CALLUM Beattie is a singer with a story. Like many great musicians, he started busking and on the streets around his home in Edinburgh.
Unsigned and self-managed, Callum sent a batch of remixes to 3beat, the independent Liverpool dance label, who tracked him down for the original. Soon after Callum was signed. Despite this, he still finds himself still drawn to playing on the streets.
“I was busking around Europe for three weeks, and have just come home to play in the old pubs I used to play in” says Callum. “I’ve not done it for about six years. It’s good to be back”.
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Callum himself has big plans, and luckily for us, one of them is to move from Edinburgh to settle in Glasgow.
“There’s a cool music scene there, something I wish Edinburgh had more of. It annoys me that they advertise Edinburgh as a hub of art and culture but actually the council only seem to support it for the festival.
"They close venues down, you have to have licenses to busk. Even at the festivals it there are signs that say if you use amplification, it’s an offence”.
Callum’s career has exploded: his new single, Easter Road, is released on the August 31, and he is coming to play The Garage Attic Bar on September 21.
This year, he supported Robbie Williams at Hyde Park – a special moment for him, as it was here watching The Who with his dad that he realised his future lay in music.
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Callum also made headlines for a song about Boris Johnson and Brexit, which went viral with more than two million views. “Everyone seems to think I’ve taken a political view and I’ve not. I’m not a political person, I just know that this guy is a t***.”
For Callum, his motivations and ambitions come back to his dad, who is featured in Some Heroes Don’t Wear Capes.
“My dad brought me up since I was a wee boy. It was the two of us in the house. We had nothing; we were extremely poor – maybe that’s why I’m angry with politics.
"I was just a wee boy, and I shouldn’t have been going hungry. I want to say to him, dad, you don’t have to work another day in your life.
"That’s my mission. I love my music, I love telling stories, but I’m working hard for that reason.”
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