ZCTF and Brogue: AG Prize Helping The Earth

For their efforts and making the world a better place to live through their talents, ZCTF and Brogue will share the 2010 AG Prize for Helping The Earth.

Brogue: A Scottish Sensation

http://my.nowpublic.com/culture/brogue-twist-scottish-music

1. How was Brogue formed?
The concept and the music for Brogue was formed in 2005 as a repercussion of the hard times we were going through in Zimbabwe as musicians trying to survive. We knew there was to be no scope for the future of our music there and so we needed to come up with something else. Hence Brogue was born.  

 

2. What was the purpose behing the recording of Popscots?
When the recession hit us in early 2009, we learned that it had a very big impact on most people here in the UK and the mood in general was very gloomy. It certainly altered the way in which we thought, which in turn affected our music and it changed all our plans. As a result we decided to take on Popscots as a sideline project. We hoped that perhaps it could serve as a way to help lift some people out of the doldrums as it is a carefree, happy and light-hearted non-stop dance album.

3. What is the purpose behind “Rhythm Of The Celts”?
The ‘Rhythm Of The Celts’ was Brogue’s first album. It was a labour of love for us and what we were trying to achieve while recording it was to re-arrange traditional celtic music according to our own acquired inspirations and influences. In general the album boasts a cross between African rhythms and Scottish melodies, with sometimes small motifs from other parts of the world also thrown in for good measure. A little bit of this and a little bit of that; our own audio ‘tapestry’ in a sense.

4. How is Brogue able to accumulate material for recordings such as “Rhythm Of The Celts”?
All our material was recorded using real acoustic instruments wherever possible. Most of the instruments were played by David Scobie, I did play some of the instruments too, but he did the majority of the work when it came to the production and laying each track down one by one. All the female backing vocals you hear on the recordings are my voice and all the male parts are David’s voice. So it really was a collaboration between the two of us, co-arranging and building it up piece by piece, layer by layer.

 

5. What has Brogue done with regards to tours and promotions?

One of the things which we have desperately yearned to do has been to get on the road and to go on tour. We were putting some plans into action during 2008 with the hope and intention of touring in 2009. However, when the recession hit it sadly crushed all our plans and we were forced to put our efforts on hold. It is a very costly thing to do these days and without the correct amount of financial backup and support, we cannot safely go on tour. If we won the lottery today, we would be on the road as quickly as a tour could be put together. Perhaps what we really need is a sponsor who believes in us and our music enough to go on such a journey with us, and to give us the support we need, but until our fortune changes, we will be confined to producing more albums in the studio.

6. Will Brogue tour North America in the future?
If we could afford it and if America wanted us there, absolutely yes!! I couldn’t think of a more exciting prospect.

 

7. Where can the general public buy Brogue CD and Souvenirs?
Our music is available from our website www.broguemusic.com