Brògeal: "We really wanted to be as fucking Scottish as we could be. We shove it down folks’ throats – and we’ve always done that"

“A lot of bands will try to dull down their Scottish accents, or write in a way that would be more acceptable in London,” reflects Brògeal’s Daniel Harkins. “We hate all that fucking shit. We really wanted to be as fucking Scottish as we could be. We shove it down folks’ throats – and we’ve always done that.”

Daniel, like the rest of his bandmates, is clearly not in the business of smoothing down the edges of his identity, for anyone. After two-and-a-half years on the road, gigging around the UK, Ireland and beyond, the Falkirk five-piece have carved out a sound that transcends the borders between folk, punk and indie-rock – in a manner that’s as unapologetically playful as it’s liberating. With the help of Irish producer Richie Kennedy, they’ve managed to capture that defiant live energy on Tuesday Paper Club, their long-awaited debut album.

“We recorded it on the Isle of Lewis,” Daniel tells me. “I think it was the most isolated studio in the UK. Once you got to Stornoway, which is the main port of Lewis, it was another 40-minute drive to get there. So we were completely zoned in on the record. There were no outside distractions. There wasn’t even a shop to walk to. That forced us to work hard – and not get distracted by going to the pub…”

The album showcases Brògeal’s ability to move naturally between the raucous and the heartfelt – with the starkly moving ‘Go Home Tae Yer Bed’ a highlight. Penned by band member Aidan Callaghan – who shares vocal and songwriting duties with Daniel – the song was inspired by a profound experience he had as a young teenager, when he felt the presence of his father, who had recently passed away, at the foot of his bed.

The raw emotion was elevated further in the studio, with local folk singer Josie Duncan lending her voice, in Gaelic, to the track.

“The guy who ran the studio, Pete, put us in touch with Josie,” says Aidan. “So that never would have happened hadn’t we been where we were at that time. It all came together in the studio, the way God willed it almost.”

Including Gaelic on their album – just as KNEECAP, CMAT and Fontaines D.C. have done with the Irish language in recent years – reflects a wider movement in music right now, in which pride of place and identity are celebrated, rather than hidden away in hopes of appealing to a broader UK audience.

“We’re kind of following in the footsteps of The Mary Wallopers, KNEECAP and Lankum, in the way that we’re reclaiming the culture, and bringing it forward,” Aidan nods. “And we’ve actually managed to build an audience in all these different places, on our terms, because of that.”

“All the people that are trying to dull it down, and trying to sound like English acts, think that will help them – but I actually think it’s the opposite,” adds Daniel. “People like to see people being themselves.”

“And the English love to be told how fucking horrible they are!” Aidan laughs. “They get a real buzz off it.”

Ending the album with a rendition of ‘The Lonesome Boatman’ was also important to the band.

“Daniel and I met on the Celtic supporters bus, and that tune always gets played at Celtic Park, or on the bus itself,” Aidan explains. “So that’s part of our identity. It’s just a tune that we’ve always known – so we always knew that that was going to end the album.”

As they point out, at a time “when people are being nationalist in horrible ways, it’s nice to be nationalistic in a productive way.”

“That horrible kind of nationalism is bubbling up again – everyone’s going fucking crazy with their Union Jacks and Saltires,” Aidan remarks. “So we want to bring our side of things, in a positive way. For us, it’s all about sharing cultures, and sharing experiences. We want everybody to have a laugh with us – and also be the righteous guys sticking up for the right things, in our own way.”

At the same time, Aidan says, Brògeal are “not trying to be a caricature of a céilí band or a rebel band.”

“It’s important to us to do our own thing,” he resumes. “That’s maybe what’s resonating with people. Putting aside the fact that we’re Scottish, we just write tunes about the stuff that we got up to as regular young laddies. And that’s a shared experience across Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland – growing up, and things being a bit crap. And then, that escape from it. Using those traditional instruments is just what feels natural to us, as the sound of it.”

They feel a strong kinship, in that sense, with The Mary Wallopers, who they previously toured with.

“Getting to know them has been class,” Aidan enthuses. “Their story is not too dissimilar. They were just going about the place, playing tunes, and then it grew arms and legs – and now they’re touring. But they’ve done it on their terms as well. That’s been almost like a blueprint for us. And they’re not particularly woolly-jumpered – they’re just regular guys, like people you’d meet in the pub. That really resonated with us.”

Like the Wallopers, Brògeal have embraced the unique challenge of writing original tracks that can stand up alongside songs that have been in the tradition for generations.

“They’re fairly simple songs, if you strip it all back,” Aidan reckons. “And so are all the old folk songs. It just so happens that they might have been written 200 years ago, but it’s the same thing that’s gone into it – someone just sat down and wrote a song.”

As they look ahead to their run of Ireland dates this month, Aidan and Daniel tell me about some of the other Irish acts on their radar at the moment.

“We’re big fans of Esmeralda Road,” says Daniel. “We’ve been listening to Madra Salach as well – I think they’re amazing, and they’re going to do massive things. They’re supporting us on the Irish dates.”

“And Cliffords and Cardinals, from Cork!” Aidan chimes in. “There’s a lot of different flavours happening over in Ireland, which is amazing to see.”

“Somebody said Cardinals are like a goth Brògeal, which is quite funny,” Daniel grins. “Their tunes are great.”

As always, Brògeal’s upcoming run of Irish dates will see them take a detour off the typical touring circuit, for a performance at The Greyhound Bar in seaside Kilkee, Co. Clare.

“Kilkee is magic,” says Daniel. “I think this will be the fourth time we’ve played there. Leslie McDonogh, who works for MCD, has always been a really big fan of the band, and when we were young, just getting started, she took us out there. She used to work at The Greyhound Bar when she was younger. So we played there, and it was heaving. We just had a really good night – so the next time we were on tour, we went to Kilkee again.”

“And we just keep going back,” adds Aidan. “We love it. We’ve made loads of good friends over there now, just from playing – so we almost have to go.”

“Yeah,” Daniel nods. “We’ll get comments going, ‘When are the boys coming back to Kilkee?!'”

Tuesday Paper Club is out October 17. Brògeal play Róisín Dubh, Galway (October 27); Voodoo, Belfast (29); The Academy, Dublin (30); Kasbah Social Club, Limerick (31); and The Greyhound Bar, Kilkee (November 1).