Canberra pipers unleash their inner rockstars

A breakaway tartan trio from the Canberra City Pipes and Drums has gone a wee bit “mad” and instead of pomp and ceremony, it’s AC and DC – bagpipes on steroids.

Canberra’s new Mad Piper and Friends have just made their worldwide debut on YouTube and it’s a far cry from the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. They’re cutting loose and channeling their inner rockstars.

They have a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ kind of vibe because in their official guise they perform ceremonial events such as Anzac Day – but after-hours the amp’s cranked up to 11. The “Mad Piper” is local criminal lawyer Andrew Fraser, and the “Friends” are fellow musicians Stephen Ladd and Jen Hamer.

“Bagpipes are similar to a lead guitar, this is something a bit different, it’s a bit of fun,” Andrew says. “It’s a real contrast in roles.”

Andrew has never forgotten when – in 2000 as a reporter for The Canberra Times – he did a phone interview with AC/DC Scottish frontman Angus Young and snuck in a bagpipe solo for Long Way To the Top. Angus loved it but when Andrew asked if he could join him on stage, he said no.

“He told me, ‘we don’t do that one anymore, ever since Johnny Farnham used pipes we don’t play it. I reckon Johnny Farnham cost me millions of dollars now’,” Andrew says. (Incidentally, during the recent referendum, Andrew released a music video on Youtube of You’re The Voice, called Capital Piping).

So now Andrew’s making up for lost time, busting out of the courtroom and belting out Rockin’ All Over The World (Status Quo), We Will Rock You (Queen) and of course, AC/DC’s Long Way To the Top. It has to be seen to be believed.

In a nod to the famous video-clip of AC/DC playing on the back of a truck driving down Melbourne’s Swanston Street, Mad Pipers and Friends ride on the back of a trailer in suburban Canberra. (It’s worth mentioning here that AC/DC once played at Ginninderra High in the 1970s for a $5.30 entry fee).

Canberra landmarks feature heavily in the Mad Pipers’ music video (filmed by local production studio Crewcible) and it’s a great promo for our capital city if it goes viral. So come on Canberrans, get behind the Mad Pipers and share it on social media.

Credit should also go to renowned local bagpiper and Burns Club president, Athol Chalmers, who plays most of the soundtrack in the video clip. The band also took inspiration from (probably the best bagpipe band name ever) the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, a Celtic rock band from Scotland, and Celtica Pipes Rock!

“There’s a lot of tunes to suit the bagpipes but we’ve only gone for five of them,” Andrew says. “We’ve set the Scottish national anthem, Flower of Scotland (by Prydein) to a Beach Boys surf rock style” – or lake rock, as the case may be.

In case you’re wondering, this new clash of music genres is called “bagrock”.

“The more we can promote Canberra and piping the better,” Andrew says. “That’s what it’s all about.”