Culann - Review and Interview by Malc Parry

Ralph's man in Scotland, Malcolm Parry first saw SAMA award winner's Culann live in Edinburgh back in April while they were on a double header tour with Mechanical Smile. Unfortunately not a great turn out which was a shame as he really enjoyed their set's, so much so when the band announced a headline show in Glasgow he had to go and see the mighty Culann again.  So notepad and pen in hand here's the skinny! 

Back in Edinburgh I got an interview with the lad's on the back of their rightly so win of best rock band at this years SAMA awards. Fast forward to Glasgow and I get a catch up interview with lead man P.J. Kelly who's celebrating his birthday, and what a day for him, just being told the gig has sold out.

Malc: Things have been on the up for Culann since we last spoke? 

P.J: Yes, we have been playing live as much as we can. M: More people wanting to catch you guys live? P.J: definitely.

Malc: You just headlined Tiree festival last weekend, was it a great event? 

P.J: We got added to the bill as they wanted a rock band to mix with all styles off Scottish music.  It was a great weekend, we had fun.

Malc: What live plans have you got for the rest of the year? 

P.J: We play FreckFest in our home town of Irvine in August and then we embark on our headline tour taking in another gig in Nice n Sleazy Glasgow with Duke supporting 

Malc: Your playing Edinburgh again? 
P.J: Yes Sneaky Pete's.

Malc: Is this gig the same Promoter as your last tour with Mechanical Smile? 
P.J: No, this is a guy who recently started working for Simon Cowell's Syco label but has a wee company of his own putting on gigs from time to time.

Malc: So tell me a bit more about 'Jerusalem' - how did the idea for the video come about, it's very cinematic? 
P.J: Yeah,Yeah! It's a fast and frantic song so wanted it to reflect the sound. It's directed by Stuart Breadner and stars local Irvine actor Rab Affleck of 'Big Man' with Liam Neeson and Billy Connolly also 'Gangs of New York' fame and it was filmed in Ayrshire.

Malc: How well has your self titled debut album sold ? 
P.J: It did well on i tunes but sold more as a physical copy on C.D, over 200-300 shifted. 


Malc: It definitely is worth buying on C.D for the cover alone, would you be putting it out on vinyl? 
P.J: Would love too but very expensive to get copies printed.

You can still buy their album as a download or from their Facebook Shop for a physical copy.

Malc: So do you plan to release another single? 
P.J: We do then another album is planned.

Malc: So anything else you're excited about, English dates maybe? 
P.J: Excited about the gig tonight, a lot of people we know are coming down. The buzz around us is all positive at the moment, so it's all good. The promoter says we'll see how tonight goes and maybe try and get us down in London.

First support: Shelf:Life

The band take the stage and announce this will be their last gig before they split up and say - “we'll be giving away t-shirts”. The venue is already busy and with them being fellow Irvine boys, a great excuse for the Ayrshire locals to come down and say fair well in true live gig style. The band play giving it all, at times reminding me of Gang of Four and early Bloc Party building up their set to a Rage Against the Machine frenzy. 

At the end they throw t-shirts and even a sweat drenched towel in to the warmed up crowd. A shame it's all over for such a young band with tunes and talent but unfortunately some bands have a Sell by date too.

Next up bringing things down is Pariah Soul.  At first sounding all laid back sleazy bar blues, the three piece are very polished. The lead singer/guitarist with a voice that could shred leather and bluesy licks, a tight rhythm section with drummer on backing vocal duties. Then it goes all A.O.R on our ass and starts to lose the audience. The last song gets a reveler with a 'Last of the Mohicans' hair style dancing along at the front.

But fear not, we are here to see tonight's headline act Culann

They decide to pull 'Dancing Bruce' out for their opening track. The venue being downstairs on a hot July night is already like a cauldron. A great start with people already singing arms in the air. The very Prog Rock 'The Lowlanders Great Haunted', ripped from their excellent debut is up next. I'm thinking these guys are definitely a headline band, commenting to my pal that you could imagine them up on a big stage at T in the Park - big anthemic sounds - watch out Biffy Clyro their coming to get your title. 






Into third track ' Homegrown' the band are feeling the heat by taking off their top's and unfortunately some punters as well who venture out for some air. In between the songs lead man P.J Kelly, very softly spoken but my god when he sings it's an impressive vocal range and loud. A friend comments "what a great voice". 'Beat your Chest' one of my favorite's with it's dirty riff's, massive Deep Purple style melodic keys, shout from the mountain top vocals and meticulous time changes.

The band take time out to get a crowd sing along 'Happy Birthday' to their glorious leader, Kelly smirks and is obviously humbled. The band work through their album and asking the audience what's coming next? 'Jerusalem' is - it sounds loud and menacing but with a melodic charm.

