. "

2.-When did Rackhouse Pilfer really started and who were the original members?

W.K-"Rackhouse really was a seed when Leon and Les were doing an acoustic jam in McGarrigles Sligo every Monday for a few years. I used to jam with them a bit too, we have been friends since childhood. From an outsiders perspective at the time I could see a lot of potential in what the two guys were doing and so I proposed to them that we try and find some other guys and make a proper band of it and eventually they gave in and that's what we done. We were asking around for a Fiddler, We didn't know Figs but he came recommended by both Steve Wickham and Francie Lenehan, two legendary Sligo musicians. Mark had been going to that jam session on Mondays the odd time and he was really only learning to play Banjo, he was quite young only 17 or 18 I think just a few years ago but we seen so much potential in him. Duane our original Bass player was also a childhood friend of ours so he jumped on board for a while but left as our style wasn't really his thing. So we asked Hugh to join just last year, he had never even played a double bass before but we knew he was a great electric player and more importantly that we liked him as a person, so we told him we'd give him a crack at it if he went and bought a double bass and he had it rockin' in about a month, amazing. Rackhouse officially started April 2012."

3.- What piece of musical advice would you give to our readers?

W.K.-"I could think of loads of things, but I suppose work very hard and persevere with this if it's what you really want. I know that sounds kind of cliche, but from my own experience what I mean by that is... Don't buy into this over night fame game of the likes of Xfactor etc. (Unless that's what you want to try), those shows have been going for how many years now and what's the eveidence we've collected? I could count on one hand the amount of proper music careers it's lauched with some sort of longevity and the bosses there are trying to make a TV show, trying to make Money from a TV show not find a someone they want to nurture to be a star, that's a bonus if they do. And really the enjoyment and life experience of the whole thing lies in you figuring out this journey and enjoying it, something money or fame could never compare with. Anyway being a musician is a real job, you can make money doing what you love and call it your job. So first of all have some fun when you're younger, don't be afraid to make mistakes and if you're still around after all the fun is over then just start treating this like it's a real job and take yourself seriously and you'll be fine. The internet is a great tool in fairness, use it to learn and to work on your own PR, Making yourself a press pack, email it out to venues, go and do as many gigs as you can, even if it's only one song at an Open Mic it's all practice (Rackhouse got our first big break in a busking competition!), by gigging you'll start creating your own fan base, have a facebook band page and invite people you meet at gigs to come and follow you there, not everyone will, but the ones that do respect them and their time and interact with them and acknowledge the time they give you. If you do that, trust me they'll stay there with you on your journey. Also remember you can't impress everyone, some people will like you and your music, some won't, that's their choice. Learn to take positive critism well and make yourself better from it, but also learn how to identify negative critism and learn from that too but never take it to heart or let it make you stop, some people just can't wait to be cruel to you, don't let it get you down, if anything let it make you work harder. Also if you find that for whatever reason you are not playing or writing music for a while or periods in your life that is ok, don't worry it will come back to you. I have had a few periods, sometimes for a couple of years at a time where I wasn't involved with music, I was working in jobs I didn't really like at the time but when I look back I'm thankful for those times because they taught me a lot about life in general and basic work ethic. Or other times I travelled the world, not worrying about music directly but using this time to educate myself about how things are in the world. Any situations like these are not a waste of time, they'll make you stronger, they'll educate you and they'll open your mind which will surely only benefit your songwriting skills for matters of truth! So basically what I'm trying to say is if you find yourself in times like this where you think the music is gone, but it's still in the back of your mind and worrying you, don't panic it will find it's way back to you."

-Thank You.

Interview by Mikolaj Pociecha

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