Arran Arctic profile picture

Arran Arctic

These things you hide from me, so silly...

About Me



Arran Arctic was originally discovered by a rusting Icelandic whaling ship, floating alone on an iceberg in the Arctic Circle. The shaken crew members enquired as to how he came to be travelling in such a strange way upon the ocean swell. No answers were ever given. Suffering from amnesia, Arctic began a new life upon the vessel, entertaining the sailors after discovering a penchant for weaving songs and sea shanties long forgotten into modern melodies. His singing voice slowly unveiled a Northern Irish accent, a clue perhaps to his origins. Arctic continues to travel to this day, mysteriously drawn towards the North. As the creaking hull of his ship ploughs through ice sheets, he gives birth to more and more traveller's tales, endlessly searching for the answer to his existence and very personal enigma.
Traveling the Northern extremities of the globe and plagued by a lost past, Arran Arctic and the crew of his ramshackle ocean vessel were set upon by a merciless storm. Losing all control of the aging metal giant, the ship was blown off course and dashed against the craggy rocks of Northern Scotland. Upon awakening he raised his battered head to find his shipmates lost. He had drifted down the Eastern coast to gaze for the first time upon the damp streets of Edinburgh. Taking refuge in an abandoned lighthouse, Arctic stumbled upon another world of musicians, artists and noise-makers. Turning towards the North and armed with a renewed back-to-basics approach to his music, Arctic knew he would have to negotiate this sprawling labyrinth and wondered when he would next set sail.
Here's what some nice people from Out Of The Bedroom said:
"On top, he lays his voice like a blanket, guitar bubbling beneath. Lovely inflections as his voice flits between soft and a full falsetto. Loved it. His playing was nicely understated throughout, only with the occasional technical flourish that demonstrated his simple approach was by choice rather than lack of skill. I was quite transfixed" - Out Of The Bedroom, ootb.typepad.com/ootb
And Garageband:
"beautiful aching tender vocals over melancholy sevenths...its very real and its exquisite and that is a rare combination...the intimacy is really rare in recorded music...no complaints!" - Blue Light Of Dawn, garageband.com
And photographic collaborator Clare Martin:
"he is well worth checking out, his sound is fab!!" - Clare Martin, freewebs.com/1magine-photography
Not to mention airplay on XFM Scotland:
"A bit of a weird one... The music he makes is very, very good indeed" - Martin Bate, Music:Response, www.xfmuploaded.co.uk/arranarctic
And devoted admirer, Guided By Spiders:
"for some reason [his songs] sound really interesting...kind of magical and childlike...[they] have this innocent kind of purity about them, I hear it anyway" - Guided By Spiders, www.myspace.com/guidedbyspiders

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/7/2006
Band Website: facebook.com/pages/Arran-Arctic/15180999034
Band Members: Arran Arctic is... Arran Southall, who sings, records, programs, produces and plays acoustic/electric guitar, violin, pedal organ, accordion, concertina, harpsichord, recorder, tin whistle, drums, percussion, metal pipe xylophone, wine glasses and xeremia.

Occasional guests: Kevin Magee - Drums, Hannah Bradley - Vocals, Edvard Brédok - Vocals, Dimitris Bozelos - Programming, The Laurel Tree - Vocals, Zöe Thomas - Vocals, Michelle Howard - Vocals, Charlotte Southall - Vocals, Daniel Hanna - Electric guitar, David Southall - Bhodran.

Influences: Bjork, King Creosote, Iain Archer, Damien Rice, Alanis Morissette, Arcade Fire, Ryan Adams, Royksopp, Josh Rouse, Fleetwood Mac, Clannad, Lunasa, Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vetiver, The Knife, Cortney Tidwell, Yoko Kanno, Maaya Sakamoto, Vashti Bunyan, Oakenfold, Amy Winehouse, Patrick Wolf, Songs Of Green Pheasant, Epic45, Camera Obscura, Bright Eyes, Biffy Clyro, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Cat Power, Goldfrapp, Glen Hansard, KT Tunstall, Peaches, PJ Harvey, Reindeer Section, Snow Patrol, Rufus Wainwright, Sigur Ros, Stars, Bat For Lashes, Doves, Feist and Fiona Apple.

:
Arran Arctic http://arransouthall.bebo.com/

Sounds Like: Lo-fi, ethereal, rythmic traveller's tales.

Type of Label: None

My Blog

For the love of LIVE!

Hey allHas been a bit quiet on the Arctic front as of late, so apologies. Full time work can do that to you I suppose!It's not all been standing around the water cooler, gossiping about Big Brother th...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:21:00 PST

’The Boy In Brown’ has entered the room...

Oh yes, it's finally here, after more than a year of writing, programming, recording and producing, the 4th studio album from Arran Arctic entitled 'The Boy In Brown' has been unleashed upon the world...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:48:00 PST

Remastered and FINALLY for sale!

Hey allNo doubt you've noticed a few changes to the media player and the layout. This is for two reasons:1 - With the imminent arrival of the 4th album by Arran Arctic, 'The Boy In Brown', I've been s...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:26:00 PST

’Leipzig’: The song so good, I covered it twice

Hey allJust writing to let you know I have two versions of a new track called 'Leipzig' up on the media player.These cover versions are based on the ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC original by Edvard Brédok who ...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:39:00 PST

Major breakthroughs: Music, videos and shit

Hey allThe main news is that the new album ’The Boy In Brown’ is entering the final stages of completion (about fucking time too). It’s been one thing after another with this one, ac...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:06:00 PST

Arran Arctic’s Adventures On XFM Scotland

Hey allThis is really just to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for me last week when I was a "featured artist" on XFM Scotland. Although I didn’t win the main vote (boo hoo) my track &r...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:28:00 PST

I TOTALLY NEED YOUR VOTES TO GET ON XFM!!! lol

Hey everyone I got a phonecall from XFM Uploaded the other day to let me know that I’m going to be one of three acts that people can vote for in order to be included on a weekly XFM show and pod...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:17:00 PST

Cancelled Gig :(

Hey all Unfortunately I've had to cancel my appearance at The Voodoo Rooms tonight. By necessity I have had to aqquire some part time work and wouldn't you know it, the first shift I get clashes with ...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:05:00 PST

New layout, songs and photos

Hey allThe myspace has been given a bit of a revamp.There are several songs up from the new '7 Nights, 7 Bars' EP including two brand new previously unrecorded tracks, 'Londinium' and 'The Door', as w...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:18:00 PST

Gigs and collaborations

Hey allI've been trying to stick my metaphorical oar into the Edinburgh music scene and am currently trying to play at least one gig a week (often accompanied by my good friend Mr Edvard Brédok - mysp...
Posted by Arran Arctic on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:04:00 PST