interview: Dick Gaughan

Photo © Markus Großmann

http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/main.html

One of Scotland's finest perfomers of Traditional Music, Dick Gaughan has produced some great albums including 'Sail On' and his latest effort 'Lucky for Some'. With Dick due to play in Findhorn next month, HOLV got in touch to find out how he's doing. Read on ...

HOLV: First of all Dick, how’s life at the moment?

DG: Pretty much the same as usual - schlepping around the world with a guitar, mainly!

HOLV: You are due to play the Universal Hall in Findhorn next month. What do you think of this part of the country (Moray)?

DG: Although I've been in Moray many, many times over the decades, it's always been a quick raid in and out and I've never had enough time to spend there as I would like. But in recent years the times I've played at the Universal Hall have been memorable, it's a tremendous venue for a solo performer.

HOLV: Do you notice any difference in the atmosphere between smaller places like Findhorn compared with more popularised areas like Glasgow and Edinburgh?

DG: I go on the principle that I try to play my best for whoever turns up, regardless of size or location. As I said above, I've played in Findhorn many times and it's something I greatly look forward to. The Universal Hall has a great atmosphere and I always feel completely at home there.

HOLV: Your latest album ‘Lucky for Some’ came out last year, and by all means has been received well. In your opinion however, how does it stand up compared to your previous work?

DG: That's not something I ever think about, really. Looking back at past work can be the kiss of death for a musician. I'm much more interested in what I'll be doing tomorrow than in what I did yesterday. Once an album has been released I completely lose
interest in it and rarely, if ever, listen to it again.

HOLV: The relationship between music and the internet is a contentious issue amongst some artists, whilst others remain positive about the internet’s possibilities. Do you have an opinion on this issue?

DG: I'm an old nethead - first got online in 1991 and have been building websites (my other job) since 1994. It's main benefit in my opinion is that it provides a direct personal communication between an artist and their audience. Like anything, it's open to abuse and in the short term that abuse has created problems but the process of resolving the problems is a source of growth and experimentation so I don't have any worries about the long-term implications. My main current concern is about those people who come to the Internet and begin to use the technologies - especially in building websites - without really making much effort to learn how the Internet actually works and what the pitfalls are. This lack of knowledge and understanding has resulted in a huge number of websites which are unusable by a great many people, particularly people with disabilities. All websites should be usable by all people - that was the founding idea behind the WWW in the first place. Those of us who were using the Internet before there was such a thing as a WWW sometimes tear our hair out at the sheer technical incompetence of a lot of what's being slung online.

HOLV: Traditional Scottish music has survived generation after generation. What do you believe have been the key ingredients in keeping newer generations listening to Scottish music?

DG: I think the development and growth of a collective sense of identity and "Scottishness", and what our history and culture really are. In the quite chaotic modern world, I think a sense of community, a sense of belonging, are more important than ever and our music is a part of that. Not in any "better than everybody else" sense, but in the sense that we have something which is uniquely ours which we can share with the rest of the world.

Interviewed By Greg