Once again we have Donnie's answers to your now end of year questions that you the fans sent in. I hope you enjoy reading Donnie's comments.
For new visitors or members you will find the previous 2006,2005 and 2004 Question and Answer page here
2006 Question and Answer Page
2004 and 2005 Question and Answer Page
Where does Donnie and the band see themselves in 5 years time from now?
It is so hard to answer this type of question especially when I have never had a ‘plan’ at any time in my life. That is not to say that you do not set out to achieve things but they are kind of organic and tend to emerge out of life’s changing circumstance. Undoubtedly there are so many things we would all like to do and to see happen and clearly in that, I would include, to have the opportunity to take the music to the many people and places which we have as yet been unable to do. I would not and however nor never have projected 5years on.
Would they consider playing in out-laying villages than in towns?
I would be very happy to appear in out-laying villages and towns but as you can imagine it is dependent on promoters being happy with the viability of any event. I certainly have always enjoyed the differences between larger scale and small-scale or more intimate events-each has its own attraction.
What is Your favourite TV programme That You Watch Most Days?
I don’t have any programme which I watch, ’most days’ as such but generally I love natural history and documentary programmes in the main.
What Is Your Favourite Drink Tea Or Coffee? - Pretty much a coffee person.
Living on a beautiful island like Skye, I wondered where Donnie holidayed as a youngster and where he likes to holiday now.
I spent my last summer holiday with my family at a friend’s villa in the beautiful Le Marche region in Italy. I absolutely loved the landscape, particularly from a painter’s point of view and I took lots of photographs for reference. I currently have 3 large canvasses ready and awaiting for my attention! The climate was beautiful and it was just so good to be able spend the days swimming in the pool, exploring the surrounding villages and towns and in the evenings to sit out in the balmy warmth talking and relaxing over wine and great food. The region has an amazing and very graphic agricultural landscape, with beautiful rolling hills, steep-sided fields lined with olive trees and vineyards and in the distance the amazing spires of the churches perched high above the hilltop towns. Could get used to this you know.
If you had to spend 6 months alone on a deserted Island and could only take 5 items with you, what would they be?
Axe, knife, fishing tackle, a good long book, guitar and art material-sorry that’s 6 but it has to cover the practical and the aesthetic.
Since I have a great interest in this subject! What was the strangest classroom incident you had to deal with when you were teaching?
Being in a brand new art room with a particularly ‘challenging’ class when the top blew off a hot water tap and nobody, janitor, architects office or the site engineer knew where the stop cock was located. As they all searched for the architectural plans, the ceiling became sodden and fell in I remember a particular table of pupils simply sat there as the water cascaded over and around them. Luckily nobody was scalded.
What tips would you offer (apart from "run!") to a trainee teacher - PLEASE?!
Teaching is a fantastic and creative profession and an incredibly important job. We can all remember those teachers who impacted on our own lives and perhaps inspired us to do the things we did. As a teacher it is an immense privilege and hugely satisfying when you know that you have helped make that connection in someone’s life and maybe helped fire their imagination and aspirations-I still remember clearly many of my former pupils and indeed meet many of them around the country and in particular I remember with great satisfaction the pleasure in seeing someone discover their talents and their growing passion for the subject(art).I always detected two distinct type of teacher, those who were passionate about their subject and those who were passionate about their subject but who actually liked young people-there lies the answer.
What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?
I love lemon sorbet which I suppose is not strictly speaking ice-cream.
We attended a highly enjoyable concert at the Platform in Morecambe, Lancashire last summer. You mentioned that it was your first appearance in England for a decade. You appeared to be very pleased at the reception that you received from the crowd that night and indeed commented on the good numbers of attendees. You mentioned your intention to return to England for further concerts in the future if possible. Have you any plans to do so ?
I do have plans to do so and will continue to take the opportunities as they arise. I would particularly like to take the show I am planning for Celtic Connections and Eden Court Theatre, south during 2008.
As a Skye man born and bred, you clearly have a great affinity with the island and its people. In all your travels, have you ever come across anywhere else in the world that has affected you in a similar way?
