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Wick rapper subject of new documentary


By David G Scott

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Filmmaker, explorer and writer Ashley Cowie may be more at home in the jungles of South America but for his latest documentary he journeys back to his Wick roots to film a rapper who is quickly gaining major accolades.

Vandal Rising tells the "uplifting and inspiring story" of Wick man Ebo McDowall who as a child was thrown around children’s homes and ended up struggling with alcohol, substance abuse and violence in his teens.

Ebo McDowall is the subject of a new documentary by Ashley Cowie. Picture: DGS
Ebo McDowall is the subject of a new documentary by Ashley Cowie. Picture: DGS

Director Ashley says: "Locked in his shed/studio in Pulteneytown, Ebo taught himself how to write music and to rap but over the last 15 years he faced fierce local rejection for his particular, and in many way peculiar, style of music – this local distaste extending to his stage persona, The Vandal."

In his early 30s, still struggling with a range of addictions, Ebo watched from the bylines as his dreams of being a rapper slowly faded away. But in 2010 he finally overcame "the demon drink and his life started to change for the better", said Ashley.

He added: "Since he was 20-years-old, The Vandal had been sending out demo-reels to music producers with nothing but a constant stream of rejection. However, in 2018 he uprooted from Wick and brought his music to Inverness. It was the week after his first city gig that the email of a lifetime hit The Vandal’s inbox and he was invited to play on stage with British music legend Sean Ryder and his group Black Grape."

Vandal Rising poster advertsing the new documentary.
Vandal Rising poster advertsing the new documentary.

Ashley has been filming Ebo since 2012 and his new documentary, Vandal Rising, charts the reformation of "a drug-addicted, angry drunk trapped in a garden shed in Wick" to becoming a self-employed rapper and family man, living in the present with positive future prospects, and set to perform with the biggest names in the UK music scene.

Producing the film independently over six years Ashley has made it available for free on his website at www.ashleycowie.com/blog/vandal-rising

The film is intended to "offer a moment of hope to anyone feeling, trapped, depressed or done with the Highlands" and to these ends Ashley is giving 50 per cent of all donations to a local mental health charity called No More Lost Souls.

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