Sunday 25 May 2014

Former Oasis and Paul Weller guitarist forms new Welsh-language band


Guitarist Matthew Deighton talks about the Welsh band Pobl y Bryn he has formed with his wife and the refreshing musical change its brought

Going from Oasis and Paul Weller to a Welsh-speaking band is quite the career swerve but Matthew Deighton has no regrets.

The guitarist, who formed Welsh band Pobl y Bryn with his wife Clêr, is loving the change that performing in Welsh brings.

The band, who release a self-titled EP on June 30, will play at the International Eisteddfod in July.

Matt said: “I live nearby so I heard some good music coming over the hill last year.

“It’s exciting this year to be a part of it, and for such a young band.

“We’ve actually got a pretty tasty warm up lined up the day before (July 12). We’ll be performing a special show at Llanfyllin Workhouse 2014 festival.”

The four piece are supporting Status Quo on the closing night of the festival.

Matt explained: “They hand out a lot of awards and then we come on and get the crowd going for the Quo.

“We’ve only really been going since February so things are happening pretty fast with recording and performing.

“We’re setting up our own record label called Clên, it’s one of those Welsh only words, it means cool or kind.”

Matt is quick to point to his wife as inspiration.

He said: “Clêr is the key to the whole thing, she’s the songwriter, she keeps coming up with terrific songs.”

And Matt, who also performs backing vocals on a number of tracks, is slowly picking up the language.

Matt said: “I’m learning Welsh, it’s coming slow but singing it does help.

“The majority of the lyrics, I’m singing backing vocals, so I’m picking out words in Welsh already.

“It’s not easy but I’m really interested in it and I want it to be my second language.

“The rest of the band are all Wrexham-born but I’ve got Welsh on my mother’s side, they’re from Cardigan.”

And what’s it like going from Oasis to Pobl y Bryn?

“It’s a breath of Welsh fresh air, we moved here a while ago and we were doing a band for a while with this line up, just being English.  But one day Clêr came in with a Welsh song and it changed everything.”

Pobl Y Bryn perform at Llangollen Eisteddfod on July 13.

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