No , I suppose so much of your sense of yourself is tied up with the place in which you spent the important formative years of your life. For me that was an experience which I think was at the watershed moment in the traditional life of the Highlands and Islands, a time when Gaelic language and culture was still very much embedded in the day to day life of the community and in many ways my grandparents generation and to a lesser extent my parents generation lived lives that were deeply imbued with the values and traditions of a very old cultural heritage. I was not aware of it at the time but it was a wonderful window from which to view the world and I think gave me a very distinct set of values and a deep rooted sense of belonging to something which was very tied to the physical landscape and the sense of place, a kind of balance with the natural world if you like .I always felt that when you set yourself in the vastness of the landscape it gave your life a true sense of scale a real measure. People find that in their own ways in different places and different cultures but perhaps the closest I felt to it was in some ways during the period of time I spent high in the Himalayas, with a Sherpa friend Ngima Tendi Sherpa. We climbed up onto Gokyo peak at about 20,000 feet and during that great journey on foot of about160 miles which took about a month I spent a lot of time living with the Sherpa people and I felt so much at home amongst them, really because their lives and values reminded me so much of my childhood and the crafting communities of my grandparents generation where I spent a great deal of my time. Their daily lives were so similar ,the sounds ,the smells of their fires, their love of potatoes and their religious observances(Buddhist),their own minority language, their storytelling, their tough lives, their humility, humour and sense of community and of course this immense and magnificent mountain landscape.
As a brand new fan in the US, I' know I've got 30 years to catch up on, but from what I've read in the Runrig history was that the band was performing for a year before Mr. Munro joined. How did he know that was the group that would be the right fit for him? Did he always know he'd be a singer? How do you talk an established group into first let you join and second to become their lead singer?
Well firstly I knew the group members very well individually having shared my school life with Calum from the age of about nine years of age. Rory who was 4 years ahead of us in school had played with a band called the Skyevers and Blair Douglas had been on the class immediately below me and Calum. Therefore, to a large extent, we grew up together. During my secondary school years I had begun to perform in public as part of a duo and actually performed a lot around the island particularly during the summer actually before the band was formed. When Runrig did form and began playing as a dance band they would often ask me to perform solo during the break in their set and it was clear to them that they needed someone to come in on vocals and it just kind of happened in that way. So in a sense there was never any sense of joining up with an ‘established band’ as things were very much in their infancy.
Thank you for sharing your lovely songs and voice. I would just would like to ask if you ever receive songs written by other people Donnie. I love to write poetry about Scotland and areas that I love, Arisaig, Mallaig and Skye, I find the landscape is inspiring and it seems to speak to me, and then I just write to the words down. When I am listening to your songs they are very spiritual and visual...and there is a connection that reaches the heart.
I often receive songs from other people and always happy to listen to them. If there is anything that is suitable then of course I would be happy to sing them. I became very used to working with other peoples writing, having worked so closely with Calum and Rory over so many years.
I know Donnie isn't only a musician and his other projects take much of his time. Nevertheless I would like to ask him ,whether there are any plans for concerts in Germany in the nearer future.
Yes, we are working on that at the moment
Did you ever consider to sing a German Folk song or maybe take a Folk song from another Country and translate it into English or even better Gaelic? Or sing it in its original language?
I think translations can be difficult as very often there is a very strong connection between melody and the actual sound and character of the language-you know certain word sounds in themselves have musical character and don’t often survive translation. However, I always thought that the RR song Alba would have translated well into German because of the melodic structures.
How do you manage all your business? So much work, so many projects but you never seem to be stressed. What's your secret?
Glide like the Swan and paddle like the Duck-no I think if you enjoy all these parts of your life that is what matters-each part refreshes the other-in reality people are never only one thing-it just so happens that we start to think of people by what they do rather than what they are .
Simple as it is: fav colour?
Yellow Ochre
If you would have to leave beautiful Skye forever - where would you go?
Wherever my family would feel most happy.
Did you watch the Rugby World Championship and what did you think when Scotland drop out that early in the tournament?
