As a music hotspot, Stirling may not have the profile of Glasgow or Manchester.
But Stephen McAll wouldn’t live anywhere else – and he is keen to help up-and-coming talent thrive there too.
Next February, Stephen is due to release his haunting second album, The Smile You Send Out Returns To You, as indie-folk outfit Constant Follower and believes his home city has helped nurture him as an artist over the past few years.
“I just walk along the river, so I get a little bit of country here every day,” the songwriter boasts on a Zoom call from his studio, just five minutes down the River Forth from his home.
Life-altering attack saw music put on hold
Brought up in East Kilbride, much of Stephen’s early years were spent around Glasgow.
But a life-changing event came aged 16, when he was brutally attacked while returning home from a party.
The assault caused serious head injuries that left him with no memories of his childhood. His major memory problems continue today.
Stephen’s dreams of making music were put on hold for the following two decades that saw him suffer addiction issues with drink and drugs.
Moving to Stirling was key to his recovery.
“Everything was going wrong,” he admits. “I had just had my first daughter and that relationship had failed.
“I was in with a crowd doing things I wanted to get away from and it was just impossible to do that around them.”
Stephen ‘fell in love with’ Stirling on day out
He visited Stirling on a day trip with his current partner, Kathleen, who also sings on the album, and in Stephen’s words, “fell in love with the place”.
“It’s an amazing environment as an artist,” he continues. “There’s such a wealth of music.
“Our problem is when young artists come of age, they head off to Glasgow or Edinburgh. The challenge is retaining all that amazing creativity.”
Stephen namechecks his home’s “amazing” Tolbooth venue that helps many artists develop, including via his own Golden Hum nights.
Now the performer hopes to provide a space for young people to “bash out some tunes in front of the friends”.
While Stephen’s music as Constant Follower has a hushed, intimate quality, as the new album’s title track suggests, his lyrics are positive and hopeful, their writer agrees.
“It’s not intentional, but I guess I’m much more aware of the division around us,” he says.
“It’s going on in America, in this country, and politicians are feeding it while news outlets thrive on it.”
‘Real, deep hatred’ for mobile phones
Another number, All Is Well, subtly warns us to get off our phones and avoid fears stoked by social media.
“They’re really horrible. I only noticed myself when I got one about two years ago,” he explains.
“I realised I hadn’t finished a book in all that time. My time’s quite limited already with the family, music and other things, so the phone sort of occupied that time I would be reading.
“And having a 15-year-old daughter, seeing what it’s doing to her generation, I’ve developed a real, deep hatred for them. I couldn’t believe they’re allowed in school.”
Raising three daughters (the others are one and five-years-old), is an experience Stephen believes has had a profound effect on his lyrics, notably the title track.
He says: “I’m trying to set some sort of an example to them and think of wisdom I should impart without boring them silly.
“It’s not about that surface level of give and get.
“It’s much deeper than that, about how we are conditioned nowadays to believe everyone’ll probably do you harm, whereas I think the vast majority of people are just like us.”
Constant Follower’s new single Patient Has Own Supply is out now on Last Night From Glasgow. Stephen supports Xan Tyler at The King’s, Kirkcaldy, on November 8 2024.
Constant Follower play The Smith, Stirling, on December 13 2024.
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