Last song P.J. asks the crowd to be quiet for a second for the start of the song but it's a Friday night in Glasgow, he doesn't get it - 'Friendship and Honour' follows - Kelly turns his mic to the audience - his mates sing lines very badly from the song . The encore 'I Am The Red' which could easily have been a Darkness single collaborating with Yes' Rick Wakeman finishes tonight's hot, hot & sweaty proceedings. My pal who is a man of few words turns to me with a Joker-like grin on his face and said - “I would definitely see them again” - and so would I.  See you in Edinburgh on your next tour lads.

A band who are coming in to their own live with constant touring since the album release and who will be coming to a Scottish town/City soon, if you get the chance- get down people. I went home and cut my shirt off my back.

Culann - Live Review

Continuing on from Ralph's blog on Scottish Alternative Music Award, Best Rock category winners Culann, his man in Scotland Malcolm Parry headed to their East Coast gig in Edinburgh on their recent tour.....

Culann- Electric Circus 19/04/13

I managed to catch up with the double header rock tour circus of SAMA Best Rock winners Culann & Mechanical Smile when they pitched up at Electric Circus in Edinburgh.  I'd arranged an interview with the Irvine lads before they took to the stage and met up with them in their tour bus.  Whilst we all head to the bus lead man PJ Kelly gets a text from a girl wanting to book the lads to play her wedding, being a fan of their music and not wanting a traditional wedding covers band but more an alternative feel.  Now that's a wedding I'd like to go to!

Sitting down with PJ and Guitarist Greg Irish I begin by asking - 

Malc: Since winning the SAMA's what doors have been opened for you? 

PJ: “In 6 months we have gained a bigger buzz around us, with the help from people and bloggers like Ralph @fruitbatwalton and with more traffic coming through Face-book and Twitter, building up a strong fan-base to the SAMA award win.  We started the year with just under 250 followers now reaching the 1000 mark.” 



Malc: How's the album sales going?

PJ: “Really well, we won't get the figures from i-tunes until next month as it's done quarterly but we have been shifting quite a few copies at the gig's.”  

We go on to talk about having a physical copy to hold and enjoying album artwork, which the lads took a lot of thought and time getting it together.  We discuss the emptiness of downloads but also the positive side of instant access to their music.  They've given away music and provided a pay what you think on their band-camp site like Radiohead did before them.

Malc: Back to winning the SAMA?

PJ: “More managers and promoters have come forward wanting to get on the bandwagon.  We started with a headline show at King Tuts for the album launch.  Since then it has snowballed for us and I speak for all the band that we were all genuinely surprised with the award.” 

The van door opens and we are joined by Drummer and brother of PJ, Sean Kelly. 





PJ: “We concentrated and worked hard on putting together an album which we believed should be heard in it's entirety, no fillers!“ Seanadds “Aye, every song was slaved over.” 

PJ: “ After the win, we have been confirmed to play Tiree Music Festival which is on an island and was voted Scotland's best small festival”

Greg “I think now having an album we are being taken more serious since getting together nearly 6 years ago” 






PJ: “We decided to do the album ourselves with John Astley from Close to the Edge in London who's previous work included Abba and Led Zeppelin.”  








PJ: “I approached Dawn from Mechanical Smile with the idea which we believed would be a bigger draw for promoters and us living in a similar area it made sense”

Malc: Plans for the year?

Greg: “My idea was to do a single between albums like Biffy Clyro, keeping things fresh and exciting for the fans” Sean adds enthusiastically - “KEEPING THE FLAME BURNING!” 







I asked if they had any support slots for bigger headline bands, and they say they have a few in the pipeline but can't confirm just now.  They have already bagged slots in previous years with The Datsuns and Band of Skulls and their also waiting on confirmation on a T-Break stage slot at T in The Park.

Next I opt for a Quick fire Q&A

Q: What music has been on in the tour bus? A: Limp Biscuit, Simon & Garfunkel, High on Fire, Primus.

Q: Best gig on this tour so far? A: Glasgow bar bloc, though the Inverness one was good fun

Q:What bands inspired your sound? A: Punk and Folk bands like The Offspring, Pennywise, Bad Religion, bob Dylan.

Q: Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins singing with Genesis ? A: Commenting the cool answer would be Gabriel but all vote Collins.

Q:Yes or Pink Floyd? A: Yes

Q:Other bands I should check out from Irvine? A: Fellow SAMA nominated 'What the blood revealed'

Q:Which countries would you like to play? A: Belgium, Greece , Germany & Scandinavia

Q: Finally as It's Record store day, First and latest C.D's/vinyl purchased? A: Offspring- Americana (Bands and Scene- London ) Vinyl: Yes- Close to the edge, Bruce Springsteen- Born to Run . Greg Confesses “I bought The Darkness Xmas single “ We end the interview on that high note.

Culann Live!

The SAMA Best Rock winners take the stage to a very poor turn out (must be due to bad promotion) though the band seem undeterred as they storm into Opening track 'Jerusalem' from their self titled début album.  Singer PJ Kelly taking a stance like James Hetfield from Metallica, legs apart and head nodding franticly.  I witness a huge urgency and power coming from the stage, stripping the venue's paintwork dry.  



