The Procalimers Interview

29th August 2005

Words Cat. All Images Nick Elliott

It’s 18 years since The Proclaimers made their legendary TV debut on The Tube, performing the now classic song Letter From America. Back then, the charts were dominated by the likes of Rick Astley and Sinita and The Proclaimers were unlike anything seen before.  The response to the two impassioned brothers singing their hearts out in their own accents about serious political issues was extraordinary and Channel 4’s switchboards were jammed with curious callers.

Back to the present day, Craig and Charlie Reid tell me what the journey has been like.
CAT:  You originate from Fife, but where are you now living?
Charlie:  We’ve stayed in Edinburgh since we were 18, or something, it was a village that we grew up in so when you didn’t have a driving licence and you didn’t have this you really had to move to a town.

CAT:  Is it true that all the activity really happens around Edinburgh and Glasgow?
Charlie: No, I wouldn’t say that, I would say that a lot of people in Scotland, if they’re in bands of any description go there because, y’know, folk scenes are big both in Edinburgh and Glasgow…rock, there’s more there, y’know, and so I suppose people do gravitate towards it a little bit.  I wouldn’t say it was exclusive but probably within kicking distance of either of the cities I suppose.

CAT:  You were almost like an overnight success but was it a challenge to get your music heard?
Charlie: An overnight success after many years of trying to tell folk what we were doing!  So, I think it was a challenge but the way we approached it was a challenge as well, the fact, y’know, that we started off just as an acoustic duo really and the first record was made that way.  It wasn’t really, I mean, there wasn’t any compromise in what we did.  I suppose in a way you’d m’be say we made it difficult on ourselves but that was the way we wanted to do it.  So we stuck to our guns and, y’know, got some level of success, and this success just grew over a period of about a year to two years.  It became a bigger success than we ever thought it would!

CAT:  The Tube was your big break wasn’t it, which, in those days, was a terrific media channel for you.
Charlie: That’s right and we were only talking about this the other day.  There was really only four channels then, y’know, so on a Friday night, most kids, most teenagers, people in their 20’s were watching that show. So the impact that that had probably could never happen now, except on a really big thing like a Live8 or something like that, cause there’s not as many people who probably sit down and watch one TV show.

CAT:  Yes, the media has completely fragmented since then, has that made it difficult for you?
Charlie: I don’t know whether it’s not an advantage to someone like us because I think, if you have to be in the media all the time, if you’re...y’know, I dunno…Charlotte Church or someone like that, if you’re in the media all the time, then m’be you want to be on specific shows.  With us, we’ve got a following and are not, y’know, expected to have massive record sales.  There are things that you can get on that m’be are not huge shows but you still get a little bit, whereas in years gone by if y’didn’t get on one, that was it, there was nothing else.

CAT:  So now it’s less ‘mainstream’ for you?
Charlie: Well we didn’t see ourselves as a mainstream band, I don’t think that the record company did either. The fact that we had some mainstream success doesn’t dilute the fact that we have never been a mainstream band and never could be, so I think it kinda made a skewed picture of what we were at the time cause we had a few hit records.

CAT:  It’s a strange world the music industry isn’t it?
Charlie:  Yeah, I think for us, we didn’t aim to have hit records we aimed to do what we wanted and we were lucky enough that we had a couple of hits, that was a different thing.

CAT:  That’s so refreshing. Many acts coming through now are only thinking about what’s going to sell and how they’re going to become famous, the ‘Pop Idol’ phenomenon.
Charlie:  I don’t mind people wanting to be successful, my only problem has always been with it: well are you going to do something that’s a derivative or are you going to do something that’s original and if you do something that’s original and you become a huge hit or something then good luck to you, you’ve got the talent, that’s no problem.  It’s the ones, the ‘wannabes’, who kinda chase on someone else’s coat-tail that don’t really get it. I mean, to me, if you’re not phenomenally talented, most people aren’t, then surely you’ll stand out more if you were a bit more individualistic? Some people, I think, are scared of it.

Continued