Toby Shippey

Name: Salsa Celtica
Born: 1995, in the bars of Edinburgh

Would it surprise you to know that Latin rhythms are alive and well in Scotland?

Musician and trumpet player, Toby Shippey, talked to Scotland Is The Place to explain why there’s pure chilli running through the veins of Scotland’s modern music scene.

Exciting

"Scotland is a very musical country. A lot of music happens here, for a smallish country. We have a great live music scene."

So where did the idea come from to fuse fiery Latin rhythms with the whirl and skirl of Scottish folk music?

"It's quite a common thing fusing Celtic music with other forms of music. There’s no connection between Scottish music and Latin American music as such, but you put them together and you get an exciting kind of music."

It's this exciting combination that lies at the core of Salsa Celtica. And it appears to be a successful marriage of styles.

Since forming in 1995, the band have toured all over world, appeared on BBC Radio, released three albums (one of which reached number five on the World Music Chart of Europe), performed in front of 40,000 people at the prestigious BBC Proms in the Park and been dubbed "scene stealers" by the Observer newspaper.

International

The band has a genuinely international flavour, with musicians from all over the world – Venezuela, Cuba and Australia, as well as places closer to home such as Glasgow, Shetland and Essex.

Toby laughs: "Yeah, the band are from all over the world but I met them all in Scotland, actually. There’s another singer just moved from Cuba to Scotland.

"I know lots of people that have moved to Scotland," Toby continues.

"In fact, nearly everybody I work with has moved to Scotland from somewhere else. I only know about three people from Edinburgh itself!"

Supportive

"All the musicians like it because it’s quite a supportive atmosphere for musicians. Not in terms of getting funding, but in a lot of other ways. It’s a good place to run a band.

"A lot of people like Edinburgh, for instance, because it’s small but it’s still got a city vibe.

"And Edinburgh’s great because it’s got late night bars and late night bars need to have something on to get people in, so it’s quite a good place to be a musician. There’s a traditional music scene, a jazz scene, a rock and pop scene."

Rural Scotland

Salsa Celtica have also seen their fair share of more remote parts of Scotland.

"Our last tour was all over Scotland. Aberdeen’s got a great scene for music. We went up to Orkney. Orkney’s a really fantastic place and Shetland’s great. We went to Skye, which is brilliant. We played Lewis at the Hebridean and Celtic Festival.

"All these places have an amazing vibe.

"And a lot of people I know are moving there, to places like Mull and Lewis, because of the lifestyle and the community vibe, you know, and the beautiful scenery."

Modern country

"I think Scotland’s a great place to live because I like going to the pub to meet people. I think that’s quite a Scottish thing, that kind of sociability in common spaces."

Toby laughs: "In fact, the connection between Scotland and South America is probably the fact that we know how to party. I suppose everywhere parties, really, but if you really want to play the game, then Scotland really does party quite a lot."

So, what do the people they meet on their travels think about Scotland?

Braveheart

"It’s funny when you end up playing somewhere really quite remote where people really haven’t heard of Scotland, they’ve always heard of Braveheart, the Mel Gibson film!

"It probably works for Scotland in that it’s quite a positive image and it’s put Scotland on the map, but at times it can be quite frustrating. Sometimes you want to say, Scotland is a modern European country you know!"

Salsa Celtica's exuberantly successful fusion of old and new, Scottish and Latin, goes some way to proving that.

Insider information:

Toby says: "I always think music is a great thing if you’re a tourist or you want to move to a place. Music is pretty inclusive because everyone wants you at a gig, so I’d suggest any of the music festivals around Scotland. They’ve got a really great atmosphere."