Edinburgh singer who appeared on Poland's Got Talent releases new single about playing pub gigs in the city
New single drop ahead of debut EP
An Edinburgh singer-songwriter who appeared on Poland's Got Talent this year, is releasing a new single about playing pub gigs in the Capital.
Carl Marah releases ‘Stags and Hens’ on Friday, May 29, singing about his gig adventures in Edinburgh, name-dropping city pubs including Whistlebinkies, Stramash and The Fox and Faun.
Carl, who grew up in Leith and then East Lothian before moving back to the city, made headlines this year after making through to the semi-final of Mam Talent!, Poland's equivalent of Britain's Got Talent.
For his new single, he says he was influenced by Billy Joel’s Piano Man and the atmosphere of Richard Hawley records when creating this snapshot of late-night Edinburgh - highlighting the patrons, characters and strange warmth of the pub circuit.
He said: “My journey as a working musician started off when I moved to Edinburgh when I got a job at a souvenir shop at Castlehill and I was doing music in the evenings.
“Slowly and surely I got more gigs in bars and dropped down to part-time in the day job. It then started to take off after the pandemic. Now I’m at the stage where I’m just a working musician.
“I find myself just doing pub gigs and session work, which is great, and I’m very proud of my music career.
“Being in these bars five or six times a week is a huge part of my life now doing these gigs. I just find the whole nature of that world fascinating.
“Nobody is there to see you, you are just there in the background, mostly playing covers from the 60s and 70s, along with some of my own original tunes.
“You set-up in the corner, get them to turn the music off, and then you have to win the place over. I like the challenge of always starting the gig at the point where nobody is interested.
“So you need to do your best to be high energy and fun. If you do a good job then the whole bar is singing along with you, so it’s a rewarding challenge.”
Revealing more about his latest song, the 32-year-old singer who lives in the Northfield area, is tickled by the prospect of singing a song about playing pub gigs in Edinburgh, while playing pub gigs in the city.
He said: “The single is just little bits about what happens at these gigs, inspired by Piano Man, but with me on guitar. It name-drops quite a few music bars in Edinburgh, with the video filmed at The Fox and Fawn, which also gets a mention.
“The song is about how a night progresses at these pub gigs, from my perspective up on stage. It’s got a bit of a Richard Hawley vibe about it too.
“I hope the single resonates with people that know about the Edinburgh pub music scene and it should feel familiar to them.
“I’m doing these gigs all the time, so it’s quite funny that I will be in Edinburgh pubs singing a song abut singing in pubs in Edinburgh.”
Former Logan’s Close singer Carl is excited to be releasing his first solo EP on June 10, ‘Me, Myself and I’, which ‘Stags and Hens’ features on. This follows a busy first half of the year working in the studio and reaching the semi-final of Poland’s Got Talent.
He said: “The EP and Poland’s Got Talent have been the main things for me this year, and I’m really excited to be launching the EP with a gig at the Voodoo Rooms on June 10, which should be really class.
“It’s just the first step, I’ve got a bunch of tracks I want to record, as this is my first go at a solo career, so I hope to piece together enough money from playing gigs in the city to make my second EP or maybe even an album.
“This EP was recorded at Knockwood Studios in Leith over five or six days in February. I got on really well with the owner/ producer/ engineer there, he helped a lot, and I’m really happy with how it sounds.”
You can listen to Stags and Hens on Soundcloud or you can download it from streaming sites. Tickets for the ‘Me, Myself and I’ EP launch at The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Wednesday, June 10, £11.55, are available to buy here.