Month: March 2012

Posted in Bands We've Chatted With

Cancel The Astronauts

Posted on by a little Corner of Scotland

About 6 months ago you closed your interview by asking me why I thought the Scottish music scene was special. You seemed content to equate it to Switzerland’s music scene. As much as I miss Sportsguitar, I think the 35 artists we’ve featured since the beginning attest to just how special it truly is. And we’ve only gotten started.  It all started with you, of course, and I think it is about time to check back in. Could you tell us about the inspiration for the song “Something Approaching’ from the last single?

“Matthew: I think I wrote the title for that first. I probably heard someone else say it, or read it somewhere, and it struck a chord, and I thought, ‘there’s a song in that’. It’s very unlikely I thought of it myself, as the vast majority of everything I do is stolen. After the title I would have thought, ‘something approaching what?’ And then I would have added the word ‘love’ at the end, because if I’m ever stuck for words, I’ll inevitably stick the word ‘love’ in there. Love is, in my experience, a bottomless black pit from which you can endlessly mine material for songs. To me it’s also one of those words that you can’t overuse (though I’m trying), and that your ear never gets bored of hearing, so it works aesthetically too I think. It might seem lazy, and a bit unoriginal, but it’s true. To paraphrase The Beatles, “all there is is love’. The song is about two lovers who don’t know what they want or how they feel. “

Michael: Wasn’t it “All You need is love”? That The Beatles said?

Matthew: That’s why I said ‘paraphrase’ douchebag.

 The last time out I never asked about the band name. Would you care to tell that tale now?

Kieran: It doesn’t have very exciting origins at all, I’m afraid — our synth player Michael wanted to call us Not Astronaut and I wanted to Cancel something, and we we’re really really desperate for a name. We had spent months saying literally anything to each other and following it up with ‘good band name?’, so when nobody objected too strongly to Cancel The Astronauts, apart from the drummer, we went with that.

The drummer left soon after. It’s fine though, we got a new one.

Michael: It’s not a good story but the name has grown on us, now we’re stuck with both the name and I suppose the story. We should probably start telling more interesting lies about the origin of the name.

The new single – Intervention will definitely be out physically in April.  I just stumbled across your old demo songs and was able to listen to both the old version and the Latin Quarter session to hear the new take on it.  Why did you decide to polish up this one?

“Matthew: It will definitely be out in April  You can download it now from  at www.canceltheastronauts.bandcamp.com , and that download comes with a physical CD copy which will be sent to you from Monday 16th April, the official release date. You will also be able to download it from all the other places (iTunes and that) from the 16th too, but if you want it first, BUY IT FROM US! We decided to do a new version because it’s a cracking song that still stands up against the new ones we’ve written, it hasn’t ever been probably recorded or released and we never felt we quite did it justice.”

Yourselves included, so many bands we’ve talked to in the last 6 months will be releasing a full length this year. How is work on yours progressing?  Song order set?  Album art selected? Special pre-order package contemplated?

“Matthew: Ours is progressing well actually! The songs and the order have all been decided, the artwork has been finished, and now we’re just finishing of recording and mixing. We are currently planning a September release, and we hope that won’t change. What could we include with the pre-order package? T-shirts? Signed singles? Posters? Badges? What would you like?

Michael: I was thinking we could do a “Cancel The Astronauts – Secret Files and Origins” comic with profiles of us all, detailing our powers and you know with origin stories for us that tell more interesting lies about how we came up with our name, etc. And badges.”

You both championed and regretted the demise of DeRosa and Mitchell Museum in your first post. Lo and behold – they have both recently reformed. Thoughts?  I think somehow you had something to do with it.

“Matthew: I think probably those two bands were too good to break up and they knew it. I know Martin John Henry released a solo album recently, so it will be interesting to hear the new De Rosa material. Bar a few songs on his album (like the fantastic Span) I slightly preferred De Rosa, although the style was not vastly different at all. He must have a lot of material if he can reform De Rosa so soon, which is surprising considering how incredible his songs are- I’d assume they all took bloody ages to write.”

Personally, I’d love it if another A.C. Acoustics record magically appeared. If you really did have the power, what other band would you will back into existence?

“Matthew: I did it with those two and I did it with Pulp, but Pulp took a lot out of me. I had to raise some very dangerous spirits for that one. The Smiths? My black magic is powerful, but I’m not sure there are enough demons in hell to conjure to pull that off.”

I’ve been trying to follow up on your original band recommendations.  … rather unsuccessfully.  The Bad Books (UK ) are pretty scarce. Since you  played with them on the 24th, maybe you could convince them to get some music out there. Perhaps I’m just not looking hard enough.

