A Conversation With Skerryvore
A Conversation With Skerryvore
Since 2005, Skerryvore has brought their performances to audiences across the globe, from their early days in Scottish West Coast halls and bars, to Festival crowds in the USA, Canada, Australia and throughout the UK and Europe. Picking up Scottish traditional music’s ‘Live Act of the Year’ twice on the way – in 2011 and again in 2016 – the band’s wide range of influences and talent produce a musically expansive, high-energy set that excites and captivates audiences.
With a mix of fiddle, accordions, pipes and whistles, alongside guitar and vocals, underpinned by driving bass, drums and keys, Skerryvore represents the best in contemporary Scottish traditional music. Their 6 studio albums demonstrate the wide range of influences the individual musicians bring to the mix – a unique fusion of folk, trad, rock and Americana, with even some jazz in there!
The band’s single, “Everyday Heroes“, recorded from home, and aided by a variety of musicians from across the country, reached number one in the official Scottish charts and, so far, has raised several thousands of pounds for NHS staff charities. Also recorded in isolation, their single ‘You and I’ spent seven weeks, in January and February 2021, on BBC Radio 2’s playlist, unheard of for a track from an independent label. ‘Together Again,’ released in July 2021, also made it to Radio 2’s playlist, celebrating the beginnings of a return to meeting up with friends again.
Back on a massive UK and America tour, we caught up with the guys for a natter.
NSG: Good morning guys and how are you, what have you been doing today and how’s that going?
Daniel: We’re very good thanks. We are currently enjoying some time off tour but it is still very busy with all the plans for the new album and I’m spending a lot of time booking flights, hotels and hire cars for our upcoming tour in the USA.
NSG: Can I as where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?
Daniel: Martin and myself grew up on the island of Tiree which has a population of around 700 people so it was a very small, close-knit community and school. Most days were spent outside playing football and evenings playing music or going to ceilidhs. The downside to being on such a remote island was missing out on a lot of competition or opportunities that would be available on the mainland, however loss that was outweighed by the beautiful and safe surroundings we had on Tiree.
NSG: You have been doing this music thing a long time now, forming in 2004? Random question, but can you remember the first time you all jammed/played together as a band and if so, did you have any idea at the time of how far and prolific you’d become?
Martin: Yes, it has been a very long time! Myself, Dan, Alec & Frase started playing together back in 2003 and I’d imagine the first gig would have been in Lean To pub on the Island Of Tiree where myself and Dan are from. Fraser and Alec would come on holiday in the summer months and that is how we met and it all started. The first few years were just a big party playing at Dances (Ceilidhs) & Pubs throughout all the islands and west coast of Scotland. If you had asked me then if I would be doing this now then I would have said “not a chance”.
(Skerryvore)
NSG: During the Covid pandemic you recorded your single “Everyday Heroes“, from home. Aided by a variety of musicians from across the country, it reached number one in the (Official Scottish Charts) and, so far, has raised several thousands of pounds for NHS staff charities. Could you tell us some more about that? Like how the idea came to be and how did you manage to record it during the lockdowns.
Martin: The idea was suggested by a good friend who is also the man that manufactures all the band’s merchandise along with quite a few other bands. With the NHS being under such pressure at this time he suggested that a piece of music dedicated to them would be appreciated greatly. The next day I woke up with an idea for a melody in my head, jumped out of bed, picked up the box and within 30 minutes I composed the full tune. I recorded it on my phone and sent it to the rest of the guys to see what they thought. Thankfully it got the approval and with Scott having a studio in his house he worked on an arrangement together with his wife Mhairi and then sent it back to all of us to record our parts. Most of us all have some recording equipment at home so this was the first recording in isolation. We also got some of our good friends who play in fellow bands to get involved which was great. For the first time recording in this way, it turned out much better than we all expected and Scott did an incredible job pulling it all together. I never imagined it would have raised the money it has and also to make it to (Number 1) in the charts was incredible. A big thank you to the still hard-working NHS staff throughout the country.
NSG: It seems you did a fair bit of recording during the pandemic. What else did you record?
Fraser: Without knowing it I suppose we essentially started recording the ‘TEMPUS‘ album. “You & I along” with “Together Again” are both on the upcoming album and were recorded during the lockdown. Those tracks also spent a combined time of around 12 weeks on the BBC Radio 2 Playlist.
NSG: Your heritage is Scottish and it comes across so much in your music. Was it something you’d decided early on as a band, you know, to incorporate the sounds of Scotland into your music or did it just evolve naturally?
