Red Hot Chillis blow back into town

THE band that takes bagpipes into unlikely areas, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, return to Inverness’s Ironworks this weekend with the energetic bagrock sound that won them top prize in BBC talent show When Will I Be Famous.

Formed by BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Stuart Cassells and some of his fellow students at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the Chillis blend of expert piping, rock covers and showmanship, including their own team of Highland dancers, has made them a live favourite across the world.

For the uninitiated, how would you define "Bagrock"?

Bagrock is a unique genre of music created by the band and it is a fusion of rock music and bagpipes. What we try and do is take well known rock classics and convert these onto bagpipes, but at the same time take traditional bagpipe tunes and add a rock element to them

You are known for your rock covers, but have there been any songs you have attempted to cover that just don’t translate to the bagpipes?

Over the years we have tried literally hundreds of rock tracks on the bagpipes and it becomes pretty clear very quickly whether something works or not.

The biggest problem with the bagpipes is the limitation on the number of notes and the fact that we only play in one octave, which means we are really limited on what we can do. We are constantly trying to stretch the limit of the bagpipes or the arrangements of the tunes to allow us to develop tunes that probably wouldn’t fit on the bagpipes in the past.

It must have been a blow when Stuart Cassells left after being diagnosed with the condition focal hand dystonia, or writer’s cramp, which affected his playing. Does he still keep an eye on the band’s activities?

Stuart leaving the band was a blow, but we have known for a number of years about his condition and whilst he was in the band performing we were all aware that there was almost certainly going to come a time where we need to bring in one or two replacements and have tried to make this as easy as possible.

Stuart is still kicking around the band and still has an active role in the management of the band.

What you are doing with bagpipe music must be inspiring young musicians — and not just in Scotland. Do you hear much from youngsters who have taken up the pipes because of the Chillis?

We are constantly being e-mailed into our website or facebook page from parents across the world telling us about how their child has been inspired to take up bagpipes because of what we do.

The fact that the instrument is played globally makes it even more satisfying that our music is being played by kids around the world and we are inspiring the next generation to keep a very traditional instrument alive and growing.

You are a much travelled band — what are the most exciting or unusual destinations your music has taken you to?

We have been very fortunate to travel all over the world and have performed at some unusual locations. For example, we performed in the Tibetan mountains in China for a whisky promotion, in Calcutta for the International Book Fair and at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Some of the most amazing experiences I have had in life have come from being in the Chillies.

• The Red Hot Chilli Pipers appear at The Ironworks, Inverness, this evening, Friday 24th May.