Andrew Douglas: Press

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Expression by Andrew Douglas.

It would be difficult to place Andrew Douglas’s self-produced Expression into any category. Is it Celtic? Bagpiping? New Age? Yes, Andrew, Syracuse-born piper now playing with SFU, plays Highland bagpipes (and practice changer) on a few of his tracks. But the whole CD, consisting solely of Andrew’s compositions and arrangements, as well as his playing on each of the instruments featured on each track, is not easily defined. Many pieces seem born out of the early experimental music of John Cage, or perhaps the more evolved “Composition No. 247” of Anthony Braxton. But Expression is not strictly experimental, nor can it be considered strictly minimalist. It grounds itself within a more familiar musical language to “tweak” the emotions and stands as one musician’s statement using the bagpipe as but one word in an artistic vocabulary.
Not since Matt Welch’s bagpipe playing on the aforementioned Braxton has the Highland pipe been used in multi-layered arrangements to create an overall feel outside the framework of a strictly Celtic idiom. Expressions’s sparsely adorned white package and single-word track titles hints at Andrew’s minimalist leanings, and certainly the track “Minimum,” four minutes of sustained drone, suggests where he’s coming from and how far to [the] edge he’s willing to take us.
From a piper’s perspective, the arrangements and melodic phrases are hypnotic and evoke the rhythms found in familiar piping pieces. Tracks such as “Contrast” and “Threes” contain that typical piping “drive” and reveal Andrew’s piping roots. The pieces spiral through melodic pulses, layering in pipes between guitar and keyboard here, including a distorted practice chanter there, wrapping some voices around all, to carry on his theme. The result is a subtle mix of emotions hauntingly delivered.
Several tracks create a sullen moodiness, while keeping the pipes as their emotional centerpiece. “Space,” “Voices,” and “hope” stand out this way. Each utilize a multilayered mix of sounds and distortions to hit at the listener’s emotional core. The simple melodies on pipe layered between moody polyrhythms using guitar, keyboard, percussion, and voice are all woven together in subtle fashion to inspire an otherworldly, ethereal feeling in “Space,” mystery and intrigue in “Voices,” or a shiny optimistic mood in “Hope.” One would have to listen to the multicultural blends of Afro-Celt Sound System, or Euro-Celitc mixes in the style of Asturian piper and composer Hevia to find similar sentiments.
Some tracks do not even feature bagpipes at all. “Reflection” is a moving keyboard piece with a mellow melodic line that creeps its way into your awareness like a well played piobaireachd.
Through each track, Expression is well crafted and full of risk-taking, and is sure to captivate the adventurous listener.

Andrew Douglas Band

October 12th

Lamplighter, Vancouver


To the average SFU student the word “Pipeband” usually brings forth the stereotypical image of bearded old men in kilts playing traditional Scottish tunes, perhaps in the mist on the steps of the AQ during convocation. For me and many others, those stereotypes were shattered when a completely different kind of pipeband performed at the Lamplighter Pub in Gastown on October 12th.

The Andrew Douglas Band is comprised of two guitars, bass, drum kit and of course, the highland bagpipes played by SFU Pipe Band member and music student, Andrew Douglas. I was quite surprised to see the absence of kilts, tartan, or anything else that could possibly identify the band as Scottish; the band looked like any other run-of-the-mill rock band I’d seen lately. However, looks can be deceiving. Perhaps the best way to describe the band’s sound is post-rock fused with both the classical bagpipe and modern jazz improvisation. I found their overall vibe to be a mix of Sigur Ros, The Mars Volta, and Pink Floyd, all the while presenting a refreshing new take on one of the most overly-stereotyped musical instruments in the world.

More important than any label or genre one could possibly assign, The Andrew Douglas Band is completely unlike any other band (especially those of the hard rock and punk persuasion) that exploits the bagpipes in a gimmicky way. At last, here’s a band that integrates and features the bagpipes as a legitimate musical instrument rather than merely a gimmick of punk non-conformity.

The show began with what to me seemed strikingly similar to an orchestral tune-up between the bagpipes and lead guitarist, Matt Griffin. I soon realized that this wasn’t a tune-up at all, but a musical dialogue between the two musicians and their two instruments. Before I could become too entranced by the haunting and unpredictable sounds of this dynamic piece of music the band launched into its first track featuring the entire ensemble entitled “The Battle of the Strome.” The sound of the band made the hair on my neck stand straight up.

“Our new material is pretty unique in that we actually feature elements of an ancient form of classical bagpipe music called ‘piobaireachd’ to tell a story and the names of our tunes reflect that,” says piper and front man, Andrew Douglas. “Our new album, Cill Chriosd, is actually a concept-rock album that uses the legend behind a very old bagpipe tune as its storyline. In all likelihood, this is probably the first time ever that a bagpipe concept-rock album has been produced.”

Douglas is quite outspoken and passionate when it comes to describing the band’s music. “I’ve heard the bagpipes in so many contexts that really limit how creative you can get. Let’s face it, most people can’t even tell the difference between two different traditional piping tunes. Creating a sound for the band and the bagpipes that inspires people to really enjoy the music rather than the sight of an unusual musical instrument was definitely the starting point for us.”

Guitarist Matt Griffin could easily be described as the strong, silent type, yet while on stage his guitar speaks boldly in a raw and almost untamed manner. To me, his style is reminiscent of an early Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.

“Andrew and I essentially wrote all the material together by just jamming in the studio and figuring out what worked and what didn’t. Andrew did the research on the legend that was to become the concept behind the album and we both worked together to interpret the story and produce the end-product we both wanted.”

The end-product of Andrew and Matt’s time in the studio is an album that will be released on November 2nd at their second Lamplighter show.

“This show tonight was essentially a warm-up for our CD release next month,” says Douglas. “We have a new bassist and we’re still working out some of the rough spots on the tracks.”

If there were any rough spots at their show it was certainly news to me. Every tune they played was just as tight as any band I’ve ever heard and offered far more than just the ordinary rock/background noise to a night out at a show. The sound and the image of the band seemed to capture everyone’s attention in the room as the group played pieces that ranged from slow and minor to upbeat and happy, each one begging to tell the story of an ancient Scottish legend in the language of post-modern rock.