Scotlandish Views
Written by Daniel Nicolas. Posted on August 5th 2008
I recently talked to Kit Maxwell, a young man who recently emigrated from Scotland with his parents. Now living and going to school in Canada, he and I talked about the music scene for a short bit. He wrote a few paragraphs for this article, answering my questions about the music scene in Scotland and North America.
WAKING IDEAS: How do you compare the music of the United States and North America in general to the industry and scene over in Scotland?
KIT MAXWELL: The music in Scotland i must say far exceeds in originality and just better music than Canada and USA.
WI: That’s a little bit self righteous. What do you mean?
KM: It differs alot in Scotland, you see.
WI: You’re an immigrant, right?
KM: Born and raised in Scotland, until recently moving to Canada.
WI: So you’d say it’s a different experience? I mean obviously growing up in one scene and then being uprooted and having to find new music and bands to enjoy, especially in Canada, is going to be difficult.
KM: I play the bagpipes ok, So back in Scotland, if I where to play them outside my house at least thirty people would come to listen to me, they soak up the music and love it.
WI: I experienced that while I was there this past summer, even if people are terrible musicians there’s always a small crowd standing around talking and laughing. The Scottish really take their culture seriously.
KM: You see, the music there is cultivated and grown, from pubs to family backyards every song is given a flavour of the people who sing it. (more…)
