eagleowl are a Scottish

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

band from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland.

History

eagleowl are Bartholomew Owl (guitar, vocals,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

), Clarissa Cheong (double bass, vocals), Malcolm Benzie (violin, guitar, vocals), Rob St John (

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

, organ, vocals), Owen Williams (drums) and Hannah Shepherd (cello).

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

, in a 2009 interview, described the band as "''the soundtrack to the saddest, most beautiful art-house film you've never seen''." The band's sound has been compared to

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

Galaxie 500 Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums: ''Today'', '' On Fire'' and '' This Is Our Music''. The band was made up of guitarist/vocalist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon K ...

Dirty Three Dirty Three is an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis (violin and bass guitar), Mick Turner (electric and bass guitars) and Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their 1996 album ''Horse Stories'' was voted by ''Ro ...

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

and

The Low Anthem The Low Anthem is a band from Providence, Rhode Island formed in 2006 by friends Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky. The current lineup consists of Knox Miller (vocals, guitars, trumpets, saws), Prystowsky (vocals, drums, double basses, synths), ...

. In an interview with The List, Bart Owl cited

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

, Alasdair Roberts,

Smog Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...

and Edinburgh contemporaries Broken Records and

Withered Hand Dan Willson (born 23 July 1974), also known by his stage name Withered Hand, is an Edinburgh-based indie rock musician. He lived in Bishops Stortford during the 1990s and played guitar for local band Tin Foil Circus. His first studio album, ' ...

as influences on the band.

EPs 2008–2010

Between 2008–10 eagleowl released two EPs and a single to widespread national critical acclaim: ''For the Thoughts You Never Had'' EP (2008: Fife Kills Records); 7 inch single ''Sleep The Winter'' (2009: Kilter); and ''Into the Fold EP'' (2010: Kilter). ''Sleep The Winter'' was featured on the soundtrack to BBC drama

Lip Service Lip service may refer to: Idiom * Lip service, an idiom for insincere talk Film * ''Lip Service'' (1988 film), an American comedy TV film Television * ''Lip Service'' (TV series), a 2010 dramatic series broadcast on BBC Three * ''Lip Serv ...

on 9 November 2010 and ''Into the Fold EP'' has received radio play from

XFM Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

Vic Galloway Michael "Vic" Galloway (born 4 August 1972) is a DJ on BBC Radio Scotland. Galloway presents a self-titled show on Radio Scotland every Monday from 9pm to 11pm and also the BBC Introducing Scotland Thursday evenings/Friday mornings from 11pm to ...

and

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

's Gideon Coe.BBC 6 Music
Retrieved 9 November 2006. In 2009 eagleowl were commissioned by the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

to soundtrack a series of films from th
Scottish Screen National Archive
alongside

Meursault Meursault () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department and region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Etymology The oldest attested form of the toponym Meursault dates from 1094, as ''Murassalt'' and ''Mussalt'', in a charter by the ...

and FOUND. In February 2010, eagleowl recorded a live studio session for

's BBC Radio Scotland show. Eagleowl have played a number of festivals, including

Green Man The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every spring. The Green Man is most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other representation of a face which is ...

, End of the Road,

Fence Records Fence Records is a Scottish independent record label based in Anstruther and Crail, Fife, Scotland, founded by musician King Creosote. Fence Records released records by James Yorkston, Rozi Plain, Lone Pigeon, U.N.P.O.C., Kid Canaveral, eagleow ...

Homegame, an
Haarfest
and th
Edinburgh Popfest
(run by Gordon McIntyre of

Ballboy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes List of dog sports, dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, ba ...

). At the Homegame festival in March 2010, eagleowl recorded a camper van session for BBC Scotland.

This Silent Year (2013)

On 13 May 2013 eagleowl released their debut album 'This Silent Year' through

and toured across the UK with

The Pictish Trail Johnny Lynch (born 28 September 1981) is a Scottish musician who performs under the pseudonym The Pictish Trail. After graduation from the University of St Andrews, Lynch ran Fence Records from 2003 until 2013 and has since been running Lost M ...

, collaborating as his backup band. 'This Silent Year' received a number of positive reviews, with The Skinny calling it "enduring and elegant" and The 405 describing it as a "great record". Eagleowl are now signed to Pictish Trail's label

Lost Map Records Lost Map is a British independent record label set up in 2013 by Johnny Lynch. The label was established following the dissolution of Fence Records Limited in August 2013. History After 10 years of working for and subsequently managing Fence R ...

, based in

Eigg Eigg (; gd, Eige; sco, Eigg) is one of the Small Isles in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the Isle of Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is long from north to south, and east to west. With an a ...

, Scotland.

Collaborations

Malcolm Benzie played in a short-lived band called ''Woodpigeon Divided By Antelope Equals Squirrel'' in

with Mark Hamilton who went on to form

Woodpigeon The common wood pigeon or common woodpigeon (''Columba palumbus''), also known as simply wood pigeon, wood-pigeon or woodpigeon, is a large species in the dove and pigeon family (Columbidae), native to the western Palearctic. It belongs to the g ...

in Calgary, Canada. Eagleowl and

have regularly collaborated since. Bartholomew Owl and Malcolm Benzie played with

on their 2008 tour of UK and Ireland and feature on the EP ''Balladeer / For All The Guys I've Loved Before'' (2010: Boompa). Eagleowl also collaborated with

on their 2010 UK tour, culminating with a main stage set at End of the Road Festival. The creative friendship is celebrated in the

song ''Woodpigeon vs. Eagleowl (Strength in Numbers)''. Bartholomew Owl has appeared as guest vocalist on the

single ''William Henry Miller Pt. 2'' (2009:

Song, by Toad Records Song, by Toad is an independent record label and music blog based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 2008 by Matthew Young, and has released a number of critically acclaimed albums by acts including Meursault, Rob St John and Sparrow and ...

) and on

's album ''Good News'' (2009: SL Records). Malcolm Benzie and Rob St John played on

's album '

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

' (2014:

Fortuna Pop! Fortuna POP! was an English independent record label based in London, started in 1995 by Sean Price. It specialised in indie pop music. Fortuna POP! previously promoted gigs under the banner of The Beat Hotel and then Basement Scam at the Buffal ...

Slumberland Records Slumberland Records is an American independent record label, formed in 1989 in Washington, D.C. and based in Oakland, California. The label has released recordings by Velocity Girl, Honeybunch, Lilys, Stereolab, Evans The Death, St. Christopher ...

). Owen Williams also plays with the Glasgow band

Two Wings Two Wings is a Scottish rock band formed in 2009 in Glasgow, Scotland. The band was created when founder member of Nalle, Hanna Tuulikki, and former Trembling Bells guitarist, Ben Reynolds, began a songwriting collaboration. Their debut album ...

Discography

*"For the Thoughts You Never Had" (Fife Kills, 2008) *"Sleep the Winter" (Kilter, 2009) *"Into the Fold" (Kilter, 2010) *"This Silent Year" (

, 2013)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Site
Scottish folk music groups British indie folk groups Lo-fi music groups Sadcore and slowcore groups