Onward musical soldiers

By GREG DIXON

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards are, unsurprisingly given their name, soldiers.

The Scottish regiment forms part of Britain's Seventh Armoured Brigade, the famed Desert Rats, and recently took its tanks to Iraq. That's the day job. The night job is the regiment's 30-man pipe and drum band, a group that tours New Zealand again this month. The Herald spoke to the band's Pipe Major Derek Potter by phone from the regiment's base in Germany about being a musical soldier. And no, they won't be bringing their tanks.

Well let's start with what the Geneva Convention allows me to ask. What's your name and rank?

It's Pipe Major Derek Potter [laughs].

Does this mean you're a major?

It's an appointment. There's a pipe major and a drum major, we're the bosses of the band. My service rank is sergeant.

Its seems rather unusual to be both a soldier and a musician. On the one hand trained to kill, on the other to entertain. Do you see what I mean?

Yeah. Our last album was called Parallel Tracks. That very much sums up the dual life a member of the pipes and drums will lead. First and foremost we're British soldiers which means that at any time we could be called upon to serve Queen and country. We've been involved in the major campaigns over the past 10 years. Some of the senior members, the older ones, were involved in the first Iraq war. The boys have done Bosnia and two tours of Kosovo. It's a varied life between the pipes and drums and the soldiering commitments.

Are you a piper who became a soldier or a soldier who became a piper?

I'm a piper who became a soldier. I started playing when I was a 12-year-old at school. When I became 18, my older brother had been in the regiment for 15 years and he was a piper. At the time, as silly as it sounds, you couldn't go to university or college to do bagpiping. So I decided I wanted to carry on doing the piping and I joined. I've done 16 years. It's a family regiment. There are a lot who join because they've had parents, cousins or brothers in the regiment.

The Guards pipe and drum has been extremely successful over the years. You must be the only regiment in the British Army that's had a number one [with Amazing Grace in the early 70s]. What makes the Guards so victorious on stage?

It's a combination of musical integrity and tradition but also moving with the times.

How difficult are the pipes to learn?

They are quite a difficult instrument initially. And every day you pick up your bagpipes you can have a different sound coming out of them. They rely on weather, climate and the reaction of the reed to different things. They're a very temperamental instrument.

What sort of music suits them best?

There's a fine line between what can be done on the pipes and what can't. If you stand within the boundaries you'll always be going in the right direction.

Amazing Grace must be the most played song on the pipes. Doesn't it start to be be rather less amazing after you've played it a few hundred times?

Obviously I would say no because it's our flagship song which we went to number one with. It's one of those tunes where, whether it be a wedding or a funeral or any special occasion, it'll always have a memory for somebody.

There are more pipe bands in New Zealand than Scotland. Do you have an explanation for this?

It's the strong traditions down there. We've been down there twice now and the thing that's very striking is the closeness to Scotland. It's uncanny. I think people have forged that connection with Scotland and all things Scottish and the bagpipes come along with that.

What do you do for whisky in Germany?

We have quite a nice whisky cabinet within the pipes and drums.

What's your favourite?

Glenmorangie.

The regiment fired its guns in anger once more during the recent invasion of Iraq. Was this your first experience of war?

I was involved in the first Gulf War also, which was a slightly different campaign in so much as we were in the desert for a considerable amount of time. This time it was a little bit more of a rapid campaign to rescue the southern city of Basra. Two extremes of conflict.

It was much tougher than the 100-hour affair in 1991. Did the regiment take casualties?

We've been very fortunate on all our campaigns that we haven't endured any casualties. We put that down to a little bit of luck. But also, if you train hard and train well you hope to endure any scenario you're put into.

No weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. Did that change your view of what the war was about?

I have no comment on that.

Did you get a chance to play the pipes while you were there?

We did. We took what we call our second sets, which were a little more durable for the environment. They were more for the morale of our own troops than for playing for the public. Pipes have been played in battle for years.

Saddam Hussein was rumoured to be hiding in that spider hole because he was afraid of being exposed to Scotland's must famous instrument. Is this true?

I think that maybe a rumour [laughs]. I would have liked to have seen the expression on his face if he had come across a set of bagpipes. It might have been quite amusing.

Performance

* What: Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

* Where & When: Municipal Theatre, Napier, Thursday; TSB Showplace, New Plymouth, Friday; Civic, Rotorua, Saturday; Aotea Centre, Auckland, Sunday; Baycourt, Tauranga, Tue May 18; Founders Theatre, Hamilton, Wed May 19.