Megan Warburton = MW

Mairi Rankin = MR

Dave Carmichael = DC

MR: My name’s Mairi Rankin, I like long walks on the beach, I am the fiddler and dancer in the band.

DC: And I’m Dave Carmichael, I am the singer and one of the guitar players.

MW: All right, I know that Cuillin’s been through a lot of changes here recently…

MR: Just a little…

MW: Would you care to comment?

DC: Well, I’d say the core of the group stayed the same, there’s four members that have stayed the same since the beginning, right?

MR: Yep.

DC: Which would be Mairi Rankin, Matt MacIsaac on the ‘pipes, David Hoare on the bass, and Stefan Morin on drums, so basically all that’s changed, really, is the guitar player which has changed three times, and the singer, which has changed twice. And so I think basically the nucleus is still there.

MR: I think with any band put together that quick, you know, it’s just…

DC: You know the story of how the band got together?

MW: Vaguely…

DC: It all happened in…

MR: Two months, basically.

DC: An album was recorded; the band met each other for the first time, recorded an album, and did a tour for thirteen weeks of the States.

MR: Yeah, and so there’s bound to be people with different opinions and stuff, so the ones who left had their own things to do, and then we just kind of kept going through people and it seems to work now…it BETTER work!

DC: Oh, it still works, but I mean, we’re all just a bunch of musicians and it’s hard to sort of make a living year-round…

MR: Yeah…

DC: So we all have our own side projects, as well, at home…mostly Cuillin tours in the States.

MR: Yeah, we never play in Canada.

DC: Yeah, we’ve all got our own side projects at home, that we pursue, and Cuillin is like a meeting of the minds.

MW: So, you feel that this comes together, this works for you?

DC: Yeah, well, for me it’s interesting, because I come from a different part of Canada than the rest of them, I come from Quebec, so, I’ve been in Nova Scotia for about ten years or something, and I’ve always been a fan of Celtic music, and these guys are teaching me how to play it. Slowly but surely, I’m getting there. And Mairi, well, she’s a professional, seasoned professional, a very sought-after fiddler.

MR: It’s just a little bit of work, here and there…

MW: All right, so what would you say are your musical influences, what inspires you?

MR: Wow, that’s totally changing for me, right now, like, growing up in Mabou, you’re basically listening to fiddle music all the time, so you’d have Buddy MacMaster and Natalie and Ashley, and like, my neighbor, basically, was a big inspiration to me; he played fiddle, and now, like, I’ve started listening to totally different types of music and that’s great, too. I just hope that I just keep an open head about all sorts of music right now.

DC: I come from a different background, where I’m well, as you saw earlier I was wearing the Texas shirt, I like the singer-songwriter type, that kind of style of music, but again, I’m open to all kinds of music, so it’s interesting to be in a band like this, where there’s definitely a Celtic focus. But I mean, we all come from different backgrounds, so we try to respect everyone’s sort of musical background and put it all together. I don’t know if you’d call it Celtic Rock…

MR: I hate that term, I really hate that term.

DC: Yeah, so Cuillin’s not really Celtic Rock, we’re Celtic…ah…world, or something.

MR: Celtic potpourri! (laughs)

DC: Celtic potpourri! Yeah, actually, we’re starting to smell better, too…

MR: Oh, you’re not! We haven’t taken a shower today…

DC: Well, we end up having to play like, at night, and then drive to get here from this afternoon show, so…it gets a little stinky, sometimes, traveling around, eating chicken fingers every day.

MR: It’s not like a Celtic Rock focus; I hate that term more than anything, it’s a combination of all sorts of music that we’ve basically been listening to, and we’re still – we have some kind of idea where we want to go, but there’s still so much we have to do, and it’s just a matter of time, getting the time to rehearse…

DC: At this stage we’re interested in roots music, and Celtic music is the origin of a lot of music, so you get into the Celtic and you open a lot of doors for yourself, because it’s roots music, the sort of music that has been passed down by people forever, so it’s, I think, big, possibilities are endless in this kind of thing, and we try to have fun – I think that comes across in our music, as well.

MW: Would you say that there was any single event that made you want to decide that you wanted to do this for a living, to run around and be in a band?

MR: It’s called RENT!

DC: No, it’s called, what else am I gonna do?

MR: It’s called not getting a real job. I just can’t see myself doing anything but music, I think…no, I shouldn’t say that, I could do arts, like artsy-fartsy stuff…

DC: Yeah, I’m a bit of a farty, myself.

MR: But it’s like, this is what I’m good at, so why should I have to go to university and get a degree and…

DC: See, I did go to university, I’m the oldest one in the group…I don’t look it, maybe…

MR: Don’t act it, anyway…

DC: So, I have a theatre degree, and I do a lot of acting, as well, at home, y’know, I actually make more money doing that than I do playing music, so, but one of my biggest passions in songwriting. I’ve been doing that for a solo career, a little bit with Cuillin, hopefully we’ll write more together, get a record out, and I’ve been writing for other people, too…

MR: I don’t know, it’s just in me.

