Lithuanian musician Darius Mileris of Dublin-based rock band Nojus talks to CATHERINE REILLY about the influence of Irish music on his career, and on plans to release English-language material in the future
DARIUS MILERIS’ love affair with music has its roots in the folkloric poetry of Paulius Širvys, when one day at school he witnessed the poet’s words being transformed into song in a stunning musical presentation.
“I was blown away,” recalls the Dublin-based musician, who picked up his first acoustic guitar at the age of eight.
Originally from Alytus in southern Lithuania, Darius Mileris is lead singer, songwriter and guitar player with the alt-rock band Nojus (which is his nickname, and also his name as a solo artist). But he first rose to prominence on the Lithuanian music scene in the 1990s with the folk rock band Airija, which means ‘Ireland’ in Lithuanian.
The fact that the band was accorded the name Airija in the early 1990s – when few could have predicted the scale of Lithuanian emigration to Ireland over a decade later – is an irony not lost on Mileris. “We named our band after the name of the country [Ireland], can you believe this, in Lithuania, at that time?” says Mileris with a chuckle. Explaining the choice of name, he continues: “We were influenced by U2 of course, Sinéad O’Connor, all that, the Chieftains, the Dubliners, and we were interested in folk rock. At the time, it was kind of new in Lithuania. We were blown away by the sound and by the opportunities to mix rock with folk.”
Airija enjoyed successful times – “We made four tours, we released five albums,” recalls Mileris. Indeed, in 1995, Airija were the rock group of the year in Lithuania. But in 2000, it was time for a change. “When we first started in 1992, all the journalists and media started asking us, ‘So when are you going to Ireland?’ It took us eight years, you know, but I’m glad to be here, to see the music scene, which is very full and competitive. It is nice to be in the country of our idols.”
In a further ironic twist, Airija officially called it a day in Ireland – but Mileris, alongside Asta Milerienė (his wife, who was Airija’s drummer) quickly formed a new band called Nojus.
The new outfit still has folk rock influences, but has adopted a more straightforward rock style. “At the moment we are like alternative rock, but just a couple of months ago our band was joined by a sax player and piano player,” he says of the band’s widening repertoire. Aside from material released in overlap with the Airija years, Nojus has released the albums Save (in 2002) and Forever (in 2006), both available in Lithuania. The acoustic compilation album Archive followed in September 2007.
Alongside Mileris and his wife, Nojus consists of Vidmantas Galeckas on bass guitar and Lorenas Bucius on saxophone, accordion and piano. The band gigs in Ireland and Lithuania, and Mileris explains that Nojus’ audience in Ireland mostly consists of Lithuanians, with some Irish and other nationalities peppered here and there. “At the moment we are concentrating on releasing a DVD that was recorded last December in Dublin – an unplugged live concert – and we’ll release it in November in Lithuania,” says Mileris.
The Lithuanian has long held plans to release English-language material, and feels this will open him and Nojus up to a much wider audience in the future. However, some contend that the Celtic Tiger years have had a negative impact on the music scene here, reducing Irish audiences’ love of the type of music that really means something.
For someone so heavily influenced by Irish music in the 1990s – a pre-Celtic Tiger golden age – and who has lived in Ireland during its economic transformation, Mileris is perhaps uniquely positioned to answer the stark question: has Ireland lost its musical soul? “Well I don’t think so, because Ireland is very full of bands and the Irish music market is very competitive,” he responds. “And just recently I discovered, and a lot of Irish discovered, one beautiful band – The Script – so there are some new faces coming to the scene and it’s nice to see how they grow.”
In fact, Mileris’ wife herself plays with an Irish band – the all-female Black Daisy group, who performed live on Irish television on the You’re a Star programme. "The girls found her on MySpace, it was like a miracle, and then they were on You’re a Star and had a bit of exposure. It’s nice to get a Lithuanian name out there.”
Mileris himself is also involved in the promotion of bands from Lithuania and surrounding countries through Baltic Promotions.
“They are from Lithuania mainly, and some Polish and Latvian bands. They call me saying they want to play here because they know there are a lot of Lithuanians here.”
On the broader front, Mileris believes the Irish are quite familiar with their new and old Lithuanian neighbours, and sees relations in a positive context. “We had some bad media of course, some bad guys coming and doing some crimes here… But when I speak to the Irish, most of them have a good opinion of Lithuanians, I am glad to say that.”
Nojus plan to gig in Dublin, Drogheda and Monaghan in the coming weeks. For further information, visit nojus.com.
