A Chat with DLU (05.08.24)
Pushing the boundaries of indie music with modern-day edginess and traditional Gaelic flair, Scottish group DLU is a trailblazer in their field. Appealing to Gaelic communities and those who have not heard Scottish traditional music before, DLU brings the core of Scotland to international listeners. We speak with the band about their new album Close to, diversity, comfort food and much more.
OSR: Having a look at each member’s background, DLU is quite an eclectic group. The fusion of different styles and sounds does contribute to the band’s uniqueness, but have you ever had challenges blending the various styles? Was it simple to draw everything together or were there collisions in opinions and direction? If so, how did you overcome it?
DLU: I don’t think we have ever had a problem blending the styles, it just sort of happens! Four of us have been playing music together since we were in school so I think that’s probably why it just seems natural now, and when Seòras joined he managed to slot in quite seamlessly as he is such a diverse musician himself. I’d say these days we have more discussion over musical taste rather than problems fusing different styles. Usually, if there’s a musical conflict we will run with a couple of ideas and see how they develop or which one we can make work best. Usually, by that point, it becomes quite obvious what direction is working best!
OSR: You just released your album Close to, which steers toward a slightly darker dance-inspired sound compared to your album Moch. Why the evolution? What influenced the change?
DLU: We always had our audience in mind when writing Close to. We wanted to take some of the features from our first album that resonated most with live audiences and develop them for the second one, so we focused on keeping the tracks quite dance music-inspired in terms of structure and tempo so we can really get audiences bouncing!
This was also a direction that our producer Pete Fletcher was very keen on pursuing after the first album. A lot of the music in Moch is very dark, and that’s just the mood we’ve always gravitated towards in terms of composition and arrangement, so there were ideas there that we liked but just needed to be refined this time round. There are a couple of lighter, dancier tracks on Close to which we really love, and they just lift the mood a bit too!
OSR: Close to is a blend of dark pop, funk, indie and traditional Gaelic tunes; how do you gather a distinctive DLU style from so many different sounds? What makes your group a trailblazer in the Gaelic music scene?
DLU: Looking back at the first album, the sound is a lot more experimental, and sometimes the fusion of styles across a track doesn’t sound as cohesive as we would like. There were a lot of good ideas, they just needed refining. In Close to, we set out to bring this cohesion and had a (sort of) plan as to how we were going to achieve it, and we couldn’t be happier with the result! As I mentioned before, we drew on the structure of dance music and developing one theme throughout a track, so you will essentially have one element that brings everything together in some way. That element could be the melody, harmony, or rhythmic features, but there’s always something more constant and other elements can change around it, instead of multiple changes to everything all packed into one track, so the tracks sound more finished or polished in comparison to our older stuff. Another massive factor in this was having Pete’s direction in the producer role, and Duncan Lyall’s synths really brought the dance music element to the fore.
OSR: Considering the diversity of your music, what is the production process like? The pros and cons and how you deal with them.
DLU: I think the production process can throw up challenges no matter what sort of music you’re recording. At the end of the day, it’s a collaboration between a lot of people, so there’s bound to be some occasional disagreements! I think it’s about being sensitive to everyone’s point of view and working through things together to reach a resolution. We are pretty lucky in that we all had a shared vision for this record, so we didn’t have to deal with too much conflict, but sometimes the best ideas arise out of conflict so it’s important not to just avoid it! The last thing you want is for people not to be able to put forward their musical ideas freely because then you inevitably miss out on some great ideas!
We learned a lot from making our first album, so we were a lot more prepared for the studio this time. Seòras was able to record all our guide tracks before we even set foot in Black Bay Studio so we had a great head start on tracking and therefore more time to spend on nailing the arrangements and sounds that we wanted from each instrument.
OSR: What do you hope people take from Close to and what does it mean to you?
DLU: We hope this album brings the energy you get from being out dancing to your favourite music with your favourite people. It is an album that reflects our stage in life – the feeling of being really close to your friends, they’re some of the most important people in your life – in many ways, they are your family.
Through writing the album we have become closer as a group of friends, especially to Seòras who came into an already tight-knit group (which isn’t easy) and has slotted right in. We have been through highs and lows as a band and as a group of friends, and we have been there for each other through these times. We are not only closer emotionally but also musically, we play tighter together on stage and are having a great time making and performing music together.
The songs were also something that audiences wanted more of, with ‘Bràighe Loch Iall’ being the most popular track from our first album, so we have two more songs on Close to and we spent a lot more time on getting the arrangements just the way we wanted. They are also what keep us more obviously connected to our Gàidhlig roots (everyone in the band is a Gàidhlig speaker) and to our Gàidhlig audience. It was important to us to write songs that appeal to young Gaels, people who are finding what it means to be a young Gàidhlig speaker in today’s world and what place they and the language have in it. These people, like us, may or may not have family connections to the language, they may have come through Gaelic medium education, they may or may not have a Gaelic Granny. They grew up listening to Gaelic songs sung by Julie Fowlis, Rachel Walker and Mànran, and to how artists like Martyn Bennett and later Niteworks have used this music to create something new. We have now put our own stamp on these songs, and there will definitely be more to follow.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
OSR: What does music mean to you?
DLU: This probably changes constantly, and there are a million ways to answer this question! I guess for right now, and coming off the back of the previous answer, music is most of all a means for connection – to connect with each other in the band, with audiences, but also to connect with your heritage.
OSR: If you had to introduce DLU to a new listener, which song would you recommend? It doesn’t have to be off Close to.
DLU: Depending on their music taste, ‘Close to, Pt.1’ or ‘Spicy Hector’. ‘Close to, Pt.1’ is much brighter and more summery, which is a newer mood for us as we usually gravitate towards something darker sounding. So, if they’re into something along those lines then ‘Spicy Hector’ is a good bet – it has the funky vibes but also the big, dramatic and dark ending which is definitely becoming a hallmark of the dlù sound. Of course, if they’re not into instrumental music then there are a few songs – ‘Mogaisean’ would be a good choice!
OSR: Random quick-fire question – What is your go-to comfort food?
DLU: Paesano Pizza in Glasgow!
OSR: Do you have advice for new musicians?
DLU: Find your people! We are so lucky in dlù to have found in each other a group who can work creatively together and also be such close friends, so if you have that, cling to it! It means that a lot of the creative side of things never feels like working (although it absolutely is!), it can just feel like you’re having a good time with close pals. From the beginning we were able to be honest with each other about what we like and dislike musically, so it means that nobody gets too precious about their own ideas, and we hopefully can sift through the things that aren’t working to find the things that are.
OSR: What can we expect from DLU in the future?
DLU: Most likely some more songs as we experiment with what we can achieve vocally as a band, definitely more dark and dancy tunes and hopefully some collabs!
Many thanks to DLU for speaking with us. Find out more about DLU on their official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
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Chord seo rium gu mor agus dh’ionnsaich mi torr – moran taing.