(I felt blue) No, but I do enjoy watching internationals and enjoyed performing the World Cup song, Down Under with the squad.
What do you think has the Scottish Rugby team to do/to change to play better in the future and get world champion?
Not really knowledgeable enough to comment.
Is Scotland going to the football European Championship next year? (they are doing pretty good at the mo!)
And if so and they would ask you to come along would you do it?
We now know the answer to your question but if they had qualified and they had asked me along then certainly -yes
Do you like Snooker?
Played it as a student-in the student Aberdeen University Union-badly
Do you think Scotland will ever be a free nation on its own again? Any chances for that? If not, why?
Yes of course if the Scottish people want that to happen-at present support for independence is consistently around 23-25%
As Labour Party seem to stand for the United Kingdom why do think everything should remain as it is now?
I feel that the UK is already a very small country and has, since the Union of Parliaments, and before that the Union of Crowns has evolved with so much social ,economic, political, cultural, artistic, institutional and familial integration it seems an incredibly unnecessary and to me retrogressive step to fragment it all down to lesser parts. I believe that devolution is indeed a process and not an end and that undoubtedly there will be further calls for more devolved powers which may eventually lead to something more akin to a federal structure but I don’t see the disintegration of the UK. Robert Louise Stevenson said ‘the a nation has no reality other than on the map’ and more recently Gavin McCrone described nationhood as a ‘state of mind’ and I think I go along with that to the extent that ultimately they are historical constructs. When you read the historical context of the Union on both sides of the argument you find a pretty unsavoury collection of self interested agendas being presented most of them taking little account of the ordinary people of Scotland .If I had been alive at the time I may have wanted to have driven a harder bargain and the retention of the Scottish Parliament would have been at the heart of the debate. However one cannot deny that following on from the Union, Scotland developed into the modern nation which spawned the greatest period in our cultural and educational history with the flowering of the genius that was ‘the Scottish Enlightenment’
Donnie, I know you ran for a political seat representing Skye and Lochalsh a few years ago and wondered if you are planning to do this again. What drew you to the desire to get into politics and is that something you are still interested in and will continue to be interested in? And if you did get into a seat would this interrupt your singing career?
I must put it on record that I have no great interest in politics for its own sake and in fact I detest the vacuous nature of the self-fulfilling political animal and the Machiavellian struggles that go own at all levels of political life to protect little power bases for people. However, I can not separate the fact -that were it not for the struggles of the Labour movement in this country throughout our history, the workers movements, the co-operative movements, the trade union movement, the land league movement and the individual men and women who fought to establish the rights and protections which we now all enjoy and often take for granted- we quite simply would not be where we are today. For that reason I have been a life-long member and supporter of the Labour movement and I work within it to effect the changes I believe in and to fight for the issues which I believe in and are broadly held within the framework of social justice and equal rights. No matter what party you may feel support for you will always find issues and policies with which you disagree and if so you have to use your voice and influence to try and change these things.
You did a walk on Everest for charity a few years ago which sounded like an amazing experience. What's your one "want to visit but haven't yet" place and also where would you recommend people visit as "5 places you must see before you die".
Iceland, the Artic Circle and go horse riding in Montana
Donnie, when you are shopping for clothes is it a pleasure or a pain?
Does living so close to the sea make you more aware of the efforts we all need to make to tackle climate change?
By clothes can be great fun but if you lack time can just be a pain. On global warming I certainly think that we must be very much aware of our interaction with nature. The scientific case appears strong although I accept also that climate change is naturally cyclical and through the history of the planet there have been many natural catastrophic events due to natural climate change, so in the greater context it is perhaps less certain how much we cam ultimately affect the major natural trends .In relation to Skye it is interesting to note that north Skye is on a geological uplift which means that we are actually rising up out of the sea at a rate of about 2cm per year.
I would like to ask - if you weren't a singer and performer, what would you be? Also what is your favourite season of the year, if you have one?
A professional artist-a painter which is really my great passion-I love spring and the sense of newness-however I really love all the seasons
One more question.... when are you going to sing Down Under and Flower of Scotland again... in concert.. I love those songs.
