From the JULY Edition of CELTIC CONNECTION (Print Edition).
Colorado ONLY Celtic news and features newspaper.
Written by Cindy Reich
A conversation with Damien McCarron of The Indulgers

CC: How did you end up in Colorado?

DMC: I left Ireland to try to find a job.  I was hoping to get into the technology field in the U.S. and had been over to the States
with an Irish company for a two month stint in Ohio. When I came back, green card in hand, I decided to go west after spending a
couple of weeks on the east coast. By the time the Greyhound bus got to Denver, I was ready to get off and take my chances. I was down to the last few dollars so
fate took hold.

CC: How did The Indulgers come about?

DMC: Once I settled in Denver, I bought a guitar and started playing again.  I would go to open stages and play a few tunes—most were self-penned songs I did under the name Damien Promise.  At one point I was asked to lend my voice to a recording being done by a friend, and at that studio I met Mike Nile. Mike encouraged me and not long after I met our drummer Pat Murphy, who in turn, contacted Chris Murtaugh to play bass. As a trio we dabbled with "Irish rock", practicing in Nallen's pub poolroom. A couple of friends played guitar with us now and then but we only played a few gigs on special occasions. I had made a solo CD with Mike Nile's help which I'd called "A Matter Of Indulgence", so when it came to naming ourselves, we decided to go with The Indulgers, at least until a better idea came along. We arranged a demo recording for ourselves with Mike Nile's help, which subsequently led to him joining the band as a multi-instrumentalist.  Mike also invited Renee Fine to get on board as the fiddle player. At that stage we had a five-piece and it's been that way for over 11 years.

CC: What is it about your music that appeals so much to the audience?

DMC: There's an honesty to the music and we are truly excited by it ourselves. I'd like to think that the feeling carries over to the audience. We're always changing and adding new material. One thing that comes up a lot is the energy of the music.  Somewhere along the way, people connect for their own reasons, but we’ve seemed to reach people from the inside out and it’s very special to engage with an audience on that level.

CC: What inspires you?

DMC: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is likely the inspiration for the band as a whole but I know personally that the connection to the culture of Ireland and my roots means a lot to me. As far from home as I am, the music is comforting. There's a fair family history in supporting the Irish culture over the centuries, so it must be in the genes too.

CC:  Looking back over the last 11 years, what are some of the high points?  Any Spinal Tap moments?

DMC: Looking back over the past decade plus, there have been some amazing moments.

Playing on a bright sunny day to 17,000 people in a downtown San Francisco park always comes to mind. We'd driven by van overnight and expected to play a small gathering, but it was so much more. We spent the time on stage mostly stunned by the size of the audience. We'd been billed as The Denver Indulgers, and many ex-Coloradans were keen to say hi. We were greeted by the mayor and other important locals on arrival—a very strange day.  We spent the night as if we had the keys to the city.
Another memorable moment of chaos came about at the Cherry Creek Cricket. The Frames, had flown in to play and we lent them our drum kit.  They went on before us and recent  Oscar winner Glen Hansard, the lead singer of The Frames, decided to launch himself into the drums at the end of their set.  There was a bit of a barney with the members of both our band and his own band ready to beat him to a pulp, somehow calm ensued, but I'll always remember the panic. (O.K., now the truth can come out—I spirited Glen away to the Denny’s nearby to hide him away from your band, tempers being a bit high at the time. And to keep him from being beat to a pulp! No one did find us.  Cindy)

We've laughed with him since, that history with Glen, gets us a mention when he plays Colorado nowadays. We've also played quite a lot in Las Vegas, but it's only fair to say that things that happened in Vegas should mainly stay a mystery, although it's not everyday that Frankie Avalon shouts out a song we know how to play for him.
I'm a huge fan of Irish music and I've been blessed to have met and played with some of my favorite artists, from Maura O'Connell to Hothouse Flowers to Paul Brady to Johnny Fean of Horslips, especially when he joined us onstage in Ennis, Co. Clare.

CC: Did you still expect to be going strong after 11 years?

DMC: There's really no reason to think we'd stay together this long--five people from different walks of life with very different ideas about the world. We really only have the music in common and to think the bond is this strong for this long does boggle the mind. We've had lots of moments where it comes close to being the end, but the glue that is the music seems to win out.
At this stage, we've covered a lot of ground but musically speaking there's still room to grow, to progress. When I look back at the band's history it is with warmth and a feeling of pride in many ways. I may often question our sanity but never the commitment of my bandmates.

CC: What is in store for the next 11 years?

DMC: There's no crystal ball so we'll see, at the moment we're touring the whole world via myspace playing at all the places we can't physically travel to,
Our virtual world tour, starts with a video shot at the studio and then released to the internet,
we have one song "Whiskey Tonight"  completed and online and plan to release new material is that manner in the fall. Another Euro/Ireland tour is in the works and summer is here.

CC: What do you feel is your best album and why?

DMC: We're writing and recording the latest album, it will be our seventh. The trick is always to make a better record than the last. When you’re seven records in, that becomes a greater challenge, but we can write songs and always try to make a new statement. I'm very pleased with the last record, "Out In The West".  The concept was to speak of the immigrant experience in the new frontier when Colorado was only beginning back in 1860 or so.  As the kid that took a bus across America I see the experience from a modern viewpoint, but what I tried with the songs and I believe succeeded, was painting the picture of what the same journey might have been like in a long ago era.

I'll always be Irish, and Colorado will always be my new home. I keep my connection to my homeland. Through my experiences,  I follow those who went before and built this great land of opportunity and dreams. We were in NYC on 9/11, so there's no need to remind The Indulgers of what America stands for, we've been the lucky bunch who chased a musical dream and had a ball along the way.