“Matthew: I think they’re working on it!

Kieran: We should bootleg their set.”

I suppose that I am going have to get to SXSW or Scotland to see Cancel the Astronauts?

“Matthew: Probably yes. I warn you though, it will make for a very disappointing holiday.”

Lastly, favourite Over The Wall song? I stand by A Grand Defeat. Agree? Or convince me otherwise.

Kieran: It’s the obvious choice, but for me it has to be Thurso. It’s just a special song, and has just the right amount of pathos, euphoria and trumpets. Also whenever they play it live, the place goes call-the-roofer mental. It’s ace. My second favourite is Gimme Five.

Michael: There’s no denying A Grand Defeat is lovely, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Keyboard Heaven. Lovely heartfelt love for an electronic instrument. But but… I also love Settle Down and… They’re just a very good band aren’t they? I’d probably have to agree with Kieran in the end though. Thurso is astonishingly good. Live, I love it when everyone sings along with the trumpet. Magic.”

T&P 

Advertisement
Posted in Bands We've Chatted With

Aerials Up

Posted on by a little Corner of Scotland

I’ve spent the evening creating and listening to a chronological playlist of the 34 Scottish artists we’ve already featured. With a bit of luck you’ll slot in at #35. Not to be too overly dramatic – how is it possible for one relatively small country to produce this much exceptional musical talent?

“It’s true, Scotland seems to be doing something right in the music department. It’s something everyone at home is pretty proud of, there’s a real good community sort of vibe between bands so I guess that helps.”

Have you determined how many songs you’ll include on the debut record? I take it “I Am” will be on it? When can we expect a release date?

“I think there will be around 10 or 11 tracks on it. That’s not set in stone yet, but looking at the list of songs we have to make a record from I think there’s 10/11 that fit nicely together. That list is mostly made up of new songs but there are a few that we’ve been playing for a while, like I Am and our next single “The Old and the Innocent“.

There’s no release date confirmed yet, but we’re aiming for October time. Keep ’em peeled.”

Having grown up a couple hours south of Toronto, I can visualize your upcoming trip well. Will this be the first time there? How did you get invited to  Canadian Music Week?

“Yeah, it’s our first trip across the Atlantic as a band actually. Cat has been here a couple of times before, but I think this is mostly our first visits to Canada. Toronto is such a cool place, I love it here! We applied to come and play around October/November last year and got an invitation early this year. Excited to say the least.”

Are there any other Scottish acts you’d like to recommend?

“Yeah! In keeping true to your last statement there are a whole bunch of great Scottish bands over for CMW this year, mostly friends of ours from home actually. We went to see our friends Twin Atlantic at the Phoenix last night, they ripped the place apart. Three Blind Wolves are here too as well as French Wives. I’d recommend them all very highly.”

What’s the last show (not your own of course) that the Aerial team attended together?

“Apart from going to see Twin Atlantic last night, the last show that all of Team AU attended was Evil Edison at King Tuts in Glasgow. Our sound man Paul fronts Evil Edison and this was there first show, we seen a whole new side of our Paulie, they were awesome!”

We ask variations of this question a lot – perhaps too much so – so let me turn it towards Glasgow venues specifically. What are your favourites?

“Us Glaswegians are spoiled for good venues! King Tuts Wah Wah Hut tops the bill though, over it’s 20 year history its had all the big names, from Radiohead to Muse, grace it’s stage. I’m actually sitting with the venues first ever booker right now and he informs me it’s like Scotland’s answer to The Horseshoe Tavern over here.”

I once saw Carina Round mop the floor with Snow Patrol in a support slot. Would that pretty much sum up your own experience? I see that you have played Royal Albert Hall as well. I saw Richard Thompson there the one time I was in London. What was that like?

“Nice, it’s always a great feeling when a support act blow you away like that. I hope we’ve been able to make such an impression on fans of SP like that too.

It was pretty incredible yeah. It’s a special place, there’s a real aura about it. I remember seeing tiny little silhouettes watching our set from waaay up in the gods and being a bit taken aback. The seats go right around the back of the stage too so there’s no hiding, 360 degree audience!”

Continually seeing the FATCAT roster is all well and good but we need more. What are your long term plans to get yourselves here?

“You gotta hand it to them, FatCat have such a great roster of Scottish acts! The plan when we return home is to record the album and promote it like crazy. It’d be nice to get some backing to help promote it too, so fingers crossed someone will come on board to help with that – and fly us across to San Fran.”

