Na Gathan is a

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

Indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from the Isle of

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

History

Na Gathan were formed in 2007 and first came to national attention in Scotland when they appeared in a piece on the Rapal music programme on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

that documented their involvement in organizing the

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of trad ...

unofficial fringe held in Glasgow early in 2008. In the spring of 2008, the band won the Best New Gaelic Song contest held by

BBC Radio nan Gàidheal BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is a Scottish Gaelic language radio station owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. The station was launched in 1985 and broadcasts Gaelic-language programming with the simulcast of BBC Radio Scotland. ...

, with their song "Ruigidh Sinn Màrs", and in the autumn of 2008, the band again appeared on Rapal, this time as the featured band, performing four songs in front of a studio audience. In 2009, the band's second single, "Claigeann Damien Hirst," was shortlisted in the Nòs-ùr competition for a new song in a Celtic language or Scots. The song was inspired by the short story, ''An Claigeann aig Damien Hirst'', written by Maoilios Caimbeul and published by

CLÀR CLÀR is a Scottish Gaelic publisher. Established in 1996, the company is run on a voluntary, independent basis and based in Inverness, Scotland. It was the publisher for the Ùr-sgeul project, specialising in new Gaelic fiction. Publishing pol ...

as part of the

Ùr-sgeul Ùr-sgeul was an independent publisher of new Scottish Gaelic prose. The name Ùr-sgeul is a Gaelic word which translates variously as: a romance, a novel or a recent tale. Professor Alan Riach, in ''Scottish Literature: An introduction'', summ ...

new Gaelic fiction series. The story was in turn a response to the work of art by

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

, '' For the Love of God''.

Membership

The band was formed by Kathryn NicAoidh (drums), Tomaidh MacAilpein (bass), Greg MacThòmais (guitar) and Tim Armstrong (voice and keyboard). This Tim Armstrong is a different person from the

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid (band), Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup T ...

from the punk band, Rancid.Gaelic punk by way of Seattle; Skye band Na Gathan set for boundary-breaking gig. ''The Highland News'' (13-12-08) This Tim Armstrong founded the Gaelic punk band, Mill a h-Uile Rud. In 2008, Roddy Neithercut joined the band on keyboards. Neithercut is also the lead singer in the Scottish thrash band, Atomgevitter. In 2009, MacAilpein left the band, and Greg took over on bass while Sìleas Landgraf joined the band on guitar. All the members are fluent Gaelic speakers. Kathryn is from Skye, Greg from Glasgow, Sìleas from

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany and Tim from Seattle. Roddy Neithercut left in 2011 to become a teacher of Gaelic.

Discography

*2008 "Ruigidh Sinn Màrs agus Trì Sgeulachdan (Ùr-sgeul) *2009 "Claigeann Damien Hirst" (Ùr-sgeul) *2009 "Ga Bruidhinn Làn-Ùine" (Problem? Records) *2010 "Fali Ro Fali Re" (Problem? Records)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Na Gathan's Myspace pageNa Gathan on Rapal, BBC Alba
Music of Scotland Isle of Skye Scottish Gaelic bands British garage punk groups Scottish indie rock groups Scottish garage rock groups