Scottish Gaelic punk
Encyclopedia
Scottish Gaelic Punk is a subgenre of punk rock
in which bands sing some or all of their music in Scottish Gaelic
. The Gaelic punk scene is, in part, an affirmation of the value of minority languages and cultures. Gaelic punk bands express political views, particularly those related to anarchism
and environmentalism
.
Punk in the Welsh language
, particularly the bands connected with the Anhrefn
record label
, was an early inspiration to the Gaelic punk scene in Scotland
. However, Welsh punk has emerged from the language's heartlands and native speakers, whereas Gaelic punk has mostly been created by new learners and outsiders.
The Scottish rock band Runrig
's first album (Play Gaelic
) in 1978 is considered to be the first notable modern Scottish Gaelic-language music album; other than Ultravox
's 1984 album "Lament", which contained some Gaelic lyrics in the song Man of Two Worlds, and mid-1990s grindcore
band Scatha, from Tomintoul
who featured Gaelic in several of their songs, there were no further albums of modern music all in Gaelic until spring 2005, when Oi Polloi
and Mill a h-Uile Rud
both released all-Gaelic EPs.
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. 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.
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
. The 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. A recent addition to this scene has been Na Gathan
from the Isle of Skye. Their style of keyboard powered Indie Rock has seen them play in various towns in Scotland. In 2008 they won BBC Rapal's competition for new Gaelic songwriting.
The Gaelic punk band Mill a h-Uile Rud were featured in the BBC
arts documentary series Ealtainn, which followed them on a tour of Europe
and filmed them at concerts in the Gaelic-speaking heartland of the Isle of Lewis
. The Scotsman
, a national Scottish paper based in Edinburgh, regularly covers the Gaelic punk scene, and the American publications Maximum Rocknroll
and Punk Planet
have carried features on the subgenre.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
in which bands sing some or all of their music in Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
. The Gaelic punk scene is, in part, an affirmation of the value of minority languages and cultures. Gaelic punk bands express political views, particularly those related to anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
and environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
.
History
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, particularly the bands connected with the Anhrefn
Anhrefn Records
Recordiau Anhrefn was a record label established in 1983 by Rhys Mwyn.Based in the small mid-Wales village of Llanfair Caereinion, before Rhys and his brother Sion Sebon moved to Bangor, North Wales, the record label was initially an outlet for their own band Yr Anhrefn but soon went on to release...
record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, was an early inspiration to the Gaelic punk scene in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. However, Welsh punk has emerged from the language's heartlands and native speakers, whereas Gaelic punk has mostly been created by new learners and outsiders.
The Scottish rock band Runrig
Runrig
Runrig are a Scottish Celtic rock group formed in Skye, in 1973 under the name 'The Run Rig Dance Band'. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The current line-up also includes longtime members Malcolm Jones, Iain Bayne, and more...
's first album (Play Gaelic
Play Gaelic
Play Gaelic is the first album by the Scottish Celtic rock band Runrig. It was released in 1978.-Album Style:The band's sound on the album is half way between traditional ceilidh music and pastoral folk as opposed to the harder rock edge which woud characterise the next album the Highland Connection...
) in 1978 is considered to be the first notable modern Scottish Gaelic-language music album; other than Ultravox
Ultravox
Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....
's 1984 album "Lament", which contained some Gaelic lyrics in the song Man of Two Worlds, and mid-1990s grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
band Scatha, from Tomintoul
Tomintoul
Tomintoul is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland; until 1975 it was located in the county of Banffshire.It is said to be the highest village in the Scottish Highlands, but at is still significantly lower than the highest village in Scotland .The village was laid out on a grid pattern...
who featured Gaelic in several of their songs, there were no further albums of modern music all in Gaelic until spring 2005, when Oi Polloi
Oi Polloi
Oi Polloi are an anarcho-punk band from Scotland that formed around 1981. Starting as an Oi! band, they are generally associated more with the anarcho-punk genre. More recently the band have become notable for their contributions to the Scottish Gaelic punk subgenre...
and Mill a h-Uile Rud
Mill a h-Uile Rud
Mill a h-Uile Rud is a Seattle-based band who sing in Scots Gaelic.-The band:The name translates as 'Destroy Everything' though the band only uses the Gaelic original...
both released all-Gaelic EPs.
