CARL MARAH ON NAVIGATING HIS NEW MUSICAL JOURNEY
INTERVIEW | CARL MARAH by Morgan Hermiston
With an eclectic energy already emerging from his group projects as well as his steadily growing solo material, Carl Marah is an artist to watch. Last year saw the release of his debut track ‘Siren Song‘, which was a solid solo starting point. Marah also released a further two songs in 2025, ‘Roll The Dice‘ and ‘Cold, Cold Christmas‘. I asked Carl some questions about upcoming work, shows, and securing funding.
I started by asking Carl what inspired him to embark on this solo journey. He said, “there were a few factors that led to me performing under my own name as a solo act. I suppose the main reason was that I had quite a chunky backlog of songs which didn’t really fit into any of my other projects stylistically, and I really wanted a vehicle through which I could perform, record and release them”. He further added, “I find it quite difficult to work on new songs when I know I have a big list of tunes waiting in the wings that need to have their moment in the Sun first. By becoming active as a solo act, it’s a great means to rapidly release all those songs, and in the process, allow the creative juices some space in the musical pot to make some new broth. Apologies for the strange soup-centric metaphor.“
With Marah being an a unique upcoming talent to watch out for, I asked what influences are most prevalent in his work. For those of you not already fans, you may just be if you’re also an avid listener of any of the following. He began by saying, “with guitar being my main instrument, I’ve always been drawn to guitar music. So naturally the 1960s and 1970s feel like home to me, as there’s such a wealth of artists and bands who put the guitar front and centre in those eras.” Marah’s “main music heroes would be the likes of Paul Simon, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Ray Davies – but I’m really just interested in guitar music of any style.“
Carl recently finished the track-list for his upcoming EP. This was completed over a week at Knockwood Studios in Edinburgh. He provided a look into the average day throughout this process. Preparing for this, Carl said, “the songs I wanted to record already had pretty solid arrangements long before going in to the studio so I had a very clear idea of how I wanted them to sound. So prior to going into the studio I made up some rough demos at home. I think it’s handy to have a kind of skeleton to work to in the studio – especially as we would be overdubbing every part layer by layer. It helps when tracking drums and bass as you have a pretty good representation of the tune to play along to, which provides a good indication of the dynamics of the song at that early stage.“
After this, he said, “we basically worked our way up the layers – drums, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitars, piano, keyboards, vocals then percussion – in that order. We would spend around 8-10 hours each day tracking and I think I was basically fuelled by Tesco meal deals that entire week. The studio can be quite intense as you are really under the microscope (or more accurately microphone) so every detail of your playing or singing is heavily scrutinised. I really enjoy it though – it’s well worth it when you hear it all come together and see it come alive in front of your eyes (and ears).“
Creative Scotland provided a financial foundation for Carl’s EP. Securing this kind of monetary backing is crucial for many acts, especially those unsigned and independent like him. I asked him what the importance of this was for him, and for other upcoming talents too. He said, “the truth is without their support, this would not be happening. The reality is that recording, touring, releasing is all very expensive and on a musician’s income it’s really difficult to save up the funds to pay for these activities. Having the option of Creative Scotland as a means to fund these kinds of activities is a genuine lifeline to allow new grassroots music to flourish.“
Continuing, Carl added, “It’s not only beneficial for the artist being funded too, as the money awarded is then used to pay local graphic designers, photographers, recording studios, session musicians, music venues and much more, which boosts the creative sector as a whole, which in turn promotes more art being created. The Creative Scotland website has loads of really helpful tutorials and walkthroughs to guide you through the process, I would highly recommend other musicians to consider applying for their own projects too.“
In anticipation of this soon-to-be-released body of work, I asked Carl to summarise it. “I think the five songs on this EP are all quite distinct, so listening through it should feel like constantly changing scenery. Perhaps it’s like a late 60s road trip.“
Reflecting on the current solo releases, Carl explained if the tracks came around in a similar way, or if their production was more varied. For his debut, he said, “Siren Song was possibly the song that sparked the idea to release music solo in the first place. That came about during lockdown and once things opened up again it never really found a home. I really felt like it should be recorded so that was the first single I wanted to do.“
For the latter two releases, he explained, “Roll The Dice I also had in the vault for quite some time without a home, and once the solo performing and recording begun, I refreshed the lyrics and gave it a revamp. Cold, Cold Christmas happened completely out of the blue – I was playing piano at home with the heating off, and the whole thing just materialised in about 15 minutes. Given it was November I felt I had to quickly record and release it, to avoid sitting on it until NEXT Christmas!“
Looking into the year ahead, I asked whether 2026 is expected to be as busy as what 2025 was for Carl. “I should think so!,” he began, “I’m a bit of a workaholic musically, so I’m very eager to clock some miles and get gigging up and down the country again this year – and with the EP release occurring in the Summer, there should be some cool shows in the pipeline to promote it.“
Have a listen to Carl’s already released repertoire and keep an eye out on his social medias for all upcoming release dates and shows. He’s definitely an artist to get to know and with such a wide ranging sound, there’ll be something for all tastes and preferences.