I just remembered that the French Wives are in Toronto on March 24th also.  That would have been a great bill: Aerials Up/French Wives.

“Funny you should mention it, we’re playing a show with the French Wives while we’re both in Toronto, at the Smiling Buddha on Sunday 25th!”

Lastly, would you be so kind and ask us a question?

“Would you rather have the power of invisibility or be able to fly?”

Fly (to Toronto) obviously. SF is dissappointely too far from SXSW and CMW.

T&P

Posted in Bands We've Chatted With

The Kays Lavelle

Posted on by a little Corner of Scotland

I downloaded the first record ‘Be Still this Gentle Morning’ from emusic. I’m pretty sure that I just found it ‘accidently’.  The record just seemed to come from nowhere.  It is an incredibly lovely album. Whenever I saw a reference to The Kays Lavelle later on it conjured up the image of something special. The record itself became my central icon for the Kays because I never associated it with  a ‘band’ directly.

Would you mind retelling the tale of the origin and meaning of the band name?

“It was basically a misunderstanding between myself and a friend during a phone conversation.  He had music on in the background and I asked who he was listening to, to which he replied the K’s of  L…as in the Kings of Leon.  I asked who the Kays Lavelle were and the name just stuck.”

You are releasing a  song from the new record as a free download on March 16 for one day only. Coincidently, and quite unbelievably, all 3 of us here at glasGOwest share a birthday that day. What prompted the decision for this little birthday present?

Well I’m working on the second record now.  It’s been almost 2 years since the debut was released and there have been no shows, no interviews, no nothing really, since then to keep people interested in the Kays.  I’d been thinking of ways to help raise the profile again before the album is done and ready to go, just to get some interest back and this seemed like a good taster from the album.”

I have no idea why I didn’t sign up for the recent free debut record giveaway. My thinking ran along the lines of I’ve already got it digitally and I didn’t want to impose or something like that. How many did you actually send to people? What prompted this act of generosity?

Again this had a lot to do with raising the profile and getting people interested in what I was up to.  There would really be no point in doing the second record if I didn’t think people would want a second record, other than to satisfy my own personal need to write and record music.  I just made it available for a limited time to try and encourage people back into the kays music. I had about 20 people asking for copies.

I’m very excited that the work on the second record is apparently underway .  Musically, do you intend to venture into any new directions? Is the new song fairly representative of the rest of the album?

“I always want to push myself as an artist.  Working on the Graveyard Tapes record pushed me far out of my comfort zone as a musician, which was a really important experience.  Its made me approach the new Kays record in a different way. So   hopefully the record will have a very different feel to the debut without ever being anything other than the Kays Lavelle.  I just hope to write and create music that people will connect with.

The new song is not really representative of the rest of the album as it was recorded live and won’t likely be touched again other than a tweak here and there and mastering.  Also, my gut feeling is that there will be a lot less piano led tracks on the new record as I really want to experiment with different instruments and sounds; but it’s too early to tell how the songs will develop and change during the recording process at the moment. Hopefully people will like the record once it’s ready.”

I always like to ask if there are any other artists people would recommend. In this case, I’m just going to just ask about Hiva Oa under the assumption they would be who you would want to tell us about. What makes them special? ( please do include anyone else you’d also like to point out to us)

“Well as a starting point Hiva Oa are just exceptional.  I run mini50 records and their new ep is our latest release so perhaps I have a bias.  But from the first time I saw them live I loved their music.  What makes them special is difficult to explain –   I guess I just connect with what they do musically and I love that they have their own voice and sound.

Other recommendations would include anything on the mini50 catalogue, I guess, and Matthew Collings solo stuff (he’s the other half of Graveyard Tapes).”

Could you give us a sense of the differences between the Glasgow and Edinburgh music scenes? (or is it largely just a question of geography?)

” Well I have to be honest and say I don’t like when people divide Edinburgh and Glasgow.  I think good music and art has come out of both cities and it makes no sense to say there is a musical divide between places in a country so small.  The main difference is that those bands Based in glasgow are not based in Edinburgh and vice versa. “

I’ve read a good deal of your wordpress blog just now. And it appears that, somewhat sadly, the Kays will remain as elusive as my original experience.  “Stunningly beautiful” is a worthy goal. It tends to come out of Scotland quite a lot actually. Why do you think that is?

“Well, I hope I won’t be too elusive but thank you for the kind words on the Kays and I will strive for stunningly beautiful.

