Chatting heritage with Cork musician Finn Manning of ‘Cardinals’

By Current Affairs editor Adrian Quinn

In November, I managed to sit down with musician Finn Manning - one fifth of the Cork based indie-rock group, Cardinals. Going from strength to strength, the band were preparing to go on tour in the UK, Europe and across the pond to the US this winter after the release of their self-titled EP in April this year. With heritage as the theme of this month’s issue, we discussed all things Cork and Irish. We chatted about Finn’s influences as a musician, his grá for his heritage and impact that has on the band’s music and identity.  

Adrian Quinn: How did your surroundings and upbringing shape your musical identity? 

Finn Manning: Kinsale wouldn't have been a particularly musical town when I was growing up there, but I was lucky enough to have some members of my family who were interested in music. My grand uncle was an accordion player and I suppose that's probably where I first heard the accordion. That's what made me want to kind of get into it and start playing accordion myself. My grandfather would also play the accordion. But Kinsale itself and its surrounding areas, particularly around the old head of Kinsale, where I was raised, would have had influence on how I viewed the world and how I viewed what was going on in my life growing up. The landscape, particularly where I'm from, would have really influenced how I thought about playing and how I thought about music. I always found it very beautiful and interesting - the sea, and the cliffs and the fields. I have a distinct memory as well of hearing the foghorn from the lighthouse on the old head every morning, and I suppose starting your day, every day, as a child with that kind of booming, droney kind of note, it's something that really sticks with me in terms of sonic memories I have.

Adrian Quinn: You’re an accordion player - how did you come from playing in sessions in pubs to playing the accordion in a band that plays rock? 

Finn Manning: Yeah, I'm an accordion player. I'm kind of a dab hand at a few instruments. I'd say a jack of all trades, a master of none. But the accordion would have been my first instrument and I would have played a lot in the Comhaltas in Ballinspittle. And it was in Galway as well that I kind of first got my real interest in playing for audiences. I was a guitarist in a couple of rock bands. And I think being a guitarist influenced me a lot. I would like to take ideas from my guitar playing and translate it over to the accordion, and vice versa. And that's probably how I dipped from playing more traditional music into kind of more rock music. I think mixing traditional music with contemporary music in Ireland is a very difficult thing to do and there's a lot of people that try it. There's a few artists who've done it and done it fantastically. People like Shane McGowan, Sinead O'Connor, or even someone like John Francis Flynn today, shows that if done right, it can be absolutely fantastic, but definitely a hard thing to do.

Adrian Quinn: How much of an impact do the connections - both to Cork and Ireland - have on yere music. 

Finn Manning: Yeah, we like to see ourselves really, as a Cork band. You know, I'm a very proud Irishman, and we're all very proud to be Irish, but in many ways, you do kind of say that you're from Cork first and you're from Ireland second. I think that's a real Cork thing. And Cork City, particularly, is a huge influence on our music. I think Irish music definitely has a huge influence on our music in terms of songwriting. My brother Euan is a songwriter, and he and I would have a lot of the same interest in writers and in musicians and, you know, a huge interest in heritage as well. And I think that the storytelling and folklore in Ireland has always been such a strong tradition, and that rubs into things like literature and Irish songs that I listen to. So it's kind of what you hear, what my brother hears as the songwriter, that really kind of influences the art you create yourself.

Adrian Quinn: This year, you made the decision along with other Irish bands, to withdraw from the SXSW festival due to sponsorships by arms manufacturers with connections to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Do you think the decision by yourselves and the other Irish bands to withdraw, was motivated partly due to your Irish heritage?

Finn Manning: Yeah, we pulled out of SXSW in March along with a score of other Irish bands. And it was massively influenced by our history and our heritage. You know, as struggling artists, we don't have a lot of money and we were relying on a funding group to help us out financially for the trip. And when we kind of heard what was happening about sponsorship from the U.S. army and from arms manufacturers, we were worried that if we pulled out because we weren't comfortable with these sponsors, that we'd have our funding pulled and we'd be at a huge financial loss. But, I think when we sat down with all of the other bands together, we all had the same worries, but we also were all saying the same things about what was happening in Palestine. And we were seeing how the situation over there mirrored some of our own history and how it cut quite deeply with us. Every single Irish act pulled out of the festival. I don't think that there are any other countries that can say that. 

Adrian Quinn: To finish up, is it correct to say that you have a strong appreciation for Irish culture? Do you believe that there is a newfound appreciation for our heritage amongst young people and artists in Ireland?

Finn Manning: Yeah, I'm a Gaelgoir and I'm a traditional Irish musician. I have a serious appreciation for Irish culture, many, many different aspects of it. I think it's absolutely fascinating and it makes me very proud to be Irish. And I think there is a newfound appreciation for our heritage amongst young people in Ireland and artists as well. And we can see that in a kind of a traditional Irish music revival that seems to be going on. And these revivals have happened in the past. Like, there was the famous Gaelic revival and the various literary revivals. And I think we're seeing a revival at the moment. I think we're seeing a revival in the Irish language and I think we're seeing a revival in music, traditional Irish melodies. And it's great to see artists kind of jumping on board as well, and the artists are the people that are able to give the revival legs, I suppose, and make it run and really give it strength.