Q&A: Calum Baird

Calum Baird is an emerging Scottish indie-folk singer-songwriter and musician who has been featured on BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, and BBC Radio Scotland. Calum’s music is characterised by its honesty and authenticity, with lyrics that are often introspective and personal. His songs explore social commentary, modern life, relationships, alienation and social change. Calum’s music has been featured on radio stations across the UK and internationally, and he has performed at festivals and events throughout the UK and Europe. In addition to touring and writing his own music, Calum wrote and composed the musical score for the award-winning feature-film Exiles (2021) written by Glasgow poet and writer, Victoria McNulty. 

We caught up with Calum before he sets off to Germany next month, about his latest single ‘Una Semana en La Habana’, his busy summer, and musical inspirations.

Hi Calum! You have an incredibly busy summer lined up, can you tell us about your German shows?

Yes, it is a busy but exciting summer for me this year!  I'll be in Germany from June 19th to July 11th performing shows in Leipzig, Lübeck, Berlin, Feldberg, Trier and Homburg.  I, also, have two slots at this year's Rudolstadt Folk and World Music Festival, an enormous international festival!  I've never played here before and I'm really looking forward to it.  The tour will end with a gig in Berlin on July 9th.  While I'm out there, I'll be recording a couple of songs as well which I hope to release on an EP in October.

Your latest release 'Una Semana en La Habana' reflects on a dream you experience in the Cuban capital, where have you personally found the most inspiration for your sound, lyrics, and imagery?

I find inspiration in a lot of different places.  I pick up on ideas in books, films, other music, comics, magazines, museums, conversations I over here, TV, advertising and so many other places.  My sound is rooted in singer-songwriter music but in recent years I've added to it by including a range of instruments to fill the song out. This has made my sound dip into indie-folk or folk-punk in some ways. The inspirations behind this include artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Sjowgren and Cat Clyde as well as longer term influences including Billy Bragg.

Two cities that I love and that have given me a lot of ideas about the world but also for music are Berlin and Havana.  I've been fortunate enough to visit and perform in Berlin numerous times.  At the end of last year, I released my song, Sundays In Berlin, which is a homage to Berlin in a way but also an artistic reflection on what a city is today and what it represents.

For Una Semana en La Habana, I sort of repeated this process but stripped the song back down to an acoustic, singer-songwriter sound.  Whenever I go to a city or a new place or even somewhere I've been before, I like to walk around; walking is a good way to taste a city.  I try to convey that in this song (as well as in Sunday In Berlin); the sense of someone walking around and getting the read of the city.  I think that a city's beauty conceals its divided and, often, war-torn past as well as all its modern problems and quirks.  I try to put that across in this song, too.

I’d quite like to try making an EP or an album of songs about cities and our relationships with them. This might be something I do further down the line. 

Which Scottish acts are you enjoying listening to at the moment? And who do you think could become the next big thing in Scotland/the UK/internationally?

There's an abundance of good music out there right now emerging from Scotland and the UK.  I am a big fan of Scotstown Dance Band, they supported me for my headline gig in Sneaky Pete's back in January and they were quality.  I really enjoy the creative work of Gefargheist and the sound they are developing.  Declan Welsh is someone I hold in high regard. He’s a phenomenal musician and doubles his music up with a seemingly tireless activism, too.  Both of which are really inspiring.  I would love to share a bill with any one or all of them soon.

I have a gig on October 17th in Edinburgh performing alongside English folk-punk singer-songwriter, Jess Silk.  Jess is a brilliant artist and is working hard at building a following for herself in an admirable DIY style and has played the Leftfield stage at Glastonbury, she is my tip for the UK.

I listen to Jim Gellatly's Amazing Radio Show when I can. It's a great way to keep up to date with the music scene as well as helping to keep my own music fresh.

Tell us your three desert island albums.

