WATCH: Highland musician MacGilli releases uplifting new music with a mental health message on eve of Belladrum debut
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A Highland musician is promoting an inspiring message on mental health through a powerful new music and spoken word video release.
The work interweaves innovative artist MacGilli’s distinctive acoustic guitar pedal loop sound with the poetry of close friend and fellow Inverness songwriter Dail MacDonald (32).
Timed to coincide with what should be a triumphant Belladrum solo debut this weekend, MacGilli – aka Michael MacGillivray (32) – has given us an early listen, with final tweaks to the video made as recently as last night.
A video interview above explains the heartfelt motives and personal tragedy behind the collaboration titled Chapters, which can be watched here:
“Dail is a very close friend of mine. We both work offshore, went to Millburn Academy together and were schoolmates with similar interests in music. We were also in a three-piece band 10 years ago called Cryptic Keys,” Michael explained.
“Since then, Dail and I have dipped in and out of working together. He produces spoken word poetry as well as his own singer-songwriter projects.
“This is definitely the most meaningful project we’ve both done.
“It needed more than just the music, more than just that beat. It needed to have a message."
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Michael began work on the new tune in January, following the heartbreaking death of a family member.
With the tune among the most uplifting Michael has written, he felt it needed an eloquent voice and Dail’s words overlay a positive message.
As Dail emphasises, a strong theme is “finding purpose and meaning in that struggle and using it to better yourself”.
Quotes from the poem include: "Rock bottom can be a solid foundation in which to rebuild your life," and "Remember, the greatest comebacks often start from the lowest moments and the sky is the limit for those who refuse to give up."
Brought together by videographer Sean Stuart, the twin storyline visuals accompanying the music use the metaphor of climbing a mountain as a physical representation of the struggles people experience with mental health.
One of the two video strands was filmed in and around Inverness, while the other was shot in the hills near Ullapool
Props in the video were the work of Lauren Welsh, while the words and music were recorded and mixed by producer Steve Bull at his Alness studio.
Jamie Airey recorded the poem and interspersed it into the music.
“I hope people listen and feel inspired, and know that no matter how difficult things are in life, if you’re able to use that struggle as a positive, then good things can come,” Dail stressed.
“It is never too late to make a change in your life.”
MacGilli will appear on the Free Range Folk Stage at 1.30pm on Friday (July 28) and will open at the Ice House Stage at 12.30 pm the following day.
