Flocking with the Budgies

A new Kilcullen rock band is beginning to make a name for itself, and not just in the local area, writes Brian Byrne.

The Flock of Budgies was formed last September, and took its name from the one rejected by the embryo band in The Commitments movie.

"We've gone from strength to strength," says guitarist Ken Byrne, whose brother Gavin plays bass. Trevor McEvoy from Nicholastown does the percussion side of things, while the rest of the gang is made up of Hook Kelly and Aidan O'Carroll, both from Avondale.

Ken, a sound engineer by trade, and his brother have been studying music over the last nine years, and their very first public gig was an Open Mic night in the Hideout. Short of a singer, they asked Aidan to join them, knowing from hearing him elsewhere that he had a good voice. "We had played with Trevor before, but we never had a group, so we just started jamming together and very quickly we knew we had something."

Since forming the 'Budgies', the lads have been playing regularly in the area, including Naas and Newbridge. And the word is already beginning to spread, with recent gigs in Bunclody and the offer of playing at a biker rally in Mayo.

Their sound is pure rock, but there's something not quite rock when you look at them. No electric guitars, no electric drum kit, and yet they can outperform many bands with all the gear.

"I think it's the energy we put into it," says Ken. "It's there in bucketloads. Aidan has a savage voice, a beautiful voice for singing. And Hook is an all-round entertainer. So we have a good combination."

It started off for fun, but now the whole thing is getting serious and Ken says they eventually hope it would lead to a full-time career. "It's what I've studied for, what I want to do. We have actually written a song and entered it for the Tony Fenton competition on Today FM."

They have long term high hopes, but the gigging in small pub venues is an essential start, Ken believes. And it's different in a place like mid-Kildare than in his native Dublin. "In the city you're expected to bring your crowd with you, whereas in country gigs you come in and entertain whoever is there. When we played in Bunclody it was the first time we had played away from home, and it was a tough gig. But towards the end of the second half we knew we had them."

And, just like the story of the band that rejected their name, that's how it goes.

This story appeared in last week's Kildare Nationalist.