From Busking To Becoming Ones To Watch: An Interview With Dea Matrona
Roctavia here back with another awe-inspiring rock group & this time it’s a trio that goes by the name of Dea Matrona. Hailing from Carryduff & Dundrum Ireland, this trio was formed in 2018 through their mutual love of classic rock. I just love this & stand by the fact that it is absolutely amazing what a mutual love of some pretty killer classics can inspire between fellow musicians. Well this common ground ignited a musical spark between a friend & two sisters that is still inspiring musical fire in their current busking media sensations to this day!
Their zest for solid originals boasting some majorly sweet hard-core guitar riffs, accented by some seriously glorious harmonies, has captured the attention of not only local fans and media in Ireland, but it’s with the jaw dropping swiftness of how they’ve started to win over international hearts as well, that has set the tone for what this writer sees as an immensely bright & promising future. With a YouTube channel that has soared to 40k+ subscribers, topped off by YouTube (as well as Facebook) videos ascending to well over 500K views, Dea Matrona is most definitely reaching for the stars!
Join me in getting to know just a bit more about Ireland’s next up & coming rock sensation, Dea Matrona.
Roctavia: Hi! My name is Roctavia and I am the US correspondent for Rock News UK. I’m really looking forward to getting to pick your brains a bit today about all of the local press that you’ve been getting concerning your recent adventures in busking.
First, to hit the ground running, please introduce yourselves to your international audience!
Orláith: My name is Orláith and I play in Dea Matrona with Mollie and Mamie McGinn, we’re based in Belfast.
Roctavia: Fantastic. Glad to have the time to chat with you Orláith.
Roctavia: We are really curious about you all. Please tell us what Dea Matrona is all about.
Orláith: Myself and Mollie became friends in school and we began busking on the streets of Belfast at the weekends when we were around 16/17 as duo, we started getting numerous gig offers at the time and eventually Mamie joined us on the drums back in 2018. We love playing together and making music and that’s really the most important thing to us.
Roctavia: So who inspired you all? Who were your musical heroes growing up?
Orláith: When I was 15 that I started discovering bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac who all really inspired me to pick up electric guitar and start writing my own music too. Mollie and I bonded when we were in school because we had and still have virtually the same music taste, so that’s really how we started playing together.
Roctavia: Now that you pretty much have the world as a stage, what message(s), if any, are you hoping to get across with your music?
Orláith: We want to spread positivity with our music and hope that we add some joy to people’s day when they listen to our songs. For us as a band we want to make music that feels like an extension of ourselves and how we feel at present.
Roctavia: Bringing the world joy. Can’t beat that. Definitely something everyone can benefit from right now.
Roctavia: Ok so I have to know…what inspired you all to take on the advantageous challenges of busking?
Orláith: Our roots are in busking so it is like any other gig to us, however, as there were no gigs in 2020 we decided that we wanted to busk in Belfast to keep up our chops as a live band. It can be really cold in Belfast and we have to throw the layers on but we all find it really fun playing together when we get the chance to. We busked on Christmas Eve, thought we’d post a snippet online. The video has 1.6 million views which is pretty cool.
Roctavia: 1.6 million?! Wooo! That’s definitely something to be super proud of. That’s awesome! Haha I love how humble you are.
Roctavia: Haha on that note, what’s your most favorite thing about performing?
Orláith: It’s hard to describe the buzz you get playing live gigs but I think my favourite thing about performing is feeling the energy of an audience in the room with you and the ability to vibe with a bunch of people. I really miss shows and I cannot wait to tour when we’re able to do so.
Roctavia: I can kind of see what you’re saying, it’s hard to put into words. If you know, you know.
Roctavia: What has the experience of the increase in media attention been like? How has it changed things for you all?
Orláith: It’s been crazy. Especially in 2020 when everything was cancelled to have the increase in global interest in our band has been really incredible to us as musicians, our live stream gig that we performed from The Limelight in Belfast has been watched over 100,000 times on Youtube, which is pretty remarkable when we were playing in an empty venue! We’re grateful to all of our listeners who have supported us this year and continue to listen to our music.
Roctavia: So are there any crazy or out of the ordinary situations that you experienced on your journey with Dea Matrona so far?
Orláith: One of the crazy and not-so-funny at the time moments we have had was back in one of our first gigs as a trio, we were playing a gig and had all our gear at the side of the stage, just before we were about to go on Mollie lifted up her guitar and noticed that the headstock was completely split in half! Luckily the band that were playing after us very kindly let us use their lead player’s stratocaster. We still have no idea how it happened.
Roctavia: Oh man! That is some seriously amazing luck. Glad that it all worked out ok.
Roctavia: It seems like you have been really successful in taking on ways to get your name out there, what’s next for Dea Matrona?
Orláith: At the minute we are focusing on writing and recording some new material which we hope to release this year. We had quite a busy few months in November/December with our live stream gigs and busking days so we can’t wait to get some new music out there and hopefully it won’t be too long until some live shows are back.
Roctavia: Yes, couldn’t agree with you more.
Roctavia: Thank you so much for your time today! It’s been a pleasure getting to know a bit more about your band. So I always love to end an interview with an off-the-cuff question so if you could instantly be good, like expert level, at anything in the world, what would it be & why?
Orláith: I would love to be able to speak any language, particularly French or Spanish.
Roctavia: Great answer! That one really hit home. I’d love nothing more than to be able to surpass language barriers & communicate with the world. Can’t wait to hear more from you all Orláith! We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled over here at Rock News.
You can check out even more on Dea Matrona at the links below!
https://deamatrona.co.uk
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Spotify
Apple Music
Deezer
Tidal
 | Love & Rockets ~ Roctavia |    |
