When Sean R McLaughlin was standing ‘losing his marbles’ in the Ninewells ambulance bay, he didn’t imagine he’d end up writing a song about it.
But now the lead single of his upcoming album – Goodnight, Lad – is named for the Dundee hospital.
“The first verse is kind of about me standing outside Ninewells, losing my marbles a wee bit,” he says candidly.
“I was waiting on this ambulance to arrive, and I didn’t know if my loved one was alive or dead in the back of it, so I was completely losing it.
“You’re standing there for what feels like an eternity.”
For Sean, the Covid pandemic represented a period of time where “Ninewells was at the centre of what was going on in my life” – an experience which he realises will ring true for many.
“Ninewells is a really important place for beautiful, amazing things to happen, but also for quite tragic things to happen in Tayside,” he observes.
“The title only really applies to people who live in this area,” he says. “I think a lot of people think it’s actually about nine wells. So it’s got quite a strong Tayside connection.”
Record made in rural Perthshire studio
The 38-year-old multi-instrumentalist hails from Shetland, but attended Kinross High School and now lives with his partner Vicky Gray, their three kids, and an array of cats and guinea pigs in Scotlandwell, near Loch Leven.
“There’s nothing here, we don’t even have a shop,” jokes Sean, who has previously played in indie bands Dante and Birthday Suit. “But I really like the rurality.
“I’ve got a wee studio that I’ve put together in my garage and 90% of my new record was made there. You can’t necessarily do that in the city centre!”
The new record is the first from Sean’s solo musical outfit, Sean R McLaughlin and The Wind-Up Crows.
Mixed by Frightened Rabbit alum Andy Monaghan and Felice Brothers mainstay Jeremy Backofen between Scotland and Hudson, New York, this first solo record allowed Sean a chance to explore his family’s roots.
“Being in a band is quite democratic, but this project allowed me to explore who I am a bit more and think about my identity a bit,” he explains.
Tribute to gran through Indian music
Part of that was looking at his heritage in India, a place he’s never visited but to which he has a strong family connection through his maternal grandmother.
“She was from a place near Kolkata in India,” explains Sean. “I really wanted that Indian cultural reference stuff to come through on the record, but I wanted to do it in a really tasteful way.
“And I’ve seen bands do it in a not very tasteful way, particularly in the 90s, where they just sort of had a go at sounding a bit Indian.”
To include that Indian influence in an authentic way, Sean reached out to world-renowned Indian violinist Ragini Shankar back in 2020.
During lockdown, when “Zoom pints” ruled the social landscape, Sean recalls feeling like communicating with strangers online was somewhat “normalised”.
It was this levelling of the playing field which helped him pluck up the courage to approach Ragini through social media.
Eventually after the pair exchanged a few emails, he asked if Ragini would be up for playing on his track Hairband.
World-class violinist lent services to track
“I’d explained that, other than just loving Indian classical music, it had meaning to me, given I have this connection to India that I’ve never really been able to explore,” he recalls.
“She liked the track and was really happy to play on it. So she recorded her playing in India and sent it back to me.
“We managed to meet a couple of times after that too, in Edinburgh – she’s always on these massive world tours, so it was great that she was happy to contribute to this wee Scottish indie record.”
Although his gran sadly passed away a few years ago, Sean is happy that the track feels “a bit like it was a tribute to her”.
It also includes an audio sample of his young daughter “giggling in the bath”, he reveals.
“I like to build in wee things like that,” he explains. “I try to grab wee samples of appealing family life. Not them screaming at each other and throwing soup on the floor!”
Goodnight, Lad by Sean R McLaughlin and The Wind-Up Crows will be released early in May 2024. Singles Ninewells and Hairband are out now on streaming.
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