1.  The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths.  That album utterly blew me away when I was younger.  Johnny Marr's guitar work and arrangements are sublime.  I really wanted to emulate that sound but, after trying (and failing), I just realised it was better to sit back and admire what The Smiths achieved.  Every time I hear the opening to 'Bigmouth Strikes Again', I'm transported back to being a 14/15 year old on the way to school, feeling like he's stumbled across some sort of treasure.

2. Definitely Maybe by Oasis.  Oasis were the first band I ever really "got".  I think it's the choruses, they are so anthemic and, as a huge football fan, this really spoke to me.  I, actually, learned guitar so that I could play some of their songs and riffs.  I'm not so into them now, not like I was, but I do listen to this album from time to time and, like with The Queen Is Dead, get taken back in time to when I was just finding out what music was about and defining my tastes and interests.

3.  This could've been a Handful of Earth by Dick Gaughan or Harvest by Neil Young but I'm going with Freewheelin' by Bob Dylan because it was the final push I needed to go into songwriting, performing solo and embracing that travelling musician thing that I've stuck with ever since.  It's, also, the reason I began filling my songs with harmonica solos instead of guitar solos.

If you could collaborate with anyone on future music, who would it be?

I’ve been collaborating with German musician and producer, Tobias Thiele for the last few years now. I met Tobi in 2017 at a festival in Berlin and, since then, we’ve been working together on gigs, touring and recording. He has a studio in north-eastern Germany and we’ve done a lot of work together there. My music since my song Für Ewig in 2021 have been produced by him and I really think it’s brought my music on, adding depth to it and giving me a bit more sense of direction. I hope that collaboration continues for a good while yet!

Celebrity collab would be Neil Young. He’s a great songwriter and guitarist, and I would just love to pick his brains to get better at songwriting and all round musicianship - as well as hear some of his stories of the music industry, he’s bound to have plenty of those!

As a musician who has made their debut internationally, what advice would you give to artists who are struggling to break out of Scotland?

I would say to treat getting gigs and work abroad in the same way as getting gigs here at home. Be professional. Do your research on places, venues, and festivals that match your sound and ethos. Have all your social media organised, quality links to music on hand, high-res pictures and a live video won’t hurt either.

I think be bold and open minded. The first gig I played in Berlin was in a high end night club in Mitte - totally not my scene - but it did give me the confidence that I can play abroad and make it work.

Since then, I've toured all over Europe, met other musicians and formed great relationships with venues and promoters along the way. I met my long term collaborator, Tobias Thiele, at a festival we were both playing in Berlin. Today, we help each other find gigs, we write together, record together and tour together. This was unimaginable to me 10 years ago when I think back on it!

If anyone reading this wants to break out and play abroad, feel free to get in touch. Happy to chat and see how I can help!

And finally, what can we expect to see from Calum Baird throughout the rest of 2024?

When I come back from the tour of Germany in June and July, I’m playing at the Gathering South Sessions in Glasgow on July 21st. These gigs have had wonderful line-ups and I’m really looking forward to being part of a bill here! 

In August, I’m playing some shows during the Edinburgh Festival including a gig in the Fopp music store and performing alongside Attila the Stockbroker in St Cecilia’s hall on August 9th and 16th. There’s a few more that will be announced soon. At the end of the month, I’m heading back to Berlin to play gigs on the 24th and 25th.

In September, and following on from those August Berlin shows, I’m heading to Vienna to play at Volkstimmefest on 1st and 2nd September. Never played there before and looking forward to it - not been to Vienna before, either!

In October, I’m doing a little tour that will take in Ireland, Scotland and England and I’m hoping to release a new EP.

Looking ahead to November and December I have some support slots with some touring artists and bands that will be announced shortly. 

If anyone wants more information about my upcoming shows, head to my website (www.calumbaird.com) for full info! 

Join us at Resonate 2024 on the 28th November at Platform, Glasgow. Limited Early Bird tickets are still available and close to selling out! Click here for tickets.