Wally Ghiller tal-Isla

Wally Ghiller Tal-Isla was born on the 14 November 1955 and hails from the fortified city of Senglea, Isla in Maltese. He is currently the only performing folk singer from this city. Ghiller, who has Scottish ancestry through his paternal great grandfather, comes from a family of folksingers.

His father was Żeppi Tal-Isla, also known as Żeppi Sebu' , a nickname he acquired following an injury he suffered in one of his fingers while carrying out masonry repair work on the Senglea Parish church after it has suffered extensive damage due to German enemy aerial bombardment in the early 1940s. Żeppi, who was employed laying liquid tar in local road works and as a plasterer, passed away in 1987. The tradition continued through his three sons.

Wally's brothers Alfred Ghiller and Sammy Ghiller folk sang as well, but are not longer active. A particularly unique session, recorded by Maltese radio and presented by Charles Arrigo in 1978 features the four Ghillers singing together in an improvised verse bout. Wally still retains a copy of this recording.