You will be playing the An Tobar Sessions on this Tune Up tour, which also features new work composed with Dave Milligan. How did the album and the collaboration with Dave come about?
I was asked by Gordon MacLean up in An Tobar in Tobermory to write a piece of music celebrating the venue's 10th Anniversary. I'm originally from Oban and Gordon liked the idea of an Argyll musician writing the commission. I had free reign over the music and the musicians I chose to play and spent a couple of weeks in residency writing it. It was great experience. Dave received a similar commission and where I focused on inspiration from the Isle of Mull, it's people and landscape, Dave was inspired by the vast range of independent shops in Tobermory that help keep the community so vibrant. I thought a double header concert and a finale with both bands together would complement each piece of music really well None of the instruments are doubled up between the bands so it should make for an interesting noise. I've known and respected Dave's music for many years and am looking forward to writing with him.
What was the last album you bought?
Four Tet - There is Love In You
And was it vinyl, cd or a download?
Download I'm afraid. On a late night whim.
You have a very busy work schedule - what do you do to relax in your time off?
I like to run and cycle and try keep myself a bit fit. Not always easy on the road! I also enjoy the sanctuary of my family home on Seil Island. I head back there as often as I can and feel myself unwinding as soon as I get there.
You are also a member of Lau. How does it feel to have won the Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards with Lau for 3 years running now?
We were very surprised this year. We didn't think we'd get it again. It all helps I guess. We don't take awards and such too seriously but we did notice a marked increase in people coming to our shows after we won the first one. It helps to give journalists an angle to write about other than just the music and it enabled us to get more prime time national radio. Which is unusual for a wee folk trio from Scotland.
How did Lau come together?
We were all friends through the very sociable folk scene. Kris and I moved to Edinburgh at the same time around 1997 and played a lot at sessions together. We'd both meet Martin at festivals in England and Scotland and hung out playing tunes a bit. Then Martin moved north to be with his Scottish girlfriend and started a duo with Kris, which was something I was also doing. Then Martin asked me to do a gig with him. It was getting silly. So we amalgamated and formed Lau. We spent about a year meeting up round my kitchen once a week until we decided we were a real band. We wanted it to be really good before we let anyone hear it.
Who or what was your inspiration for becoming a musician?
My dad is a lover of folk music and plays banjo and a bit of fiddle and guitar. There was always music in the house. He and my mum encouraged me to play the fiddle and I was sent to lessons with a great old teacher called George McHardy who lived near us in Oban. I wasn't too keen at first as I really just wanted to play shinty but he made the lessons great fun and we enjoyed each other's company a lot. He was my inspiration.
What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you on tour?
Quite a few unmentionable things but I lost my fiddle in Spain once. I left it on a bar after a late night session in Gijon in Asturias. Took the empty case home to my hotel, got up early the next day and drove 3 hours to Bilbao. We made the radio show just in time and got ready to play. Opened the case. No fiddle. Panic. I got it back the next day. Awful.
What is your favourite place in Scotland?
I love so many parts of Scotland. We travel a lot and see lots of different countries but Scotland never fails to move and astonish me. I do have a bias towards the west coast and Argyll in particular.
What book are you reading right now?
Lau have played Japan each year for 3 years and I've developed a mild addiction to the writing of Haruki Murakami. I'm on Norwegian Wood right now.
You have collaborated with lots of musicians. Who would be your dream musician to work with? (dead or alive)
Lau got the chance to play with Trilok Gurtu and Jan Garbareck recently. That was amazing. Jan is one of my all time favourite musicians. There are too many to mention. Lau plan on collaborating with a modern classical composer next year. It'll involve us performing with a full orchestra. That's always been a dream. I'd have loved a tune with some of the fiddle legends. Neil Gow or Skinner. Skinner in his prime must have been something special.
Where do you hope to be in five year’s time?
Difficult one. I want to be gigging but maybe not as much as right now. I'd hope to spend more time composing and a wee bit less time away from home and on the road. I love it but I know it can't go on for ever. But as Charlie McKerron from Capercaillie once said "there's only one thing worse than being on the road and that's not being on the road!"