DC: It wasn’t a single thing for me, either, it’s just something I’m doing.

MR: It’s years of doing it…

DC: Yeah, hopefully get better at it, get some recognition, get paid…

MW: Payment is good.

DC: (laughs) But, y’know, it’s just great to be on the road, meeting people like yourself, y’know, and then, while we tour we see you again, we’ll probably run into you again, which happens in every little sort of corner we end up in; we start having little pockets of fans that become friends – it’s really a nice way to live, meet people, travel…

MR: We’re lucky.

MW: How does that feel, to have adoring fans?

DC: I’m not sure…

MR: I signed a guy’s chest last night!

DC: How did it feel?

MR: It didn’t feel good…it’s nice, I guess.

DC: It’s nice…I often find it hard to respond, like, if somebody’s gushing or something…

MR: You’re just like, ‘aw, no, not real…’

DC: It’s like, ‘thanks!’

MR: Yeah, what d’you say?

DC: It is nice, I suppose, but that’s not really…

MR: We don’t go home and dwell on it.

DC: There’s not like, huge egos in this band, hopefully, either, and nobody…

MR: (laughs)

DC: Some of us like ourselves, maybe, but…

MR: No, there’s not egos, I think they’d be shot down pretty quick in this band.

DC: Yeah, it’s not really about it, it’s more about just having a good time, having fun at our shows.

MR: Just seeing people who enjoy the music, I mean, god, just like, people here today, college kids, clapping their hands to the music, that’s amazing, like, the ‘too cool’ kids. They’re enjoying it.

DC: Coming from where we do, where Celtic music is so prevalent, it’s neat to come down to the States, like, we had, signing some autographs here today, people that had never even heard of the word Celtic, let alone the music, and the were like, blown away, thanks for letting us hear that, that music, so…

MR: Stuff like that makes it really worth it.

DC: Yeah, I think so too.

MW: You guys don’t do exactly traditional pieces, I mean, you’ve incorporated the traditional Celtic music into it, but…do you ever get flak from the traditionalists? I mean, I know some of the groups aren’t too supportive of the more progressive stuff…

DC: I think we probably have, but again, I don’t come from a Celtic background, so I’m not, in their eyes, probably, not really fit to be in this unit, but they would hear more than I would.

MR: Yeah, it’s tough, it’s a tough thing. I mean, what I have to do when I go home, I judge my audience and play what they’ll enjoy, really, but you’re gonna get that no matter what you do, y’know, somebody giving you flak. Celtic music – I enjoy what I’m playing now, and I enjoy traditional stuff just as much or even more; sometimes, during the show, like, Pat and myself will just do a guitar and fiddle number or whatever, and that’s as stripped-down, as bare as it gets, and I like that as much as the rocked-up stuff. I don’t know, to each his own…

DC: We’re not really going out to really break down any barriers, either, we’re just playing music that we hear and that we like to play, y’know, it’s not, we’re not going out to try to sort of ruffle any feathers or anything like that. We just play music, and we like the tradition, but we’re…

MR: It’s just a little bit more, just souped-up.

DC: Yeah, and you look at acts like Natalie MacMaster, that’s from home…

MR: She’s got it souped-up.

DC: It’s all Mary Jane Lamond, y’know, you’ve gotta sort of move or else you’re just sort of spinning wheels in one place for too long. I don’t know, that’s how I see it, I mean, traditionalists would probably kill me for saying that…

MR: Kill that Carmichael!

DC: What’s he talking about, he doesn’t even know…

MR: I mean, it’s just a matter of opinion, and if that’s what you like that’s great, but don’t criticize us for…keep an open mind. Y’know, I’ll go home and play a four-hour gig with just piano and guitar, no problem, that’s what I do mostly, at home, so it’s just looking at it, getting more experience, playing with different musicians and really doing better for myself, being a better musician, I guess.

MW: So, what do you see as the future of Cuillin?

DC: That’s hard to say, it’s like we said, y’know, it’s something now that’s become just a part of what we each do, it’s not our be-all and end-all sort of thing, so it’s hard to say.

MR: Well, with the music business itself it’s hard to say.

DC: Yeah, it’s a hard way to go.

MR: It could be gone the next day, y’know, so…I want to work on my own stuff, too, and I want to work with Cuillin, and play with as many bands as I can…

DC: We approach it sort of that way, we get together when we can, and…

MR: Work around everyone’s schedules…

DC: I think there’s talk already or another, a second album…

MR: Really?

DC: Yeah, somebody, I think Wayne mentioned it the other day, so, that’s sort of on the back burner, and we haven’t really talked about it because we’ve been off for months, and so we’re just sort of polishing up our show as it is now. And then once we get that, it’ll be another couple shows yet, and then we’ll start thinking about adding material again, so we’ll see. I mean, you can’t really say…

MR: There’s no gameplan, as of now, just having fun.

DC: Hope that answered some of your questions…

MW: Yes, yes, it does…

MR: Where do babies come from, Dave?

DC: I could show you how…is that thing off?

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