Songs from the Uncanny Valley: Áit Ait and their Reinvention of Irish Folk Music.
by Nicole Prestol
Áit Ait is a two-piece based in Saint Paul, with Aja McCullough on vocals, and Patrick Maun handling the sound. Their music takes traditional Irish songs, then builds a new atmosphere around them without losing the story at the center. Aja has been singing and playing traditional Irish music since 2012. Patrick started recording experimental noise music in his teens and continued recording and performing while living in Vienna, Austria for a decade. He also started playing the uilleann pipes in the early 2000s and later took a deep dive into traditional music. They met over a decade ago at traditional Irish music sessions, an informal gathering where musicians come together to play traditional music. After years of playing, they decided to try something different, combining Aja’s love of traditional song with Patrick’s love of experimental music. A couple studio sessions later, and they came out with their first CD, ‘Beneath the Cold Silent Dew,’ which they released in 2022. Soon after, they started performing live and kept building from there, sharing bills with a wide range of artists, including Boiled in Lead, Clare Sands, Whispered the Rabbit, and Emmy Woods. The name Áit Ait means “strange place” or “uncanny valley” in Irish. They chose it because they reinterpret traditional ballads that are almost always sung unaccompanied, and they like calling out how the music can feel new and familiar at the same time. “For those who are more accustomed to the verse/chorus/ verse structure of modern pop songs, it presents an opportunity to experience these gorgeous, haunting songs in a way that’s accessible to contemporary audiences.”This approach provides them with quite a bit of cross-genre appeal. “We find ourselves with fans in the traditional music world,” they tell us, “but also folk, electronica, goth, indie, doom rock and drone/noise music.” They also like sharing bills with a wide spectrum of bands, which makes sense given their influences. From a singing standpoint they point to Daithí Sproule, Frank Harte, and Elizabeth Cronin, “all of whom are giants in the tradition.” They said. From a musical standpoint, they cite Brian Eno, Purity Ring, Human League, Sylvan Esso, Throbbing Gristle and “so many others that make blips, bleeps and noise.”
Their newest release, The Ranger and the Stranger, is their fifth recording and their most release was funded in large part by friends, family, and fans via Kickstarter. “We’re incredibly grateful for the love and support we’ve received from our community.” They also frame Irish music as a “living tradition,” something that keeps changing and growing, and they say they feel fortunate to be a small part of that evolution. Looking at the future, they’ve been doing a Tuesday residency at The White Squirrel all month, with one more night on March 31 to close it out. They’ve also started recording new singles, which they plan to release throughout the year.
