The Curiosity Series with Maeve Higgins: Episode 3 - Roger Doyle and Trevor Knight

The Curiosity Series is an Arts Council podcast commissioned as part of the Council’s 70th anniversary celebrations hosted by writer, comedian and podcaster Maeve Higgins.

In each episode, you’ll hear artists involved in music, dance, poetry, literature, visual arts and theatre in conversation with Maeve as they get curious about each other’s work, explore the integral role that creativity has played in their lives, and discuss the broader issues and themes that connect their art.

Episode three sees Maeve Higgins follow the musical journeys of composers and friends Roger Doyle and Trevor Knight. Roger and Trevor came to their artistic practice through different routes in the 1980s: Trevor learning his craft with pop music group Auto Da Fé while Roger trained as a composer at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and later at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht. Since then they have worked together on various music projects over the years, which have encompassed their shared artistic interests despite their very different paths to careers in music, from their early love of jazz and working in theatre to their shared interest in music improvisation.

Along the way, they look back on the changing music scenes in Ireland in the 80s and 90s, reflect on the changing landscape for musicians starting out in today’s world, as well as highlighting the role and responsibility of the Aosdána to support artists working in different forms of music.

Looking back on successful artistic careers that have seen them cross genres and engage with many different artists and art forms, Roger and Trevor paint a vivid picture of their musical lives, sharing anecdotes and stories that illuminate the artistic richness and occasionally the madness of being a composer and musician in Ireland.

Production: Milestone Inventive and bigO Audio engineering: Scimitar Sound Title music: ‘Ag Oscailt’ by Gareth Quinn Redmond

Music heard in this episode:

Auto Da Fé, ‘When The Curtain Goes Bang’: https://trevorknight.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-curtain-goes-bang-an-anthology Roger Doyle, Thalia: https://rogerdoyle1.bandcamp.com/album/thalia Roger Doyle, ‘Mansard’ from Babel - Temple Music: https://rogerdoyle1.bandcamp.com/album/babel-temple-music Catalpa (play by Donal O’Kelly with music by Trevor Knight): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYsw5M_twAo

Links Roger Doyle website: https://rogerdoyle.com Trevor Knight Contemporary Music Centre biography: https://www.cmc.ie/composers/trevor-knight Trevor Knight Bandcamp: https://trevorknight.bandcamp.com