Chamber of surprises

KENNY MATHIESON discusses the origins and musical philosophy behind the unorthodox chamber music group Mr McFall’s Chamber with violinist ROBERT McFALL as the Edinburgh-based group prepare to visit Lerwick with a new project.

MR McFALL’S CHAMBER slipped quietly onto an unsuspecting Scottish music scene in 1996 as the result a challenge laid down to classical violinist Robert McFall by his sons. Robert had grown accustomed to collecting the boys in the early hours from various dance clubs round Edinburgh after their own band had played, and eventually they challenged him to get some of his classical colleagues together to play in that unlikely setting.

Mr McFall's Chamber © Mr McFall's Chamber

Robert is a member of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the bulk of his colleagues in Mr McFall’s Chamber were recruited from that source. Violinist Greg Lawson, viola player Brian Schiele, cellist Su-a Lee and bassist Rock Standley all share that connection, while pianist Graeme McNaught is also firmly oriented in classical music.

Even their regular vocalist, Dave Brady (aka Dave Bradley), shares the SCO connection. In an earlier part of his life, he was a folk singer, but he is also the man who – in his own words – “drives a wagon for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra”, entirely undeterred by the fact that he only has one-arm.

The group took their name from a slight misprint in the publicity material for that original club appearance, and have developed into the most unclassifiable musical organisation in Scotland. Even Robert struggles to put a precise definition on their music.

“I don’t really know what to call it,” he confesses. “We are a group of predominantly classical musicians getting together to play music in other styles. I think that’s about the only way I can describe us, and after that it’s a matter of listening to our music and making up your own mind. I don’t like the word crossover, because it has some rather tawdry associations now. The difficulty of defining what we do can make it a bit of struggle getting people to give us a chance unless they have heard it, because it’s very hard to describe in print.”

The group have toured widely in the Highlands and Islands, and are back this month for a pair of concerts at the Garrison Theatre in Lerwick that will build on a collaboration with Easter Ross-based video artist John McGeoch.

“I met John initially when we were using video projection in a piece called Exil by Giya Kancheli,” Robert recalled, “and he was someone I could call up and ask technical questions. We thought it would be nice to try doing something together, and we began that in a couple of concerts last year. That was quite experimental, but the project in Shetland has allowed us to do something bigger on a more properly worked out basis.

“It is a multimedia project with the composer Matilda Brown and the painter Colin Lawson, and the idea is to explore the interrelation between music and painting. John will be working with us on the projections, and we’ll also be playing music by several other composers, including Eddie Daniels, John Taylor, Astor Piazzolla, Joe Zawinul and Robert Fripp.”

Any lingering notions that their repertoire experiments are simply an excuse for capable classical musicians to let their hair down are firmly quashed by the quality and commitment of their performances. A lot of work goes into the selection and commissioning of repertoire, not to mention the administration and fund-raising for the group.

“In general terms,” Robert explained, “we have people in the group pulling in different directions, which I think is constructive, as long as it doesn’t get too disruptive! It means we are exploring in many different directions at the same time, which is always interesting. We have people writing music for us all the time, and we can also adapt material to suit us, although inevitably some things work better than others. Unfortunately I have to spend a lot of time on paperwork and trying to raise funds rather than writing new arrangements!”

Performances of Mr McFall’s Chamber’s Music/Painting/Video project take place at the Garrison Theatre, Lerwick, on Thursday 25 March 2004 (2pm) and Friday 26 March 2004 (7.30pm). Surface Movements, an associated exhibition of paintings by Colin Lawson, can be seen at the Islesburgh centre, Lerwick, from 21-27 March 2004.

Mr McFall’s Chamber will also be performing at:
Victoria Hall, Cromarty, Tuesday 11 May 2004
National Hotel, Dingwall, Wednesday 12 May 2004
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye, Thursday 13 May 2004
Plockton Airstrip, Isle of Skye, Friday 14 May 2004
Aros Centre, Portree, Isle of Skye, 15 May 2004