A sense of place in music is a really interesting thing.  I think perhaps traditional music creates imagery and sounds that are deeply rooted in a country or a place.  I watched ‘Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus’ about the music of the deep south and it struck me how its impossible to escape the traditions, culture and sound of where you come from.  listening to Jim White, the Handsome Family and similar artists the music they create could only come from the one place. It perfectly evokes the eerie beauty you find there, the humidity, and the music is so fearsome, yet fragile all at the same time.

Maybe the same thing is true of Scotland, of course the sound is totally different, but we’re very embedded in traditional music. You try to move beyond that, but the roots are there and in many ways are inescapable. I don’t think people deliberately go out their way to create something that sounds like their home country, I know I don’t, but maybe its something inherently instinctive.”

I’ll wrap it up with this last question –  could you tell us about the Graveyard Tapes? I couldn’t find any music but the project clearly seems to be a source of optimism. 

“Graveyard Tapes started in 2010 and is a project involving myself and Matthew Collings.  We have recently completed our debut album entitled ‘Our Sound Is Our Wound’ and we’re hoping that it will be released this year.  Its at the mixing/mastering stage so it should be done soon enough.  Its been a great experience for me as a musician and also a person because I think Matt is one of the most talented and wonderful people I’ve met.  I have learned so much from him musically and his drive and passion has pushed me on to not only want to finish this record but to do the second Kays record and plenty of other things in the future too hopefully.  So yeah, I guess you could say it’s been a very positive experience for me.”

T&P

Happy Birthday. March 16th only. ‘Hiding in the Ditches’. Be sure to get the sampler while there as well, it does have some Graveyard Tapes. http://mini50records.bandcamp.com/

Posted in Bands We've Chatted With

The Little Mill of Happiness

Posted on by a little Corner of Scotland

I’ve had your EP Capsized Sailors for  a few months now. I love how it  sounds much more than a 5 song EP. It is actually pretty easy to imagine it expanded into a full length. How are the plans toward that progressing?

“We plan on recording a double single in early Summer and from there the full album. So hopefully before the end of 2012!”

I rather enjoy the name: ‘The Little Mill of Happiness’. Is there a story behind it?

“The name came from a biography I was reading about Saint Bernadette who was the little girl who saw the Virgin mary, an aperation of Virgin Mary at Lourdes in France. She described her upbringing as a really happy one in it she described her home life as the little mill of happiness.”

Last summer, I was trolling the ‘Scotland is Alive with Music’ facebook group. To be honest, it was a little hard to find much to my liking there  but a live Belladrum version of Villa Boas caught my eye and ear. A chorus  line of guitars in a strange shiny vehicle/trailer/studio. It seems to be  an interesting festival. What is it like?

 “Belladrum is a fantastic festival in beautiful surroundings. It appeals to people of all ages and tends to be a very laid back, safe and absorbing festival experience. Local organic brewerys and food stalls sell great local produce and there is always a great mix of international and local artists performing. We loved our show there.”

Musically and lyrically you paint a dark picture. Although it is pretty  tangential, my first frame of reference might be Therapy? What inspires the  lyrics? 

 “I suppose what inspires the lyrics – – it’s a funny thing because you worry about talking about the sourc —  what inspires the lyrics is that I really enjoy doing a thing where I don’t write autobiographically but I do put myself in a certain situations or scenarios and write about friends in a way, because I do in a way, it does sound a bit wanky but its that whole thing about ‘you can say a lot more by  wearing a mask than just writing about yourself..coz thats just a bit fucking boring really.”

You cite, as influences, all the bands I studiously avoided in the 90’s. Growing up in Canada, I went through this strange anti-American phase. I had to discover Pavement through Urusei Yatsura. Are there Scottish bands you found influential?

“There are many. Particularly Arab Strap, Mogwai, early Laeto, Aereogramme, Cocteau Twins, Stetsonhead”

How long has TLMOH been around? What is the game plan?

“We’ve all been in other bands (Lush Rollers, Shutter, Lowtide Revelry, Abagail Grey) but we got together 3 years ago. We didn’t start playing  live for some time and view this year as our proper launch.”

I’m sort of expanding my musical scope outward from Glasgow and  Edinburgh.  Does Inverness contain any other hidden gems or secrets? Are there any  other bands you’d feel charitable enough to point out to us?

Inverness and the local area have some great artists. We highly recommend checking out Megan Blyth, PAWS and Zombie Militia.

Thanks again for the interview.  Hope you like the EP! We are supporting Pelican at Stereo/Glasgow on April 10th and are looking to tour just after this.

