Interviews

We continue our conversation with a piping pioneer, exclusively for subscribers.

We begin our inspiring conversation with a piping pioneer, exclusively for subscribers . . .

For the first time ever, Ken Eller hears the truth about his ouster as leader, which 23 years on turns out to be nothing but a colossal misunderstanding . . .

We continue our historical interview with eight former members of the Clan MacFarlane, a band that set the Grade 1 standard in North America . . .

We continue our extensive reunion interview with eight former members of one of history’s most important pipe bands.

Featuring superb video, we bring together eight members of the legendary Clan MacFarlane Pipe Band of St. Catharines, Ontario, one of the world’s most influential piping and drumming groups . . .

We conclude our four-part interview with the late Glasgow-based piper, bandsman, teacher and adjudicator.

Our conversation with the late great “Angus J.” continues, in which he discusses the RSPBA, pipe band judging, perceived biases and the influence of his teacher, Donald MacLeod.

We continue our archival interview with the late Angus J. MacLellan, in which he discusses being a right-shouldered piper, the early days . . .

On October 12, 2013, the piping and drumming world lost Angus J. MacLellan after a long illness. Fortunately, pipes|drums conducted an extensive interview with him in August 1997, which we bring to subscribers now in several parts. We include the original introduction and text originally presented in 1998.

We conclude our exclusive interview with Jack Lee, one of piping history’s greatest pipers, teachers and leaders, who has committed his life to furthering the art. In this fifth part, Lee discusses his influences, his practice regimen and teaching techniques and what lies ahead as he continues his competitive, performing and teaching career in Highland piping.

We resume our exclusive pipes|drums Interview with Jack Lee, one of history’s greatest Highland pipers, in the fourth part for subscribers to the magazine. In this installment, Lee delves into his solo piping career and even talks about his perhaps apocryphal reputation for games-day intensity, his legendary 1981 Silver Star MSR at the Northern Meeting, and his surprising practice routine.

In the third instalment of our exclusive interview for pipes|drums subscribers, the renowned solo piper and pipe-sergeant of the Grade 1 and six-time World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band delves into becoming and staying competitive on a world level for many years, teaching programs and succession planning for leaders. Jack Lee delves into the problems, challenges and rewards for pipe bands today, and the increasingly difficulty of satisfying and sustaining the demand for ever more and talented personnel, and the need for professionalism within the ranks, and how vital Leading-Drummer Reid Maxwell has been to the band’s success.

In the second part of our exclusive interview with world renowned piper Jack Lee, he discusses his history in pipe bands, including the Port Moody, City of Victoria, CP Air, and, of course, Simon Fraser University. In Part 2, Lee speaks frankly about prizes narrowly missed and the critical nickname by the haters for SFU as “The Borg” – an unstoppable force in the Pacific Northwest that sucks in all around it. He goes into the early days of SFU, and the origins of quality piping and drumming in British Columbia that helped set up a positive environment in which the eventual six-time World Champions could evolve.

Is there a more all-round successful piper currently competing today than Jack Lee? Not likely, and that’s not likely to change for the foreseeable future. Since the 1970s, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band Pipe-Sergeant has consistently scooped up the world’s biggest prizes in solo piping, while helping to guide his band to six World’s titles, along the way teaching thousands of young pipers and conducting workshops with dozens of bands. His solo achievements are huge and they continue, most recently by winning the Senior Piobaireachd at the Argyllshire Gathering and the MSR at the Glenfiddich Championships. The first installment of five, continuing our series of interviews that dates back to the mid-1980s.