We hiked ten hours to play gig in theAlps
The Dublin duo’s mountain set makes for a real film treat
Musicians have always exchanged notes about fellow artists, venues, promoters, the good and the bad; a quid pro quo to keep each other in the know. In the new abnormal, to quote The Strokes, they’re doing it as never before. In what seems like an age ago, one such tip led Dublin band Cry Monster Cry to play a gig in a cabin, high in the Swiss Alps last September. They heard about René Reusser and his wife Mirjam who, fantastical as it sounds, stage the shows at their house, over 2,000 metres above sea level. Glenn Hansard is among the musicians who have played there and René and Mirjam were sure that, in a similar way to Hansard, a stripped down version of Cry Monster Cry’s indie folk would play well in the unique, almost rarefied atmosphere high above the village of Brienz.
‘René has become like a cult figure for Irish musicians,’ says Jamie Martin, who along with brother Richie, make up the duo Cry Monster Cry.
‘We got in touch and he booked us for festivals he was running in Brienz and Berne. We did the shows and we stayed with him and Mirjam and we just hit it off.
He emailed me after that and told us about the idea he had for the gigs in the Alps. He told us we had to hike there, that our equipment would go up in a helicopter two weeks ahead of time. We had a bit of trepidation but it sounded like it would be an incredible experience.’
They play music from their two much-lauded albums 2015’s Rhythm Of Dawn and Tides released late last year. They also filmed their experiences and the 37-minute film When The Snow Falls, I’ll Be Gone is the result. You can view it on the band’s website and the stunning vistas of the Alps is just the tonic in these troubled times.
‘We knew it would be something interesting to show people and something for us to remember,’ Jamie says.
‘We hiked 10 hours on the day. Elijah Egan, the director, is into hill running and hiking anyway and he was in his element. We were significantly slower hikers than
Swiss people; they start hiking when they are young children. The only time that we hit a wall – thinking we can’t do this – was ten minutes before we saw the house. There was a cold beer waiting for us, I think I never enjoyed one so much. We were drained but the adrenaline came back as we saw the people taking their seats. We gave the gig everything and almost straight afterwards collapsed and went to sleep.’
Jamie laughs that René told him afterwards, on his own, he could have done the hike in four hours not ten. I tell Jamie I got emotional three minutes into my viewing of the film, when René gives Jamie and Richie a hug after meeting them from the train in advance of their trek. Remember hugs?
‘I actually felt the same watching it again the other day,’ Jamie says.
‘It’s weeks since I’ve even shook someone’s hand. We discussed putting the release date back but we thought, in our own little way, it would be nice to put it up online and let people see the stunning scenery of the Alps and get immersed in the music. I think when all this passes, we will have learned to love what we have. I think of myself as a conscientious person but I realise now, that for the most part, I was on autopilot like everyone else. The first gig we do, I am going to take time to look at the faces in the audience and just sing with them and appreciate how we are all gathered together.’
When you do watch it, you might be puzzled at the definite northern Irish twang about René’s accent. Knowing that Jamie and Richie have close ties to Donegal on their mother’s side, I thought that inflections might have somehow percolated into René’s speech but the Swiss native has his own connections to Ulster.
‘René lived in the North for two years. He went to work with [the master guitar maker] George Lowden,’ Jamie says.
‘René is a master guitar maker himself. He showed up on Lowden Guitars’ doorstep in county Down and got a job on the spot. He ends sentences with “so we will”. He calls my brother’s son “the wee lad”.’
Cry Monster Cry’s When The Snow Falls, I’ll Be Gone will do your heart good (so it will).
‘I think of myself as a conscientious person but I realise now that I was on autopilot’