Fraser: The sounds of Scotland in our music has been very organic. The instrumentation alone (bagpipes, accordion, fiddle) makes that fairly easy but traditional music is so rich in the Tiree culture that we were always going to have an element of it throughout the music. Alec, Alan, Jodie and Myself all played very different styles of music growing up and it’s the combination of all our influences which gives us such a unique sound.
NSG: What makes Scotland so special to you?
Fraser: It’s home. Our families and friends are here. We love touring but you always get a sense of relaxation when you step off a plane and smell the Scottish air. We are lucky enough to travel a lot and see some amazing places, but Scotland still takes my breath away. The scenery is incredible and I think we’re all extremely proud to be Scottish.
NSG: You are about to go on a massive 20-date tour at the beginning of March, starting in the US then back to the UK then back to America, is that right? What do you like most about touring and do you prefer it over recording?
Daniel: Yes, we have a quick visit to the East Coast, USA then back for our Scottish shows then back out Stateside for a month when we will visit 9 states. My favourite part of touring is probably visiting new places and venues as it’s always great to see the reaction of people that are seeing the band for the first time. We have made so many friends in some places over the years so that is another great thing about touring, making friendships that maybe would have never happened had it not been for the music and band.
NSG: How would you describe your sound?
Fraser: It’s difficult to pigeonhole in just one word, but “Scottish Folk-Pop” gives a good idea as to what we sound like. We used to get described as Celtic Rock, that’s not really a good representation of what we do.
NSG: If you had not become musicians, what other career do you think you’d have chosen?
Martin: Before I was accepted into the RCS to study I was training as a plumber. Would no doubt have been involved in some sort of construction.
Daniel: I was the only one in the band not to study music at University as I pursued a sports career which had me working as a youth coach at Rangers FC before we made the decision to go full-time with Skerryvore.
Fraser: I wanted to do music for a very long time, but my backup (certainly for the short term) was to be involved in watersports instruction during the summer (in the South of France) and ski instruction during the winter (in Switzerland).
NSG: If you could sit down for dinner with any three people from history, past or present who would they be and why?
Daniel: Such a hard question as so many people! Going with my immediate thoughts… Ally McCoist – hard to pick between him and Paul Gascoigne as both were footballing heroes of mine but Ally would just nick it given his amazing way of telling stories! Robin Williams – again a hard choice between him and Billy Connolly! Both are exceptionally talented, hilarious and humble men. My Dad. We lost him suddenly when Martin & myself were still young boys so I’d do anything to have one more day or dinner with him.
Fraser: Dave Grohl – I’m a massive Foo Fighters fan and I’d love to sit and chat with Dave. He seems a very kind, genuine person and his stories would be incredible. My Auntie Margaret – She, unfortunately, passed away from cancer some time ago. She loved the band and I know she’d have been very proud to see where we are now. She was always the life and soul of the party and I miss that. Billy Connolly – Not sure there is much explanation needed. He’s the greatest comedian ever.
NSG: The UK is in a right mess politically. What do you think some of the fundamental problems are and do you have a solution to them?
Martin: Yes, we are in a right mess at the moment. As a band, we are all quite aligned in our thoughts of this current government which isn’t very complimentary. I could probably rant on for quite a while but personally, I feel what they have done is criminal on so many levels.
(Skerryvore)
NSG: With there being 8 of you in the band you must be really close, how do you manage to not get under each other’s feet?
Fraser: We do get on very well, especially for the amount of time we spend with each other. We all know how to push each other’s buttons but we also tend to know when to just leave someone alone. We really very rarely get into any sort of argument. On tour quite a few of us will use the gym or pool, everyone finds their thing to help get a bit of separation and time apart so we don’t all come on stage hating each other!! Haha
NSG: You’re touring a lot this year, asides from that, how is the rest of 2023 looking for you?
Daniel: we have some great tours, festivals and shows throughout the year and an album release year is always extra exciting as there is new material to play live and getting to see people’s reaction to that. As well as all that there are some collaborations in the pipeline and also possibly some other new music towards the end of the year…
NSG: Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Daniel: We better do one final plug for the new album ‘Tempus‘, released on the 28th of April! It’s great to be working with a record label like Cooking Vinyl and there are lots of exclusive bundles available to pre-order ahead of the release. And a huge thanks to everyone that has pre-ordered already from all over the world.
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