‘The songs were still there even though the day to day culture had died’

  • Capercaillie, one of Scotland's most important Gaelic electric folk bands, celebrates its 30th anniversary at the Auditori with Riu, the Barcelona City Pipe Band, and the Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia

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Liz Castro
10.03.2014 - 01:10

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The capercaillie, one of the largest members of the grouse family, became extinct in Scotland in the 18th century. When it was reintroduced it became a symbol of revival. Donald Shaw and Karen Matheson, whose electric folk band Capercaillie rocked a full house at Barcelona’s Auditori on Sunday night has had no small part in reviving Gaelic music—and even the language—in Scotland. Donald, besides being a founding member of Capercaillie also is the Artistic Director for the annual Celtic Connections music festival in Glasgow. I spoke with the band before the show. What follows is an edited, not transcripted, version of the interview.

Welcome to Barcelona. Have you played here before?

[Donald] Oh yes, we’ve been here several times. We’ve kind of had a quiet period doing our own projects, but this last year is the 30th anniversary of the band so we’ve been doing various concerts all over the place. We’ve been coming back to some of our favorite places.

[Karen] And we were invited here as part of a collaboration with Riu [for the Tradicionarius festival]. Collaborations is always something that we’ve done, with groups in different countries. In one Spanish tour, we sang with two musicians from Equatorial Guinea, who were living in Madrid, Hijas del Sol, was their name. And they came back and toured with us.

I’m curious about Gaelic. I was talking to your technicians and they told me that they don’t understand Gaelic, and wouldn’t even be able to understand your set list, or the words in many of your songs.
[Karen] That’s pretty common for any band performing. There aren’t very many bands where the musicians and the technicians all speak Gaelic.

Can you tell me what role Gaelic plays in your music?
[Karen] My mother was one of nine children, living out in the outer Hebrides. She had to leave home at 14 to go to the mainland, and she worked in a hotel. She and the other girls weren’t allowed to speak Gaelic at work, it was considered slovenly. The elites at the hotel didn’t want to hear it. She told me not to learn Gaelic, that it wouldn’t get me anywhere. But my grandmother came to live with us and she and my mother spoke Gaelic together and I wanted to learn it.

When we were growing up, speaking Gaelic wasn’t encouraged. But there was a big traditional music scene. When we were teenagers, there would be a ‘ceilidh’, or music gathering, and kids would hang out and play music together, and the songs were mostly in Gaelic. And we didn’t always know what they meant, but we learned to play and sing them anyway. And gradually we learned what they meant. Song is so much a part of culture. The songs were still there even though the day to day culture had died.

[Donald] There was this resurgence of Gaelic 25 years ago, and an increase in awareness of the culture, and music has encouraged independence too, in a small way. Music is really cyclic. Music was a connection to both our language and our culture.

What about now? Is Gaelic in fashion with your teenage son?
[Karen] He automatically rejects a lot of the things we do because we’re his parents, but I believe it seeps through. He’s started playing music too.

[Donald] There is much more interest in learning Gaelic now. This is the first time that the language is not in regression. The number of speakers had been falling since the 60’s but now there is a lot of enthusiasm with young people learning. [Karen] There is a immersion school in Glasgow. It’s become very popular in part because the classes are smaller and people believe their kids get a better education there.

And the parents don’t worry about them learning English?
No, because most of them speak English at home.

Why do you think the independence movement has grown so much in Scotland now?
[Donald] Partly it’s this cyclical thing, that there’s a resurgence in the culture and language. There are the people who speak from their heart, who say things like ‘Scotland is our nation’ and there are those who look at it from a cold, economic point of view and say ‘it’s unrealistic’. I think it will be a close vote.

Scotland is so institutionalized, there’s the BBC and Brtish Telecom, and British this and that. Many people are restricted from giving their views. People might be tentative about putting their hand up because they’re getting paid by London. It hasn’t really reached a full on debate yet in Scotland, people are still tip-toeing around, many people are still on the fence. Even in our band, not everyone has made up their minds yet.

Do people in Scotland compare the situation there with what is going on here in Catalonia?
[Donald] Yes, to some degree. There was some controversy when Spain’s Finance Minister made those comments saying that Scotland wouldn’t be allowed in the European Union. And people saw right through that straightaway, and knew he was talking about his own country, not ours.

People here are envious that the Scottish are allowed to vote. They admire the British Government’s willingness to negotiate
[Donald] Well, the majority of the opposition in Scotland is very cynical with the economic model. They say, ‘yeah, sure we’ll give you a divorce, but you’re not getting the car, or the house, or …’

——

After the interview, I walked Donald and Karen from their hotel over to the Auditori, and when we arrived, the members of Riu were already there and had just begun to practice the ‘human castle’ music with the rest of members of Capercaillie. I was amazed at how quickly they not only picked it up, but played variations. Karen told me, ‘when you play this kind of music, there’s something that connects you’—whether you’re from Scotland or Catalonia, or wherever.

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