SCOTTISH GAELIC PUNK

(Redirected from Gaelic punk)


'Scottish Gaelic Punk' is a subgenre of punk rock with bands that sing some or all of their music in Scottish Gaelic.
Up until recently, there has been little modern Scottish Gaelic-language music. The rock band Runrig is a notable exception, and the song ''Man of Two Worlds'' by Ultravox — from their album "Lament" (1984) — contained some Gaelic lyrics. The mid-1990s grindcore band Scatha, from Tomintoul, featured Gaelic in several of their songs. Up until spring of 2005, when Oi Polloi and Mill a h-Uile Rud both released all-Gaelic EPs, there had not been an album of modern music all in Gaelic since Runrig released ''Play Gaelic'' in 1978.
The backgrounds of the musicians in the subgenre are diverse, from Tim (Mill a h-Uile Rud), who hails from Seattle in the United States, to Anna Rothach (Nad Aislingean and Oi Polloi), who was born and raised in South Uist. Tthe uniting feature of all of these bands is that most of the Gaelic-speaking members have spent some time at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, a Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye. In DIY-punk style, the Gaelic punks started out by teaching each other the language at ''Gaelic for Punks'' classes, first held at the ''Edinburgh European City of Punk'' festival in 1997. After these individuals gained fluency, they took advantage of scholarships available at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and there has been a small, but steady stream of punks at the college ever since.
Punk in the Welsh language, particularly the bands connected with the label Anhrefn, was an early inspiration to the Gaelic punk scene in Scotland. The scene is also, in part, a reaction against the beer-addled shallowness of much of Celtic Punk and an affirmation of the value of minority languages and cultures.^[1][2] The bands express political views, particularly those of the anarchist left and environmentalism. However, a chief difference, is that Welsh punk has emerged from the language's heartlands and native speakers, whereas Gaelic punk has mostly been created by learners and outsiders.
The Gaelic punk band Mill a h-Uile Rud were the feature of a documentary made by the BBC's arts series ''Ealtainn'', which followed them on a tour of Europe as well as filming them at concerts in the Gaelic-speaking heartland of the Isle of Lewis. Both national and local radio and printed media have featured the bands. ''The Scotsman'', the national Scottish paper based in Edinburgh, regularly covers the scene, and the American publications ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and ''Punk Planet'' have carried features on the new subgenre.

Contents

Notable bands

Notable Albums

Notes

External links

Notable bands

★ Oi Polloi from Edinburgh, Scotland started performing in English in 1981. They released a Gaelic EP, ''Carson'', in 2005, followed by an all-Gaelic LP, ''Ar Ceòl, Ar Cànan, Ar-a-mach'', in 2006. Their live set features a mix of English and Gaelic material, although they tend to favor the Gaelic material when they play in Scotland. At some concerts in Portree and Stornoway, all of their songs and stage banter were in Gaelic.

★ Mill a h-Uile Rud, based in Seattle, United States, formed in Scotland, and have played at least as many concerts in Europe as they have in the United States. All of their material is in Gaelic. They are occasionally active, although they have not released any new material in some time.

★ Atomgevitter, from Glasgow, Scotland started their career in English, increasingly began to sing in Gaelic. Their singer, Roddy, runs the small punk record label, Problem Records, which releases much of the new material in Gaelic. Roddy is has studied full-time at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

★ Là Luain, from The Isle of Skye, Scotland perhaps has the most mainstream appeal of all the Gaelic punk bands. They are popular with the producers of the Gaelic pop music TV program, Rapal. All the members are fluent speakers, and all of their material is in Gaelic.

★ Whiskey No More is a five-piece band based in Uist that performs punk-rock arrangements of traditional Gaelic songs.

★ Another group that is often associated with Scottish Gaelic punk is Nad Aislingean who record their hip hop/techno music in Scottish Gaelic. Stylistically, their illbient beats and hyphy rhyming is far from punk, but they share members with several of the punk bands.

Notable Albums

★ "Carson?" (2005), Oi Polloi. This vinyl EP was the release that launched the subgenre.

★ "Ceàrr" (2005), Mill a h-Uile Rud. This CD EP was the first ever CD released of all-original new compositions in Gaelic. The liner-notes in the CD are also exclusively in Gaelic.

★ "Ar Cànan, Ar Ceòl, Ar-a-mach" (2005), Oi Polloi. This is the first full-length rock LP sung entirely in Gaelic since Runrig released their ''Play Gaelic'' LP in 1979. Lyrics and sleeve-notes are entirely in Gaelic and English translations are only available on their website.

★ "Ceòl Gàidhlig Mar Sgian Nad Amhaich" (2006). Four songs, one each by Oi Polloi, Mill a h-Uile Rud, Nad Aislingean and Atomgevitter.

★ "Gàidhlig na Lasair" (2006). Fifteen songs by Oi Polloi, Mill a h-Uile Rud, Nad Aislingean and Atomgevitter, and the 80s New-wave band, the Thing Upstairs.

Notes

1. McLaughlin, N. and McLoone, M. (2000) "Hybridity and National Musics: The Case of Irish Rock Music." ''Popular Music'' 19(2), pp. 181-199.
2. MacÀdhaimh, S. "An dà chòmhlan 'punc' a tha a' seinn sa Ghàidhlig." ''The Scotsman'', 19 March 2005.

External links

★ Oi Polloi - Official site

★ Mill a h-Uile Rud - Official site

★ Nad Aislingean - Official site

★ Atomgevitter - Official site

★ Là Luain - Official site

★ Article on Mill a h-Uile Rud in Hi-Arts magazine of the Scottish Highlands and Islands

★ Indepth interview with Oi Polloi

★ Oi Polloi interview in Folkzine

★ Article on Gaelic punk in The Scotsman newspaper

★ Article in the Scotsman's Gaelic page on Oi Polloi and their Ar Cànan, Ar Ceòl, Ar-a-mach LP