Mill a h-Uile Rud
Mill a h-Uile Rud
Mill a h-Uile Rud is a Seattle-based band who sing in Scots Gaelic.-The band:The name translates as 'Destroy Everything' though the band only uses the Gaelic original...
, based in Seattle, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 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. Oi Polloi
Oi Polloi
Oi Polloi are an anarcho-punk band from Scotland that formed around 1981. Starting as an Oi! band, they are generally associated more with the anarcho-punk genre. More recently the band have become notable for their contributions to the Scottish Gaelic punk subgenre...
, from Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
started performing in English in 1981. They released a Gaelic EP, Carson?
Carson?
Carson? is an EP-length vinyl record by the Gaelic punk group Oi Polloi. This release is significant as it is the first album of all-original rock songs in Scottish Gaelic, beating the EP CD, Ceàrr, by Mill a h-Uile Rud, to release by one month. Runrig's first album, Play Gaelic, was also all in...
, 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
Portree
Portree is the largest town on Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the Island, Portree High school. Public transport services are limited to buses....
and Stornoway
Stornoway
Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
, all of their songs and stage banter were in Gaelic.
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, to Anna Rothach (Nad Aislingean and Oi Polloi), who was born and raised in South Uist
South Uist
South Uist is an island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,818. There is a nature reserve and a number of sites of archaeological interest, including the only location in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. The...
. The uniting feature of all of these bands is that most of the Gaelic-speaking members have spent some time at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a Scottish Gaelic medium college located about north of Armadale on the Sleat peninsula of the island of Skye in northwestern Scotland. It is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands and also has a campus on Islay known as Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle.The college was...
, a Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye. In DIY
Do it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
-punk style, the Gaelic punks started out by teaching each other the language at Gaelic for Punks classes; first held at the Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
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. A recent addition to this scene has been Na Gathan
Na Gathan
- History :Na Gathan were formed in 2007 and first came to national attention in Scotland when they appeared in a piece on the Rapal music program on BBC2 that documented their involvement in organizing the Celtic Connections unofficial fringe held in Glasgow early in 2008...
from the Isle of Skye. Their style of keyboard powered Indie Rock has seen them play in various towns in Scotland. In 2008 they won BBC Rapal's competition for new Gaelic songwriting.
The Gaelic punk band Mill a h-Uile Rud were featured in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
arts documentary series Ealtainn, which followed them on a tour of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and filmed them at concerts in the Gaelic-speaking heartland of the Isle of Lewis
Lewis
Lewis is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is ....
. The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, a national Scottish paper based in Edinburgh, regularly covers the Gaelic punk scene, and the American publications Maximum Rocknroll
Maximum RocknRoll
Maximum rocknroll is a widely distributed, monthly not-for-profit fanzine based in San Francisco, USA. It features interviews, columns, and reviews from international contributors...
and Punk Planet
Punk Planet
Punk Planet was a 16,000 print run punk zine, based in Chicago, Illinois, that focused most of its energy on looking at punk subculture rather than punk as simply another genre of music to which teenagers listen. In addition to covering music, Punk Planet also covered visual arts and a wide...
have carried features on the subgenre.
Notable albums
- Carson?Carson?Carson? is an EP-length vinyl record by the Gaelic punk group Oi Polloi. This release is significant as it is the first album of all-original rock songs in Scottish Gaelic, beating the EP CD, Ceàrr, by Mill a h-Uile Rud, to release by one month. Runrig's first album, Play Gaelic, was also all in...
(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.