Any folk punk fans out there? Meet Sons Of O’Flaherty!

I got the chance to interview Thibault, the singer of the French celtic folk punk band, Sons Of O’Flaherty. Learn more about the album “The Road Not Taken”, the band's touring experiences, as well as their upcoming projects below!
Picture by Mathieu Ezan

Hello Sons of O'Flaherty, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. To start this interview, please introduce your band to our readers.

Hi! Thanks for thinking of us :) We are Sons Of O’Flaherty, a folk-punk band from Brittany, France.

Where does your passion for Celtic music come from?

Well Brittany is a Celtic land so we were born into that culture. And we developed a passion for Irish culture mostly in pubs, especially John R. O’Flaherty that was located in Vannes our hometown and whose name we decided to use for the band!

Your album “The Road Not Taken” was released in 2017. What mainly inspired your songs?

Well it’s derived from personal experience mostly, things like the dangers of alcohol, hypocrites, tattoos or the passing of time. There’s also the classical Irish punk theme of partying at the pub of course, and you add a couple of covers of traditional Irish songs and there you have it!

It's an album that was self-financed by your fans. Who had this idea?

Crowdfunding is more and more popular. I have used it several times with my other band and the results always impressed us. I like the concept of financing a band you love, I do it quite regularly myself. And you get something in exchange, some people see it as charity, I prefer to think of it as pre-sells :)

On the composition level, how do you generally split the roles within your band? Who's doing what?

I often come up with lyrics, a vocal melody and chords. From then we build around that, change what needs changing, create a solid structure and work on the traditional instrument’s themes. But it’s not always the case, I don’t think there’s a right answer as to how a song should be composed as long as everyone is happy with the results.

Throughout your career, you've had the opportunity to play many shows. Is there one that particularly impressed you?

I know there’s a question about it underneath but I would definitely have to say Hellfest. More about it in a minute ;)

You've shared the stage with bands like The Real Mckenzies, The Decline and many more, but is there one you dream of playing with?

Well it’ll come as no surprise but I gotta say Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. They are war machines, it’s incredible. I think Flogging Molly is the most impressive band I’ve seen live, they’re unbelievable!

Please share with us your experience at the Hellfest Festival!

We didn’t know what to expect since we were playing the Friday of the 2nd weekend at 10:30 in the morning on the Warzone stage. It’s impossible to know exactly how many people came but honestly I’d say somewhere between 7000 and 8000 people. We had never played such a large audience and they were crazy! At least half were jumping in rhythm with us by the 2nd song, I couldn’t believe it! And the festival in itself is mind-blowing, the level of organization is really impressive, everything is just done right, it’s amazing!
Picture: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=426364889499845&set=a.175406021262401

To end this interview, let's talk about your upcoming projects.

Well I’m currently on tour with my other band and will be throughout 2023 but we are making some pretty good progress on album number 2 ;)

Thanks for your time!