Dad behind viral Facebook videos taking handpan on busking tour of NI

Micheal O’Dalaigh turned heads when he started performing with an instrument called a handpan between lockdowns in Londonderry in 2021.

Now he’s taking his camper van on a solo busking tour of Northern Ireland, bringing the “mesmerising” sounds of the handpan to new audiences.

More than 100,000 people watched a Facebook video of him performing, inspiring Micheal to write music for the instrument.

He launched a five-song EP at the Alley Theatre in Strabane last September, followed by a music video in December.

Micheal, who hopes the tour will pave the way for performances in theatres across Northern Ireland, discovered the handpan during a retreat to the Netherlands in 2018.

“It is a new instrument. It was designed in Switzerland in 2001 and came from the Caribbean steel drums,” he said.

“I looked it up online and couldn’t stop listening to it. It has a real soul quality to it and reminded me of the harp.

“There is something very therapeutic and mesmerising about it. It’s such a relaxing sound.

“I found a shop in Dublin which sold them and went down to try it out to be sure I could play it before I bought one.

“Because I grew up playing the guitar, I picked it up really quickly and started forming songs during lockdown.

“I would describe the music as tribal sonic funk. It is influenced by different native styles from around the world, especially native American and Celtic.”

Micheal was a budding musician in his teens and early 20s. Playing the guitar from the age of 11, he joined his first band at 13.

He studied music performance and recording to level three and moved to Belfast in search of fame “as a rock star” at the age of 21.

But he had to give up on his dream when he became a dad to Farrah (9) and moved back to Strabane to work in a supermarket to help support his daughter.

During lockdown, after he heard people blasting music out of their windows at home, he decided to help bring some cheer to the doom and gloom by busking.

To his surprise, the sound from the handpan drew crowds every time he played.

“No one was getting live music, and when I saw people playing music out of their houses and apartment windows, it warmed my heart and made me think about the human spirit,” he said.

“I decided to go to Derry and do street performances in between lockdowns.

“The public responded so well, I think because everyone’s mood was so low and the sound of the handpan is so mesmerising.

“I made a fortune and it had me in awe. People were really taken by it.

“I put a video on Facebook and it went viral, with 100,000 people viewing it.”

It also led to two wedding bookings, an appearance in a short film Wall City, made for RTE, and a weekly gig in a local cafe The Brick and Feather.

Encouraged by the interest, he wrote some music and recorded an EP merging the sounds of the handpan with the guitar and the didgeridoo.

“I created-AI generated quotes for each song and projected them onto a screen in the theatre,” Micheal explained.

“I’m not good with writing lyrics, but there is some chanting in the songs just to show I could hit a note.

“My daughter danced at the launch in the Alley Theatre. She is very creative and does her own wee thing. It went perfectly with the music.”

Micheal recorded an atmospheric music video for one of his songs, Sovereign, filming at the Beltany Stone Circle in Donegal and releasing it on his YouTube channel in December.

It features Belfast actress Shauneen Lorraine playing The Morrigan, a Celtic earth goddess, and was created by Karol McGonigle of Milkwood Studio Photography in Strabane.

Micheal now wants to bring a concert featuring other artists, including a poet, to local theatres after he finishes his solo tour, which gets under way in April.

“I will be taking my camper van to most major towns to perform in the street with the handpan from April to September, and I will talk to theatres along the way,” he said.

“I will be playing with a backing track and trying to do the didgeridoo at the same time.

“I will be doing live videos and posting them on my Facebook account.

“The Alley Theatre has said I can come back for a concert, and the dream would be to perform in concert halls and theatres across the country.

“I hope to inspire people to go on their own spiritual journey. That is how it started with me.

“The music has nothing to do with religion. It is just about each person’s personal quest to understand themselves in the world and their relationships.”

You can watch Micheal’s music video for Sovereign on YouTube, see http://tinyurl.com/mwbsmme5. You can follow his camper van tour of Northern Ireland on Facebook @Micheal O’Dalaigh