Interview with Culann: ‘It’s a collaborative effort, it builds and builds when you get together’

Irvine, Scotland-based prog rock band Culann, who have created the perfect fusion of a traditional Scottish sound with a contemporary lyrical approach, are working on a new EP, which they are hoping to record later this year.

Culann, which was formed thirteen years ago, comprises PJ Kelly (vocals/guitar) his brother, Sean Kelly (drums), Ross McCluskie (keyboards), Greg Irish (guitar) and Calum Davis (bass). They all went to the same secondary school, other than Greg Irish, who they met through skateboarding. They were previously called Wake The Neighbours, which Sean laughingly called ‘a really bad name’: ‘We were looking for a change of direction,’ he said. ‘We were embracing our roots – Irish and Scottish – and Culann is a character in Ulster mythology (he’s an Irish demigod whose fierce dog would guard his door). We wanted a name we would love that would also personify the band.’

They have a number of songs in the works for the upcoming EP: ‘I’ve written more songs during the last year than ever,’ PJ said. I’ve written four songs along with Ross and Sean is working on a couple at the moment. They’re all quite different from each other but they all sound like Culann songs. The most recent song is a story or fable of a shipwreck in Ayrshire. It’s probably a myth, no-one knows any more, but the captain of the ship heard voices and thought a mermaid was luring him onto the rocks. The working title is ‘Rovers’ Doom’ because the ship was called ‘The Rover’.

They brought out their second album, The Great Ecumene, in 2019, a stunning 10 track release offering us their take on love, homelessness and harmony in the world. The title references inhabited land and is used by the brothers to mean a world in balance and harmony and was taken from the book Invoking Ireland by John Moriarty. ‘A lot of these songs take a while to write, so you don’t really know at the start what the album will sound like,’ PJ said. ‘Some of the songs on it are three-to-four years old, we don’t tend to write very quickly!’

‘The song’s looking at ways of perceiving the world’

One of my favourite tracks on the album is ‘Man Alive’, which runs over seven minutes but which feels much shorter. It’s a proper anthem, complete with PJ’s powerful vocals, a seriously funky bass line, melodic change-ups, complex guitar parts and some impressively energetic drumming from Sean that holds the whole song together. ‘The song’s looking at ways of perceiving the world,’ Sean explained. ‘When I wrote it, I was working at a grimy welding place, working alongside this happy little guy. Most people there weren’t happy but he was a little buzz bomb! The song is about those differences and being happy to be alive.’ As the song goes: ‘Come gather ’round, meet the gladdest man alive. You see him everyday. He lives while we survive.’

The two brothers are the main songwriters in the group: ‘Me and PJ write a lot of the songs, whatever comes first, it’s random,’ Sean laughed. ‘These wee things just come to you, a wee riff or a wee line of a song but everyone contributes.’ PJ jumps in: ‘I’ll come up with some lines or a guitar line. Ross is great to write with, both structurally and lyrically. It’s a real collaborative effort; it builds and builds when you get together. Sometimes a song might go a different way when you’re jamming it out.’

The closing track on the album, ‘Queen Street’, is a poignant ballad about homelessness in Glasgow, and is about as different to ‘Man Alive’ as it is possible to be. It’s a far more sombre and pared back song, with the acoustic guitar and Sean’s vocals taking centre stage. The despair and hopelessness – the song references that everyone is, ultimately, a step away from being homeless – cuts through Sean’s voice: ‘I never needed a human being more. Sat down in the street, with a cup down by my feet. Oh, but nobody seen me and the traffic around me roared. And if I needed something, and I could reach out to you and I’d ask. I would beg of you one thing. Don’t make me beg for it.’

‘There’s this subculture of people falling through the cracks’

‘Queen Street’ is a busy shopping street in Glasgow,’ Sean said. ‘I was talking to a (homeless) guy from Istanbul and he was saying that he came to Glasgow because someone promised him work. There’s this subculture of people falling through the cracks, we have a lot of rough sleeping in Glasgow. The second verse looks at different classes of homeless people, collecting scrap metal and plastic, stuff to sell.’

Another massive track on the album is ‘Event Without Experience’, with a pounding bassline and drums, serious riffs and keyboards underpinning the entire song. ‘It’s about isolation, basically,’ Sean said. ‘That feeling that no-one else feels like you, you can despair about it or think there’s something unique about you.’ PJ says it’s his favourite track to play live: ‘We’ve got a friend, Gavin, who plays the flute solo at the end, he played it at the album launch.’

Winners of ‘Best Rock’ at The SAMA’s (Scottish Alternative Music Awards), Culann have been have been building up a loyal fan base throughout the country. The brothers grew up listening to Californian punk music and are also big fans of Scottish bands Biffy Clyro and Lau as well as folk singer, Dick Gaughan. ‘There’s a brilliant folk scene in Scotland,’ PJ said. ‘I’ve always liked rock music but I also love traditional music.’

They have used friends in their videos but also actors. ‘I was an extra in the film, Outlaw King’, PJ laughed. ‘I met the actor, Kal Walker there, he’s in our ‘Brewing of Ale’ video.’

Their gateway into alternative rock music was Californian band The Offspring: ‘It was the best gig I ever went to,’ PJ said. ‘They played their album Ignition in its entirety, we saw them in Shepherd’s Bush (London). Sean picks two very different gigs: ‘ I went to a lovely intimate acoustic gig a couple of years ago, me and the missus seeing Damien Dempsey (an Irish folk singer), it was so powerful, it was phenomenal. I also saw Rage Against The Machine in 2008, it was almost a religious experience, close to a revolution!’

If he could have written any song, Sean goes with ‘Big Ship’ by Cardiacs (1989): ‘It’s the most beautiful song I’ve heard, they have a strange sound. If you listen to it flippantly, it almost has a comedy side to it. It has a rousing chorus, there’s something about it, it’s very emotive.’ PJ goes with ‘Rainy Night in Soho’ by The Pogues (1985). ‘Everyone thinks Shane McGowan is famous for ‘Fairytale of New York’ but there’s so much more to him than that, both melodically and lyrically. He’s a brilliant songwriter.’

(Photo from left to right: Ross, Sean, PJ, Greg and Calum)