Firstly, how are things at the Band Club?

The band has a very good working relationship with the Club. They are our major sponsor and we could not achieve what we have without them.

Late last year the band was promoted to Grade 1, has anything changed in terms of the bands approach to competition and with The band's first grade one competition at the NZ Championships in Auckland, do you feel the band was competitive in the grade?

The band performed well considering it was our 1st contest in grade 1 and 1st since last year’s worlds. I was very happy with the MSR but felt we had the potential to play our medley better. As we move forward towards this year’s worlds we will only get better. I Believe the Band is very competitive in Grade 1 and is in the correct grade. Some of results in NZ (2nd in piping MSR) and in Victoria (1st in piping MSR and 1st in drumming Medley) are testament to this.

There was a lot of talk about the "promotion" of the Band Club, in particular the young ladies who carried the band banner...I've got to ask, who came up with the idea and was the marketing approach successful?

One of the reasons for competing in NZ was to assist in the promotion of both the Band and the Club. The management committee of the band wanted to promote the band in such a way that it would get both the general public and pipe band people alike talking about the band. What we decided upon was the use of marketing/promotional people to visually advertise the product. This concept is used consistently at trade shows throughout the world as a way of differentiating a particular product. Why should a pipe band be any different?

In conjunction with this was the added draw card of handing out CD's and band hats to the people in attendance at the contest. We distributed 300 hats and 300 CDs on the day. Where ever you looked on the day there was a sea of blue hats. They were very popular. No other pipe band in the world has marketed itself in this fashion. I believe the objective we set ourselves was achieved. There was both positive and negative publicity about the exercise but it was all publicity at the end of the day.

Back to business, the band was 3rd in the Grade 2 Worlds in both 2006 and 2007, promoted to Grade 1 now, what is the expectation leading into this years worlds.

The band has set an objective for this years World Championships of qualifying in Grade 1. This would be a fantastic achievement considering there will be approximately 27 bands competing for 6 qualifying positions. The competition is extremely tough and the band is well aware of the enormity of our objective.

The Band Club, formed in the 60's, has always been a high standard pipe band with a solid local base, more recently though the band has welcomed guest players from overseas and indeed now has as many players outside of NSW as it does inside. How does this affect the band and is this the future for Premier Pipe Bands the world over?

As the Band’s standard increases, the potential players that have the ability to play at this level decreases. Combine that with the “accepted” size of other international pipe bands, means that the Band has to pull resources from where ever it can. It is unfortunate that this is the case however it just makes us like the rest of the World. Many of the top bands throughout the World have players from outside there own town, state and even country.

The interesting fact of this is that this process has been carried out for at least the last 50 years both in the Band and in other bands. Players have been commuting, moving to play with “good” bands since pipe bands were formed. The Band Club is no exception to this. In the early days of the Band, players came from all over Sydney to play and compete with the band. Times have not changed much!

Away from the band itself, you were instrumental in creating a "mini band series", what benefits do you see from this type of competition?

The main focus behind the mini band season was to assist bands in their preparation for the Australian National contest in November. The other idea was that it would assist the Band in our preparations for this year World Championships. 6 contests in as many weeks is a good way to help improve the standard of our performances.

And whilst we talk about the Australian Championships coming up in November this year, being held in your home state, what would you like to see from this event?

I am personally looking forward to this contest. Not 100% convinced on the timing for the championships but it will be a good contest all the same. I just hope the weather holds for the day. I have adjudicated at this contest in some terrible weather so fingers crossed.

What do you think about the decision to separate the Pipe Band and Highland Dancing Championships?

I fully understand the reasons for this decision but it does make sense to combine both events. Especially from the publics point of view.

How important is unity between the different elements of Scottish culture in order to assist the movement to grow?

There can be no argument that over the last 10 years there has been a significant decline in the pipe band movement both here in NSW and Australia. Kids are not wanting to learn the instruments and keep alive the traditions associated with Pipe bands. It would make common sense to combine highland dancing, pipe band contests and other Scottish cultural activities to enable all parties to obtain interest in the other. It would also seem logical that with combining also increases the potential for marketing and promoting all aspects of Scottish culture to the wider community. This is what is lacking. For example, the difference of perception between St Patricks day and St Andrews day. The Irish day is significantly more popular than the Scottish day.

Do you see a future where the bands, dancers, clans and societies will come together to present the ultimate Scottish movement in NSW?

For the entire Scottish culture to move forward it makes sense that all areas' sections of the Scottish community work together to enhance the publics perception of all things Scottish.

Thanks, Scott, for spending time with DUTK.com