I.R.I.S sent Natasha Cantwell to find out more...

...about one of the most promising and enigmatic newcomers to emerge from the local music scene in recent years.

At first, Marie gives the impression that she is very laid back with regards to her music and that she just wants to go with the flow. But that is only on first impression. As you talk to her more and more you realise that she knows exactly what she wants and is well aware of what she has to do to get it.

I ask her to fill me in on how she became interested in music and when she started singing. Immediately she tries to disassociate herself with such pathetic claims, like one particular girlie pop-star, who claims to have known that she wanted to become a singer since she was 7! She is very conscious not to come off in any negative light, and rightly so.

She tells me about the strong influence of her mother, who studied music in the Royal Academy and did much cabaret singing. Her style is very different to her mother's, she says, but admits that she gets some of her ability from her. Her experience as a teenager was varied, including song writing for Amhrán an Tí, in the Gaeltacht and musicals in school. Her biggest role was Mary Magdalene in 'Jesus Christ Superstar' when she was in fifth year. As a lead on from this an Agent became aware of her talents and urged her to leave school to pursue her music career. Marie began to realise her talents as a result of this and had to organise her priorities. She chose education as her main focus then and it remains that way.

She is currently in Third Year of Environmental Science in Trinity, and plans to finish her degree before deciding how to follow her music career. She says 'That's why I did science, so I'd have something to fall back on.I'll always do gigs… but if I can make my bread and butter out of it, that would be great…. And not only my bread and butter…I want to be comfortable as well. I'm never gonna give it up, ever. I'll always probably record. It'll be one or the other.'

I then asked Marie about her Busking Days. She says she learned an awful lot from it. 'We got such good reviews from people… they were like, oh, we really enjoyed that! 'This seems to have come as a surprise to her!? 'I'd recommend any band to go busking just if you’re trying to see how well you work together. 'She seemed to have figured out about her abilities and realised that the bluesy/jazzy stuff…'Literally, draws in the crowds' and the folksy music was more suitable for…. "selling albums!" .. (I suggested)…which was followed by laughter. But this is not as far away as it may seem.

When referring to the different types of music she sings, I inquired about her own musical influences. She has been quite influenced by solo female artists such as Lauryn Hill, Alanis Morrisette, Eva Cassidy and of late, Madonna. This makes sense as I can hear similarities of their work in hers, but of course with an added twist. She admits 'I find I mimic a lot of people without even realising it! 'Yet, it tends not to appear this way, as Marie will always have her own original style. She notes an interest in the music of Jeff Buckley, David Gray and Whitney Houston and mentions her tendency of 'belting it out - I end up shouting. 'But this would not be possible if she didn't have such a powerful voice in the first place!

All this said Marie is very aware of the importance of Mark Duffy (guitarist), who is as much a part of the duo as she is. 'He started playing about six years ago and just dived right in from there. He has a very good idea. Not exactly of the direction but that he'll never conform to popular trends. He's the type of musician that if its not right or up to proper standards he'd rather have a shorter gig than use fillers just for the sake of it, whereas I'm terrible for going ah sure, if they'll sing along to it… it'll be alright. It was kind of a random decision for him to pick up the guitar initially, although his mum would always have been very musical. For the long term this is what Marks gonna do…he literally lives, eats, breaths and sleeps music. 'She goes on to acknowledge the influence of Brian Savage, a previous musical partner, who 'now acts as more of an advisor for the two of us - he's the one actually that got us into busking in the first place, who played 'Jesus' in the play opposite me in fifth year!'

I asked Marie about her ambitions. She started by explaining the market for her music. 'We want to appeal to the integrity of the student. Our market is probably gonna be students in general. Beyond that the rest of the population are kinda sheepish in ways that they follow trends much too easily….. We need to get our asses in gear …. we would if we knew exactly which direction we were going… at the moment its actually not bad. 'With an eye on the future she tells 'If anything we're gonna keep away from record labels for the moment, unless we have to… but generally we'd like to just do it ourselves. We don't mind the work load but if it gets unbearable we're probably gonna have to try to go to investors and get them to fund it… then we have control.'

Just as an afterthought I asked Marie how she would react if asked to do what Kylie did in her early career… ie churn out the poptastic stuff in order to eventually become your own boss and ruler… 'No, I will not go that route! ''I didn't wanna do that 'cause I would hate myself for it. 'That's very reassuring! In Marie's case, no compromising need ever be done to bring her the success she rightly deserves.

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