A folk band based in Uist might not be where you would expect to hear lyrics in Frisian.
But the minority language spoken in parts of Germany and the Netherlands takes centre stage in the music of up-and-coming artists An Carra.
Bandmates Emilia Marienfeld, Marit Schöpel, Sheena Peteranna, and Lauren Mowat met through a music course at the University of the Highlands and Islands.
An Carra’s debut single, Düüsen Miilen Loong (Thousand Miles Long), was released earlier this month.
Emilia and Marit are German, Lauren is from Melvich in Sutherland, and Sheena is from Uist.
“I had my graduating performance for the course, and I asked my lovely bandmates to play with me,” Sheena says. “And then it went really well, and we thought it was such a unique group of instruments and a unique group of people.”
‘Such a nice space to make music’
It was the Outer Hebrides’ thriving traditional music scene that brought Emilia to Uist.
There’s still “lots to be done” in Germany to support the medium, she says.
Marit made the move after visiting Emilia. “I really liked the atmosphere of Benbecula campus,” she says.
That includes Cnoc Soiller, Uist’s new hub for music and the creative arts – and where Düüsen Miilen Loong was recorded.
“It’s just such a nice space to make music,” Marit says.
‘Close-knit community’
Uist is “a very close-knit community that really supports this kind of music, because the music is such a part of their identity,” says Emilia. “That’s a really unique thing about Uist, the kind of music that you’ll find everywhere.”
“It might not be as advertised as it is on the mainland. But if you know about it and you know people, then there’s always music somewhere.”
Despite it now being a hallmark of their music, the band didn’t always plan to use Frisian.
“I think the main idea when we came together in the beginning was really Sheena’s performance,” Emilia says.
“We all knew each other. But in a music sense, we didn’t know each other really well.”
But as they worked together, they began to see how well their collaboration worked.
“We just came together,” Emilia says. “And from there, everyone’s brought an influence.”
‘A unique combination’
An Carra is not only the story of four people coming together, but of two languages — Frisian and Gaelic.
“We’ve realised more and more recently how it is actually quite a unique combination of minority languages,” Emilia says.
But that combination might not be as surprising as it sounds.
“[Both languages are] very connected to music, they’re both from islands, and they’re both from the West Coast of the country,” Emilia says.
In addition, she says, “it just felt natural to do things that we each all grew up with”.
Debut EP on the way
An Carra’s debut single is just the beginning. It was released alongside a crowdfunding campaign for their first EP, which they hope will be ready by the end of the year.
Currently on tour in Germany, the band is also planning to return to play more gigs in Scotland.
They’re looking for “local gigs”, Emilia says. “Village halls, and the Hebrides as well, of course, because we all met there.”
More local reporting from the Western Isles:
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