How long have you been together?
The band have been together now for just over a year but begun playing acoustic in 2007 when we first considered forming the band
Give us a highlight from your musical career?
There have been many highlights for Bi Beò during 2008 especially with the production of our first album which we funded ourselves. Playing at Barra Live was an incredible experience and one which still lives in our memory. It was such a great venue, fantastic organisation, bands and crowd and all in a couple of days. Being the first Gaelic band to play in Iceland was quite a treat and to be live on Icelandic national radio was something special as it showed us that Gaelic is a language and our music was capable of reaching new cultures. The band’s music was also featured on the first ever green travel guides TV Channel and has already been played by more than 200,000 people who clicked into the video about the Uists. This has again enabled the Gaelic music of Bi Beò to reach new audiences.
What's next for Bi Beò?
Bi Beò are now in the process of putting together their second complete Gaelic album and taking Gaelic song into new genres like Reggae and Rap and making it more appealing to a wider audience. The new album will contain 12 newly written songs and is completely different to our first recording. We are also getting more gigs around the country and a highlight for the year will be tattoo Hebrides and a gig in Swansea with other Welsh speaking bands in September.
How important is the Gaelic language and culture to the band and the music you produce?
The Gaelic language is what Bi Beò has made its name on and having self penned original music makes it unique to Bi Beò. Without the Gaelic songs we feel we would not have got the recognition worldwide for what we have done and the importance of the Gaelic culture in our backgrounds has enabled us to express emotions and sentiment of that culture in our song writing.
Our music and songs bear a reflection on the experiences gained from living in a unique culture and from feedback from fans across the world they like the fact that they can associate themselves with the place and its people through our music. While we have not had the support locally for what we have been trying to do by developing new songs in Gaelic, we have had a great support from other countries and cultures and this has encouraged us to continue developing our sound. For Bi Beò any music that encourages new audiences to listen to the Gaelic language whether it be traditional, new or other should be supported as it aids in the preserving of the language and cultural identity around the world and stimulates new , young writers to record and pen Gaelic songs.
What's the best thing about Spring?
Spring is a time for new beginnings and for Bi Beò the start of a busy schedule of recording and playing. It brings new hope for the season ahead and with the prospect of lengthening days happy thoughts of fun filled hours playing our music
Who is the band?
James Macletchie- Lead Vocals
Kevin De Las Casas – Lead Guitar/harmonies
Gordon Wells – Keyboards/harmonies
Will Lamb- Drums
Nick Ingledew-Harmonicas/harmonies
Chuck MacQuillan- Bass Guitar/12 string electric
Who is the funniest?
Each member of Bi Beò has a good sense of humour although some of the jokes are pretty poor. It is important to be light hearted when performing together and not take yourself too seriously. As a band we have a good laugh together and in every performance there are moments where it does not go to plan.
Who gets the most attention from the ladies?
There is always a debate in the band about this although we did have one or two of the single band members go missing on a few occasions after some gigs and ending up at parties till the next day.
These exploits have now been penned into a song
“Gu ma tric, theid aon air chall
Le gruagach òg, a bhios ann
A thug dha suil, sa thug e far a shlighe
A feathamh sa mhaduinn, beò an dùil
Gun nochd e trath le gaire na chridhe
Gun sgiall air a bhanna charaid òg”
What is the strangest thing tohappen to the band?
On our trip to Iceland we left via Lochmaddy and on reaching Skye realised we had a puncture in the tyre. We managed to pump up the tyre and reach a garage near Portree where they kindly replaced it for us to get us on our way. £20 and two albums later we were back on the road. Reached Glasgow with two hours to spare for our flight only to be told it was cancelled till 2am. With no guitars , no music it was a long night and we eventually reached Iceland at 6am.