INTERVIEW W/ Brògeal: "Without stories being handed down they simply wouldn’t exist!"

Falkirk quintet Brògeal have become the modern day troubadours of Celtic Folk music, instilling the community spirit of small Scottish and Irish towns in cities across the UK and bringing the cross-generational music traditions to a whole new modern audience. Their debut album 'Tuesday Paper Club' is filled with uplifting, singalong tracks that blend their Celtic origins with the jangly tones of northern 00s Indie and the gritty punch of modern Post-Punk. It's hard hitting yet sunny, casting a warm glow over the trials and tribulations of every day life in small town living.

Ahead of their UK tour this November we caught up with them to chat through how they're bringing these traditional sounds to a modern live audience.

Photo Credit: Sam McGill

Q. Do you feel the appeal of Irish and Scottish Folk music is down to the community shared aspect of it?

A. “Absolutely, without these stories and tunes being handed down and reinvented and rediscovered then they simply wouldn’t exist anymore”.

Q. Talking of community, you started your own music night in Falkirk - was this another attempt to keep local community connection alive?

A. “It was. We had a good scene of people on the go for a while. We wanted a space where we could play and we could get all our pals in for a good night of craic”.

Q. What did you learn about live music being on the side of the promoter rather than the artist?

A. “Promoters are mostly robbing bastards”.

Q. Given Celtic folk music is built off performance and songs being shared - was it hard to distill music built on community performance into a recorded album?

A. “It certainly could’ve been, however we insisted on recording the album live in the studio, so all our performances are completely natural. Richie the producer fully understood the brief”.

Q. Which tracks from the album are you most looking forward to playing on tour?

A. “We’re definitely looking forward to playing some of the more chilled out tunes of the record on tour, we think they create nice moments”.

Q. What have you learned from support slots with the likes of The Mary Wallopers?

A. “The Wallopers took us on our 1st tour and definitely helped us break into this mental lifestyle. They’re really helpful and sound guys. We wouldn’t have been prepared to do this on our own had we not went on those couple tour with them”.