Keyboard player Ross McCluskie flying across the keys like the ghost of Jon Lord.  Lead guitarist Greg Irish in beanie hat churning out riffs, reminding me of Focus.  It's Prog Jim, but not as we know it!  Bassist Callum Davis and Sean Kelly driving the rhythm section.  We get stop start chorus, time signature changes and high vocals.  Next we go all chunky riff-age intro into uplifting key melodies on 'Beat My Chest'.  The verse is all 'shouted from the rooftops' and anthem like.  Imagine Big Country jamming with Thin Lizzy and Yes.

In to track three and PJ Mumbles “Where's all the people gone?” and urges the remaining punters to the front. 'The Lowlands Great Hatred' follows with it's more folk feel and shouty chorus and I can see why they won the Best Rock accolade with PJ screaming into the mic like Dave Grohl's younger brother.  A bit of early Brian May-esque Queen guitar fret work.  The solo is all in your face, the band playing hard like it's their last gig on earth.

We move into Deep Purple territory with 'I Am The Red' and a touch of The Darkness in the high falsetto vocal style and verse melodies.  Just as you feel you know where the songs going the audience are thrown into the eye of the storm, twisting us around in a different direction, total early Prog keyboards work like Rick Wakeman on Monster energy, progressing forward into a frantic finish. Next up the epic 'Brain Canyon' weighing in at just under 9 minutes.  We get a slow start, a classical keyboard piece like Muse before it's all in for another shouted chorus like an army on a hill rushing into battle.  Operatic vocals, pulsating and hypnotic guitar picking, a bit Fish period Marillion overture finish.  A true Celtic epic in the highest order.

They finish with 'Salvation' - a false start, then getting it right for a touch of country folk feel, reminding me of early Springsteen/E-Street band, moving along into full falsetto chorus.  'What a voice this young man has', a comment a lady behind me makes afterwards.  More time signatures and changes take us to a big rock finish bringing it down singing the line - 'My new found world never forgets me' - well your right, we won't!   You just try and stop this reviewer going over to see them again headlining in Glasgow!

Culann

Culann have made no secret of the fact that they want to make 2013 their year and they made a great start by winning the 'Best Rock/Alternative' category of The Scottish Alternative Music Award earlier this month.  Comprised of PJ Kelly - Vocals/Guitar, Sean Kelly - Drums/Vocals, Greg Irish- Guitar, Ross McCluskie- Keys and Calum Davis-Bass, Culann are making rousing folk/rock anthems (sometimes with a hint of prog rock like - 'Beat Your Chest') with almost alarming regularity.








Like their namesake from Irish mythology they forge their music with rousing guitars, swooping keyboards, crashing drums and well crafted lyrics.  





They've brought together elements of some of the great 70's prog rock super-groups like ELP and Yes together with the modern folk stylings of Frightened Rabbit and Admiral Fallow.  They're almost creating their own genre within the current Scottish music scene and you only have to look at their growing fan-base to know they've got the mixture just right.  That's very evident in one of their more powerful and anthemic tracks, the masterful 'Salvation' which builds throughout to a vocal crescendo.










The album 'Culann' is superbly put together and mastered by none other than Jon Astley who has worked with artists as diverse as Abba to The Who and Nora Jones to Led Zeppelin.  It's a debut album and a coming of age in one mighty fell swoop.  Needless to say I'm not going through the whole album...you're going to have to go and find out for yourself, but take my word for it, you'll be buying one of the albums of the year.

After their SAMA win Ralph's roving reporter in Scotland, Malcolm Parry took a chance to ask them a 
few questions.....

Malc: An obvious question to start: So how did you feel when your name was announced as the winners?

Culann: We were genuinely surprised.  We had put a lot of hard work in promoting the event & voting system but it was still very unexpected
.

To have your bands name announced as 'Best Rock' at an event like the Sama's is special, an unforgettable moment for all of us.  We have spent nearly two years on our first album so it feels great to have achieved something like this.

                    

Malc: If you could support one band who would it be?

Culann: This is a tricky question.  All of us have really different influences so It would maybe be 5 different bands!  Being from Ayrshire, I think we would all love an Ayrshire show supporting Biffy Clyro though.

                    

Malc: Do you think the Sama award will help you gain a wider audience & get bigger venue gigs?

Definitely, I think we have already started to get a wider audience & since Friday the feedback has been incredible.  It will help us cast the net further for sure, its a very good platform to build from.

                    

Malc: Briefly, can you tell me any plans for the band that are happening this year?

Culann: We are currently promoting our first album (on Itunes / Bigcartel) and we will be touring Scotland next month, the dates are available on Facebook.  After that we will be playing as many shows as possible over the next few months, and hopefully be appearing at a few festivals over the summer.  Having won the 'Best Rock' prize at the Sama's we really want to capitalise on the achievement and really push on. 

If you think their fans aren't hardcore.....check out these bad boys that @youaremoo did for the guys.....