A collaborative music project, comprised of musicians from Scotland plus those from a lived experience of displacement and immigration.
Founded by Iain Mackechnie
Scottish, Edinburgh based guitarist.
As a volunteer guitar tutor with youth groups in Edinburgh, and teaching English as a foreign language to immigrants and those with a refugee background, then a chance meeting with George Casley from the WOMAD Foundation at WOMAD festival, I went on to secure funding to provide music workshops at various youth groups and community centres in Edinburgh. During this period I also met 4 musicians from Iran, and we collaborated on new compositions which was the start of what has become ‘The Other’. Our first performance was at the Pianodrome during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019. The Iranian musicians were also part of Musicians in Exile, based in Glasgow, who went on to receive the National Diversity Award in 2019.
Funded by Creative Scotland and the EPAD Practice Support
With support from Creative Scotland’s Creative Development fund, and the EPAD Practice Support Fund, The Other brought together eight wonderful musicians in 2021 to work on five compositions, as a means of launching this project. Currently those involved come from Scotland, Iran, Chile and Brazil.
Our Ethos
The ethos behind the project is to be inclusive, supportive and diverse, to improve the understanding between communities and break down barriers through music.
“By reflecting on our perception of ‘the other’ we can shift our view that who we see as ‘them’ and not ‘us’, we can not only become aware that, we are also ‘the other’ , but that ultimately we are all human”.
Our live performances
The outcome for the initial collaboration was a performance for The Pianodrome Sessions, recorded and filmed in their unique 100-seat amphitheatre in Granton, Edinburgh, on 29 June 2021. This was also streamed during the Refugee Festival on 17 July 2021.
We are proud to be working with talented musicians from around the world.
Click below to see our current line-up.