SimplyScottish.com Interviews The Proclaimers

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This is Andrew McDiarmid Jr. and Sr. of Simply Scottish Media, here with Craig and Charlie Reid, The Proclaimers. In 1983, out of a fusion of school punk bands and home influences like Jerry Lee Lewis and Hank Williams, and after a childhood spent in Leith, Edinburgh and Fife, among other places, The Proclaimers were formed of Craig and Charlie Reid.

As The Proclaimers promote their fourth album with a tour in North America, we sat down with them to chat about the album, about Scotland and its politics, and more.

Simplyscottish.com: Your first hit on the Scottish side of the Atlantic was Letter from America, from the debut album This Is The Story. Here was an honest, down-to-earth, song about Scotland’s emigration, politics, and Clearances, sitting at the top of the charts in Scotland, England, and Wales. Almost two years later, your most popular song, “I’m Gonna Be” became a world-wide hit and a chart-topper in North America. How did it affect you to know that people all over the world were seeing Scotland through your words and music and getting a taste of something that otherwise, they might never have experienced?

"People would say, well maybe if you changed your accents when you sung...you might get more chance at doing it, but...we did it in the end on our own terms."

The Proclaimers: (Charlie) Well, we always wanted to get our music across in our own way. The fact that we're Scottish is incidental to some degree, but certainly we've never shied from letting people know that we were Scots; we felt good that we made it on our own terms without, as we would say, compromising on who we were and where we came from, so that was the main thing for us, and we're glad we did it that way.
(Craig) Yea, that's the case, I mean I think that eh, when we were trying to make it before we ever got any breaks, you can get disheartened very often. People would say, well maybe if you changed your accents when you sung, or you did this or you did that, you might get more chance at doing it, but as Charlie said, we did it in the end on our own terms, which is what we wanted to do.

Simplyscottish.com: ‘Persevere’ is your fourth album, and your first new work in seven years. In 1997, your father very unfortunately passed away, and you had your hands full as well with family life and children. What kinds of things and events inspired the songs on the new album Persevere?

The Proclaimers: Well, it's various, I mean obviously the death of our father, that inspired a couple of songs on the album. But there's children, songs with children, songs about love, there's a bit of political stuff as well. Because it was an album that was written over a period of about six years, obviously the subject matter is a fairly varied - there's fourteen tracks on it. We've always tried to make each album that we did a collection of songs about different themes. Maybe one day, we'll do an album that'll be written in four or five months and it'll be all about one theme, I don't know, but this album is the same as the others in the sense that it's a collection of varying themes in the songs and the lyrics, and I think probably a wider spectrum of themes than we've dealt with before.

Simplyscottish.com: Now, The Scotsman newspaper said of 'Persevere' that it was "pumped full of personality, betraying none of the toil suggested by its title". The songs on the album go from the memorable tribute to your father 'Act of Remembrance' to the quirky and cute 'Sweet Little Girls'. In between that, you’ve got commentary on Scotland’s history and past on 'Scotland’s Story' and 'A Land Fit For Zeros'. Tell us what you are trying to say about Scotland and Scotland’s current and future state on the album.

The Proclaimers: (Charlie) Well, you know we don't set out to say that this is the agenda and this is what we're going to stick to - we just write songs as it comes. 'Scotland's Story' is really about the fact that there's a kind of myth that the Scots were all one kind of people, when in actual fact there's always been people coming to Scotland making their homes there, over thousands of years, and over the last hundred years, there's been maybe more immigration as well, in particular over the last fifty years, and that all goes to make Scotland. It's not a kind of racial thing, it's a place where people live and they all have individual stories, each family is an individual story, and each individual within that family is a story, so that's what that song is trying to say - it's a kind of inclusive thing rather than an exclusive thing.

Simplyscottish.com: Now, 'A Land Fit For Zeros', what does that talk about exactly?

The Proclaimers: (Craig) That really is a song that's about Britain - it's mostly about England. I think in the last four or five years with the New Labour Party, I think they are a bunch of people who have traded in everything that they believed in for power, and have acheived it and acheived it a second time, and I think there's a massive space, a massive gap, where their credibility used to be, and their soul used to be. That's what that song is about.

