CELT IN A TWIST
– INTERVIEW
TRANSCRIPT
RORY
CAMPBELL
of OLD BLIND
DOGS
‘Four On The
Floor’
(Compass
Records)
Age appears best
in four things:
old wood to
burn, old wine
to drink, old
friends to
trust, and old
authors to read.
Francis Bacon
(1561 - 1626)
English
philosopher,
statesman,
essayist
Celt In A Twist:
Old Blind Dogs
are neither
canine nor
visually
challenged and
while 15 years
of age may be
getting on in
dog years, these
fierce Scots untraditionalists
are hardly
growing old
gracefully,
preferring to
live life
precariously at
the leading edge
of Celtic music.
This year sees
them down one
dog and up one
album with their
newest release,
Four On The
Floor.
Rory Campbell,
piper for the
band is on the
line to tell us
more. Hello,
Rory. How are
you?
Rory Campbell:
I'm good!
CIAT: Now, I
know you're not
one of the
original members
of Old Blind
Dogs but is
there a familiar
feeling to the 4
piece
arrangement for
you?
Rory: Yah, I was
very familiar
with the
original lineup
of the band
because I used
to play in
various bands
around
Scotland
at the time and
played support
to the Dogs on a
number of
occasions in a
band I used to
play in called
Deaf Shepherd. I
was very
familiar with
the four piece
sound with Ian
F. Benzie
(guitar and
vocals), Jonny
Hardie (fiddle
and mandolin),
Buzzby McMillan
(bass and
cittern) and
Davey Cattenach
(percussion).
When pipes were
added with
Fraser Fifield
that was a
concept that, as
a fan of the
Dogs, I had to
adjust to as
well. Then,
coming into the
band where the
five piece
format had been
established, we
had to work very
hard. But, just
settling back as
a four piece
again seemed
totally natural
and it was an
easy transition
for us.
CIAT: One more
note on that ...
am I hearing
more harmonies
now that you’re
back to the four
piece
configuration?
Rory: Well you
know, we've
always done the
harmonies but I
think the
harmonies are
more flexible?
Certainly the
harmonies are as
strong as or
stronger than
they have been
in the past. We
don't have one
lead singer as
such. On the new
album, myself
and Aaron (Jones
- bouzouki/bass)
and Jonny are
all taking the
lead on
different songs
so perhaps we're
feeling vocally
more confident
and daring ... I
don't know.
CIAT: Can you
tell us about a
couple of the
more
contemporary
pieces, like
Terror Time
which we just
heard (I love
that title by
the way) and
Star O’ The Bar
(another title I
love). Did you
go looking for
great titles?
Rory: Not really
great titles but
great songs!
Often the two go
together. But,
Terror time is
the first tune,
what the
traveling people
refer to as the
winter time,
because it
brought hunger
and starvation
and no work and
poor clothing
and bad diet and
being kicked out
of every town
you went to.
But, in terms of
the names of the
songs, we did do
a bit of digging
to find songs
that we thought
would be
suitable and
were suitable to
our voices so we
could adapt to
in our new
environment as a
four piece.
CIAT: And, you
pay beautiful
tribute to the
Celtic
traditions of
Brittany
and
Galicia.
What are the
biggest
impressions
you’ve taken
away from those
places?
Rory: Well, the
musical
traditions in
Brittany
and
Galicia
are very similar
to other parts
of Celtic Europe
and
Ireland,
Scotland,
Wales
and
Cornwall
and the like.
The link between
the song, the
music and the
dance is
something you
cannot break.
The Breton and
Galician
traditions both
have these
strong ties to
the song and the
dance and the
way they’re held
together. That's
kind of what you
come away with
when you go
there and you
see the dances
and the concerts
and, what we
would call a
Ceilidh but they
have different
names ... it's
just a different
way of doing the
same thing.
CIAT: You’ve
got your Celt In
A Twist and we
have
Rory Campbell
on the line an
Old Blind Dog on
the leash to
talk about Four
On the Floor
their new album.
Connect with the
band at their
website,
www.oldblinddogs.co.uk
where you can
even pick up
your own set of
Old Blind Dog
Tags. Don’t
enter the fray
without them.
Rory, the hand
drums (djembe I
imagine) add a
real tribal
groove to your
sound and it’s
fairly
consistent
throughout your
albums. How did
that sound
develop as
opposed to
bodhran or
standard kit?
Rory: Again, it
goes back to the
starting days of
the band. When
you're getting
together a band
you don't very
often make
conscious
decisions to
hunt out a
particular
instrument. You
just end up
finding a group
of musicians who
kind of gel.
And, it just so
happened that
for Davy
Cattenach, in
that lineup,
this was his
thing. He
enjoyed using
different kinds
of percussion. I
think it was
congas
originally, and
hand percussion
and that really
sort of ethnic
sound. It just
developed from
there. So, when
Davy moved on
and other
players got in,
it was important
to retain that
sound as much as
possible. It
obviously has to
evolve and it
has done. Now,
Fraser (Stone)
plays
essentially a
hand drum set up
built around a
djembe. It's a
bit of a kit
really ...
there's a kick
drum and he uses
brushes
occasionally,
It's just
evolved a little
bit.
CIAT: I was
going to ask
Jonny Hardie
this question.
He, being the
last founding
member still
with the band
but I'll ask you
as well. Is
there anything
at this point
which Old Blind
Dogs have set
out to
accomplish which
you have yet to
achieve?
Rory: Well,
there's lot's of
places we would
still like to
play. There are
lots of places
we haven't been
which we would
like to go to.
And, we're
working on a DVD
at the moment.
We did two
reunion concerts
in
Aberdeen,
Scotland
with previous
members of the
band. So we have
lots of
performance
footage,
interviews and
what not. So, we
want to get that
DVD out and I
think just play
to more people.
Really, that's
all we're trying
to do.
CIAT: Well,
you're so good
in the live
context so it
makes sense that
you just want to
get out there
and play. Rory,
we’re going out
on a tradition
that has made
its way across
the Atlantic
into
Cape
Breton
culture as well.
It’s a waulking
song. Tell us
about Gaelic
Song from Four
On The Floor.
Rory, Yah, the
song comes from
the island of
Barra which is
where my father
is from and it's
one that he sang
and still does.
It tells the
story of the men
of the Clan
MacNeil looking
out to the ocean
and seeing a
galley sailing
in toward
Kisimul
Castle
on the
island
of
Barra.
And, it talks of
what will happen
when the boat
comes in and
guys will get
off and go for a
drink, and
someone will
play some good
tunes, and
someone will
have a dance and
someone will
fall over
(laughs). You
know ... that
kind of thing.
But, a waulking
song was a
working song
that the women
would sing when
they were
working the
cloth.
Rory
Campbell
was interviewed
by Cal Koat on
August 7th/07
for broadcast on
Celt In A Twist,
AM 1470, CJVB
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