If you are a fan of Celtic music, chances are you would have heard about the Faliq Auri Trio (FAT), a unique band which combines Celtic music with traditional Malaysian music.
Founded and led by Faliq Auri, the band also consists of percussionist Abdul Karim Zafiruddin (AKZ), 27, and guitarist Sri Suriya Prakash, 26.
Faliq Auri comes from a big musical family which have been in the Malaysian jazz scene since 1940. His late grandmother, Erena “Indai” Soliano was a singer while his father Auri Rhman was a flautist, alto saxophonist and conga player.
“In a way, music is in my blood and runs in my family for three generations.”
Faliq is a walking orchestra – he plays the flute, soprano saxophone and whistles. He learned to play the flute from his father when he was eight, and he taught himself the saxophone. But what sets him apart from his peers is his mastery of the Uilleann pipes.
Uilleann pipes are the national bagpipes of Ireland, a common instrument among the Scottish, Irish and North-easterners of England.
A self-taught Uilleann piper, Faliq first got his hands on an Irish bagpipe back in 2011 and has been playing it since.
“I was a Scottish bagpiper for my school band during my high school years. My fellow bagpipers and I had to learn a Celtic tune for a competition,” said the Kuala Lumpur native.
“That was when I learned about the existence of the Uilleann pipes and fell in love with the instrument.”
Faliq greatly admires jazz saxophonist John Coltrane for his efforts to revolutionise traditional jazz music to fusion music.
When asked how the band came about, Faliq said the idea occurred to him when he was travelling in Dublin, Ireland, for a live Irish music session after a successful South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) 2016 tour in Austin, Texas, with Altimet & The Kawan Band.
“I even met John McSherry, a Uilleann piper whom I really admire.”
After two weeks of travelling and gaining a more in-depth knowledge of Irish music, he decided to form a Malaysian Celtic Fusion Trio.
Faliq cited their performance at the George Town Literary Festival 2017 in Penang as one of his fondest moments with the band.
“The people clapped, danced and sang to the music that we played,” reminisced Faliq.
However, FAT’s journey in the music industry has not always been sunshine and rainbows.
“Well, the biggest challenge would be promoting our music to the locals because Celtic music is not popular here.”
FAT has since been recognised as the “Celtic Fusion Trio from Malaysia” by Celtic musicians around the world. According to Faliq, being acknowledged was no mean feat, especially for a group of musicians coming from the Far East.
“We received some good feedback for our Train To Béal Feirste EP by people from the United Kingdom, (other parts of) Europe, and the United States,” shared the 29-year-old.
“Recently, we got an invitation from a music licensing company from the UK to list our music in their system.”
He hopes that, this year, the band will continue getting invitations to perform and promote their music both locally and in the international arena. “And also to play at Celtic Music Festivals across the globe,” he concluded.