Simplyscottish.com: When people listen to your music, the first thing they realize is that you sing in a Scottish accent, rather than adopting the universal generic singing accent that most vocalists seem to use. Why did you make the decision to sing exactly as you spoke, and how do you think it has influenced your music and your listeners?

The Proclaimers: (Charlie) The reason we sing in the same accent as we speak in is that we felt it was more honest to do so. We're writing about our own experiences, and we thought it would feel odd to sing them in a mid-Atlantic or American accent, so we just decided to stick with the way we were.
(Craig) That's right, and I think the fact that we have done that has influenced the we that people hear of us. The fans of ours will judge us on thesong, but people hearing us for the first time will definately judge us on the fact that we're singing in a Scottish accent first and foremost. I think down the years I don't know if it's helped us or hindered us more, I think it's definately helped us to some degree, but it has definately hindered us that people say 'I can't understand what they're saying - I'm not going to listen to it'. So, I don't know, but it's the way we sing and that's it. It makes us more identifiable, that's for sure.

Simplyscottish.com: I was surprised and very proud to be sitting in a theater watching one of the summer’s biggest movies in the United States, Shrek, and hearing the familiar words of “I’m On My Way”, from your album Sunshine on Leith. The song is also on the soundtrack to the movie. This is the fourth major American movie to feature your music. Were you happy to have your work presented in this way to American audiences?

The Proclaimers: (Charlie) Yea, we're very grateful, because people seem to remember us when it comes down to things like advertisements and movies. We've had something run for the last two years on IBM, an intro to one of our old songs, and that's been used for two years running. So people seem to remember us. Because what we do I think is unusual, then they think of us more readily than they do other bands that sound like lots of other bands, I think that maybe works to our advantage.

Simplyscottish.com: Well, 'I'm Gonna Be' was featured in the movie "Bennie and Joon" - how did that come about?

The Proclaimers: (Craig) It wasn't actually our first - it was the most successful up until then. I think down the years between films in North America, Australia, Europe, and Britain, I think we've been on about twelve or thirteen soundtracks, but 'Benny and Joon' was the first really successful one we've been on. It's a simple thing to do, advertisements, I think people in the advertising industry think a certain way, and if somebody has success with something, then certain times, they'll fall like sheep. I think it's the same with Hollywood and the film industry in general - If you've been on a couple of things and have had a bit of success, then people keep you in mind the next time they are doing a movie.

Simplyscottish.com: Much of your music to date has had commentary on Scotland. It’s obviously something you feel passionate about – sharing Scotland and Scotland’s welfare with the world. What is your view of Scotland’s future, and what do you think needs to happen in order for the nation of Scotland to stand up once again proudly within the world’s community of nations?

"We've never hidden the fact that we are Scottish nationalists - we believe that Scotland should regain the status of an independent nation. I think that Scotland would be better off if it did that."

The Proclaimers: (Charlie) Well, we've never hidden the fact that we are Scottish nationalists - we believe that Scotland should regain the status of an independent nation. I think that Scotland would be better off if it did that. The new devolved parliament maybe is a step along the way, but I think Westminster and Brussels still retain most of the power that you can actually use to really influence people's lives, and I think that Scotland, as we've said from the beginning, should be an independent nation. I hope one day that will happen.

Simplyscottish.com: ...and we do of course as well. Now, I have to ask - are you card-carrying members of the SNP (Scottish National Party)?

The Proclaimers: (Charlie) I was a card-carrying member of the SNP. I've kinda let it lapse - it was no slight on the SNP. We do what we do, and sometimes you're about and sometimes you're not about. People know where we stand - we're supporters of independence, we always have been.

Simplyscottish.com: Now, I was a little confused - I know Sean Connery came out into the fore in 1999 for the Scottish Parliament Elections, and I thought 'All, right, The Proclaimers are going to be out here promoting the election as a step towards withdrawl from the union', and I was just a little confused that you didn't and I suppose that was during the time when you were in the middle of the album and you were still getting over your father and other things. Was it a lot of things that stopped you from doing that?