I will have to think about it as they were done for such specific reasons.
Just moved to Canada, any plans coming over to Alberta? PLEASE!! do you have any pets?
Would love to-really enjoyed playing their in the past- no pets currently-did have a lovely cat called Flora and in my childhood was lucky enough to have had a pet monkey. I have loved horse riding all my life and perhaps at some time would like to have one of my own
Do you or did you ever suffer from stage fright?
Thankfully no
The only question I would ask , although I'm not sure of it's relevance is , do you have any expectations, high or otherwise , regarding GME in the suburban areas of Scotland , as we seem to be at a standstill in my area , much to my disappointment.
I think GME will continue to grow
Do you have a garden, and if you do what plants do you like to grow in it?
I have a 2 Acre woodland garden which thankfully my wife Teresa loves to tend, She does all the real gardening, planting etc and I restrict my activities to labouring jobs, grass-cutting etc-I do love gardens
Waiting for the signing of CDs after the Wickham concert, a man approached me and my friend. He had noticed that we were singing along, and he thought we knew everything about Donnie. Well I don't, yet. He hadn't noticed the lyrics very much, but he felt that the songs had a religious tone/feeling, so the thought that Donnie must be a religious man! My question now: Are you?
Yes I am on that journey like everyone else but have often found that ‘doubt is that necessary road down which I travel in search of truth’- I have yet to meet anyone who is not deeply interested in the mystery of being-whether they describe themselves as religious or not. I certainly do not subscribe to any single religion although I was brought up in the reformed Christian tradition-I do however have a deep distrust of fundamentalists and literalists of any faith-I detest intolerance and judgementalism
What are you reading this year? The last few years Donnie has mentioned some great books.
The God Delusion,Dawkins-the Scottish Enlightenment,Arthur Herman-Life of Leonardo da Vinci-Dwellys Dictionary(frequently)
When you write songs, do they start off as poems (they definitely sound poetic!) or are they always intended as melodies? If you write them as poems, do you have a collection that never got round to being set to music?
I have written some poems-not very well-I am more comfortable with songs for some reason
Donnie, I have noticed that many of your fans have a sound working knowledge of music - so perhaps "fans" as in fanatics is the wrong term - rather "appreciators"! I am also aware that you are not, praise God, a person to blow his own trumpet. My question is therefore meant to encourage just that on this one occasion! Please come clean and tell us which acclaimed musicians have expressed an admiration for your musical talent.
Various singers over the years and most recently Nicola Benedetti who told me that she loved my voice-(which was very nice to hear) she was apparently subjected to lots of RR on her daily journeys to school so my voice became the soundtrack to that wee part of her life. She told me this when we performed together in Edinburgh Castle 2005
Donnie, although I know you are really busy with quite a lot of jobs, did you ever consider teaching the Gaelic language and culture to people who are seriously interested in that?
As for myself I would say this would be great and a huge advance making people aware of the loss they might have.
I am no where near being knowledgeable enough in the language to teach anyone and despite having been brought up a native speaker I have so much to learn myself
What advice would you give to someone like myself who would like to become a professional musician? I have written ten songs, enough for a first album, but I really do not know where to start. I am not so good at performing live, I get really bad stage-fright and my hands shake and I can't play a note!! But I am OK with recording. I do not have an agent or a manager, I am just a housewife, I have played guitar since I was 13, but I am not able to read music. My son is very brilliant on keyboard, and my husband plays the pipes. DH and me used to busk together a bit. Any advice you can offer would be treasured.
Just keep doing it and doing it honestly
Could you please ask Donnie if he has thought much about the content of his next cd, and does he have any songs penned for it yet? Does he have any idea when it might be available?
I have thought a bit about ideas and have a hankering for something very acoustic-song writing is a process for me –sometimes things happen quickly other times you labour over things but always I think there is no point in writing until you have something you really want to say .I can’t remember who said ‘all music should be judged against the utter perfection of silence- so I suppose it a case of don’t make a noise unless its good-its all a bit daunting when you think about it that way.
A great big thank you to Donnie for taking the time to answer the fans questions again in 2007 - Richard
