If, like me, you hail from Watford and you discover the town has produced something beautiful, YOU.GRAB.HOLD.OF.IT. I’ve been raving about The Staves for months, less so about Vinnie Jones, Geri Halliwell and Elton. But now I can proudly add Declan Zapala to my list of home-town gems, especially since I later discover he attended my school. Zapala entertained a small crowd in the recently opened Attico Art Gallery, promoting his new album Awakenings and his performance was as visual as it was auditory. His guitar was caressed either brazenly like a sitar or tenderly like a new-born baby, depending on which angle afforded the best sound. In fact Zapala transforms the instrument beyond a guitar: his dexterity produces an entire percussion base and even a double bass such as in the song ‘Broken Rhapsody’ by loosening the strings mid-song. On the percussive guitar spectrum, with Rodrgo y Gabriela and Ben Howard at either stylistic extreme, I would place Zapala midway. He’s a solo artist, but not a singer/songwriter, and whilst his rhythm is more energetic and less mellow than Howard, the frenetic, carnival-esque fury of the Mexican duo is simply alien to the charming, lilting tributes of Zapala to his family. In fact his mother was in the audience, and the song ‘Philomena’ is dedicated to her. Glancing at her during this enchanting song, I could tell something special and personal was being communicated.
After uploading ‘Crystal’ to YouTube, Zapala was launched, and for good reason. Performed live with fierce energy, the guitar itself was in motion, every string blurred with vibration whilst the lower guitar body was intricately drummed. The beginning is like something gothic from the A Series of Unfortunate Events soundtrack, but then four minutes in, it gets super dynamic. Zapala said that The Selfish Gene inspired Crystals with questions like ‘What is life?’ and the miracle of atomic particles interpreted through percussive guitar. Throughout the evening, Zapala would warmly discuss his music, also taking the opportunity to remind us that we were on Watford High Street. Well, geographically yes, but musically we couldn’t be further. Whisked away to his locations of inspiration, we enjoyed the music of Turkish goat herders, Irish folk ballads and Spanish serenades. Zapala’s influences are both unusual and popular; Carlo Domeniconi, Eric Roche and Led Zeppelin to name a few, but the Classical element is also important. The album includes guitar renditions of Bach’s cello suite and prelude.
Innuendoes featuring lube and floppy microphones aside, I could have been attending a prosecco-fuelled mindfulness class. Nothing short of mesmerising, Zapala’s is the kind of music which releases your thoughts, particularly in ‘Sleeping Gently’ – a song written for his nephew – with the pitter-patter plucking evoking raindrops. I wonder several things: how his hands aren’t bruised…how I could possibly be in Watford…how I could write up such a unique performance… There is an incredible intelligence, strength and concentration to Zapala. Definitely worth a listen!