The Proclaimers: (Craig) There were things that stopped us. I have complete and total respect for Sean Connery and the fact that he did that - he believes that devolution is a step towards independence (from the union). I don't know if it is or not. It was campaigning from something that I personally had no great enthusiasm for it. I voted for it, but I didn't do it with any great enthusiasm. People say that it's a step towards independence, but of course,the people who promoted it, the British Labour Party, say it's actually what is used to stop independence. So, they can't both be right. I hope it will help to lead towards independence, but I'm not sure. as I say, I voted for it, but it was a sense of 'well, it's the only thing going at the moment, so I'll do it', and that was it. I wasn't going to actively campaign for it, because it's not something I felt passionate about.

Simplyscottish.com: Now, do you have any plans, both of you, to use your music or influence to promote upcoming elections, for example the 2003 Scottish parliament Elections, which could be a chance for the SNP to gain power and then things will start happening. Do you have any plans to use your music in that way?

The Proclaimers: I'd have to be honest and say not really. I feel people know where we stand. You have to be very careful if you are in the public eye that you don't end up being known more for your views than for what you do. I'd rather be known for what we do. There will almost certainly come a time in the future where we will say something or be active in some political thing. At the moment, people know where we stand. Sometimes, you end up turning people off if you do too much of it. There may come a time where we feel it's right to come out and campaign. There's never any doubt where we stand - we're for independence.

Simplyscottish.com: (Andrew McDiarmid Sr.)Well, like me, you are both Leithers. Where were you born, guys?

The Proclaimers: We were born in Eastern General Hospital, and my mum worked down there. We had both Leith and Edinburgh connections with the family. We lived a couple of years in Edinburgh, and moved away to Cornwall (England), and lived there for a couple of years - my dad was a joiner, my mum was a nurse. And then when we were ten moving to Fife and grew up there until we left home. Then we moved back into Leith and ended up living there again.

Simplyscottish.com: (Andrew McDiarmid Sr.) How do you feel having some of your countrymen around you backing you as a group (during the North American tour) ?

The Proclaimers: Well, it's good to have people that you know, and people that you can rehearse with because you live in the same city and stuff. They're all good players. So, yea, I'd rather have guys that we had more in common with -it makes things easier.

Simplyscottish.com: As a nationalist, what do you think people can do in Scotland to help the country steer towards independence within Europe?

The Proclaimers: (Craig) I think that they can demonstrate that they themselves have the confidence to go out into the wider world and do their jobs, form relationships, and generally live their life as being Scottish, not being British, not feeling that it has to be the Union Jack and it has to be this and that, and this myth of England proping Scotland up. Just be themselves, have success, go out and talk to people and spread the word.

Simplyscottish.com: Now, just a few more questions on the music itself, because that's after all why you are here. Sunshine on Leith - my dad would be interested to find out how that title (of the second album and title song on that album) came about?

The Proclaimers: (Craig) What it was was a tune that I had for about six months. I couldn't get the words and then one day, when we were recording 'Letter from America', we were coming back over the Firth of Forth in the plane, and I looked down on the sunshine on Leith...and I got it, and I just knew it.

Simplyscottish.com: Finally, what would be your favorite song that you have ever put on an album? I know that 'I'm Gonna Be' is the popular favorite, but I'm going to ask each of you, what is your favorite song that you've ever put on an album?

The Proclaimers: (Craig) Eh, I'd want to say two or three. I'd say 'Sunshine on Leith' is one of them, 'There's a Touch' the current single, is another one, and probably 'Letter from America'.
(Charlie) I'd have to go for the same three. Over the years, I'd say probably those three were the ones that would most say to me 'that's when The Proclaimers were the best'.

Simplyscottish.com: Well, they are all great songs, a great set of songs, and we hope we can help promote your music as much as we can. Craig and Charlie, thanks very much!

The Proclaimers: (Craig and Charlie) Thanks, thank you very much.