The pages of Fossoway Primary School’s 2011/12 yearbook offer a wide-ranging variety of life ambitions and hopes for the future.
Zoom in on one of the small rectangular pictures and a message under the name of Callum Campbell simply reads: “When I’m older I want to be in a band.”
Fast forward to the present day and the lead singer of Longstay is very much fulfilling his childhood dream.
Callum fronts up Perth’s four-piece Southern Rock and Americana band alongside pals Malcolm Swan, Ben Carswell and Cameron McCafferty.
Before this interview advances any further, the genre of music is a point of discussion. Where did the country vibe come from for a group of guys growing up in Perth and Kinross and who have not (yet) performed Stateside?
“I’ve always had an interest in music and been absorbed in it,” says former Kinross High student Callum.
“Band-wise, I met Malcolm – the other front man – in 2013. We hung out and decided we were quite similar.
“Malcolm and I started busking a lot when we were younger. We realised, pretty quickly, that people paying us were not our age. They were always older.
“So we started learning a bunch of older songs and that put us on the country track.
“We thought it was pretty cool, built it up and have kind of – although cliché to say –formed our own sound.
“It’s not quite country and not quite southern rock. Somewhere in the middle.
“I’m quite influenced by Counting Crows and Hootie & the Blowfish, while Malcolm is influenced a lot by The Eagles. There are a few different things coming into the pot.”
Perth playing host to the popular Southern Fried Festival certainly added fuel to the fire.
“Having the Southern Fried Festival has been fantastic and we actually launched our first album at an evening show in the Salutation Hotel,” Callum recalls.
“I remember it was after Steve Earle had played. He walked past and his band sat and watched us for the evening. So that was pretty cool.”
The band’s uniqueness is certainly part of what sets them apart and early doors resulted in them catching the ear of local revellers out sampling the finest of Perth’s nightlife in the likes of The Twa Tams and Mucky’s.
“Things slowly changed from a four-piece rock band into a three-piece acoustic band, then we grew up to six, now we’re at four again,” laughed Callum.
As momentum was continuing to pick up and songs reaching a wider audience, the Covid-19 pandemic brought the curtain down on live performances.
Undeterred, there remained a determination to spread their music via online platforms and work on new material for the eventual return to performing in front of audiences in person.
Callum explained: “The four as we are now have been together since the year before Covid.
“We had two years of not doing an awful lot publicly. We did three online gigs, not live obviously because we couldn’t be together. We recorded each part and mixed them all.
“We then ended up putting tracks together into an album and put that out as a quarantine session, mostly covers.
“When we came out of Covid we did some stuff around Perth but a lot up north including at a festival called Capers In Cannich. We would still be playing locally, like the Twa Tams and Mucky’s.
“When we first started out, I don’t think we were ever too nervous. We have been since then.
“The most nervous I have actually been was the first gig after Covid. It felt weird to be back and there had been a big build-up to it. Some gigs you get up there and think the knees are going a little bit.”
Just the other week Callum and fellow frontman Malcolm played an acoustic set in front of a tuned-in crowd at Perth Theatre’s Joan Knight Studio, prior to Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton entertaining masterfully with whistles and pipes.
Both acts were a fantastic treat and emphasised the talent right on our doorstep here in Perth and Kinross.
“That was good fun,” smiled Callum. “It was great to play before Ali and Ross too because I love their music.”
The Longstay pair had dovetailed nicely on stage and Callum added: “It’s nice seeing people’s reactions to songs that we are performing.
“We used to be terrible for not speaking. We would get up on stage, play for three hours and hardly say anything between songs – which doesn’t work. We’re still learning.
“When you play somewhere and get a lot of recognition from the people who organise the event, or the sound guys, that is always a good sign.
“We were down at an awards ceremony a few weeks ago and the guy who was on the sound – who works with a lot of big acts – was quite impressed with us.
“Little comments like that from people who know what they are talking about give you encouragement.”
While the gigs are winding down now for 2022, Longstay are hoping their journey up the musical ladder is still only beginning. They have already leapt up plenty of steps but Callum is determined to clamber higher.
“We do have a new single coming out at the end of the month,” he revealed.
“We’re winding the gigs down now and have one left this year in Mull.
“We’ll be focusing on the less exciting stuff, getting through all the releases and then make a start planning for next year. Hopefully we’ll get the calendar booked up pretty full.
“This year we played C2C Country To Country at the Hydro. We weren’t on the main stage. We were on an acoustic stage so I’d like to get the band down there so we can perform as us.
“We also did Belladrum. Maybe we could get a bigger stage at that.
“I like the travelling and, if we could get abroad, that would be quite cool. We haven’t ever left the British Isles with the music yet.
“We have had friends who have been across to Nashville and have done some stuff out there. That sounds quite fun.”
As Callum flicks back through his P7 yearbook, satisfaction arrives in the fact that he remains very much on the right track.
“I’m content but we would like to push forward,” he told the PA. “When you can do this full-time and everyone is comfortable, that is the goal. We want to play in as many places as possible.
“It’s quite nice to open the yearbook and think I’m actually doing what I thought I was going to be doing.”