Thanks again

TLMOH

Do watch the Belladrum clip:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m9mS6BjRbw&feature=related

T&P

Posted in Live Reviews

Twilight Sad (and Twin Atlantic) Live

Posted on by a little Corner of Scotland

It is early, a day and a half later and I’m listening to some acoustic Twilight Sad while I type this. We managed to get in two shows at two different venues Thursday night. Haven’t had a Scottish band in town since November 11th and they decide to show up on the same night.  Good fortune and our perfectly executed plan allowed us to see both. In some respects, the night was about expectations.

Twilight Sad – at the Independent for the 3rd time – to be honest the first two experiences were not as good as I had hoped they would be. I really wish it would have been at another venue, so that I could remove that factor. To put it most simply, the vocals, more often than not, seemed buried too deep in the mix. Considering how integral these are to Twilight Sad’s overall sound, it just leaves me perplexed as to why this has been the case all three times.

Frustrations aside, I’d go again. I feel that I got a better sense of the band. I’ve always felt that what they are trying to convey in their live sound is a lot more difficult to execute than you might think. I was closer to the stage this time and I noticed that there is a heartfelt and genuine quality, and even a certain charm, to James’s vocal intensity. From afar this is easy to miss. Although I generally prefer my singers with a guitar in their idle hands, it is very clear that the vocals are as much an instrument as any used by the other four people on stage.

 I liked the new keyboard emphasis.  I still wish there was more of a dynamic range in both the synth sounds and the guitar. When it got quieter the vocals soared. The thing is, as anyone that has seen them live can attest to, it doesn’t get quiet very often.  This is, of course, me placing my expectations on what I want my live experience to be on top of what really transpired. I could be wrong, because we had to duck out a little early, no acoustic guitar was brought on stage for a change of pace.  It would be correctly pointed out that this wouldn’t have matched the dynamic of the live show at all. Once again, it is just a fan wrestling with his own expectations.

Waking up the next day, as I got in the car to go to work, there was a Twilight Sad tune in my head before I turned on the radio. For me, that is the proof that I did enjoy the show.

We saw Twin Atlantic at the Rickshaw Stop. It should be noted that the last Scottish act we saw there was Biffy Clyro. I think you can pretty much surmise the overall reaction knowing this. When most of the incredibly short set (not even 40 minutes) was spent reminiscing and marveling how close to Biffy we had been you know we were underwhelmed. Of course, we didn’t expect not to be. Rock and Roll live has a tremendous leveling effect. I did genuinely enjoy listening to ‘You’re turning into John Wayne’ and ‘Yes I was drunk’, the rest was remarkably ordinary. The parts I did like were a little too ‘Biffy-lite’. I don’t think my expectations need changing. We primarily went because we felt that we should. Pulling it off was reward in itself.  And yet this morning there is that Twin Atlantic tune in my head ….

All in all, a good glasGOwest night out; my only regret was that I didn’t buy the poster. I should have. Perhaps waving it at the Twin Atlantic show might even have been satisfying.

T&P

and thanks to Mark for putting up with us at the merch table.

Posted in Bands We've Chatted With

E

Posted on by a little Corner of Scotland

One of the message bottles has turned up. It is a little scuffed and dated. I usually just launch into the interview without context. The assumption has always been that we either already know the band and if for some reason you are reading this and don’t – go check out the music first. Lately, I’ve been primarily listening to bands that have been featured in the blog. My musical listening experience is none the worse for this, but  I’ve been trying to add Endor since the beginning. They are obviously highly regarded by those in the know. They are also criminally underated like so many good Scottish bands tend to be. I’m pretty sure they were a ‘radar’ band. I’m extremely delighted that movement to another record is afoot. There is, afterall, a theoretical limit to how many times one can listen to ‘Chapel Doors’ and ‘Seek Cover’.

Listening to the self-titled full length now, I bought mine digitally.  I was looking to see if there was a physical version to buy and couldn’t find one. Was it only released as a download?

“No it was released on CD as well, but that sold out and we have just repressed it. We released it ourselves, so we took a while weighing up the decision to repress. In the end we opted to go for it as we had a number of requests to make it available on CD again.”

Your contribution of ‘Chapel  Doors’ for the Songs for the Land of the Rising Sun benefit record has an extra 4 seconds of silence at the end. Was there a particular reason for choosing to include this song? It does rank as one my favourite songs. I’d love to hear your story of what ‘it is about’.

“Not really, we just thought it would be good to contribute a track that was some people’s favourite so as to encourage them to buy the record. That song always gets a really strong response.

I would find it hard to describe what the song is ‘about’ because I think the lyrics are pretty straight forward. The first nugget of it came one afternoon when I took a wrong turn trying to find a friend’s flat in Glasgow. I ended up on a street I had never been on, and wound up outside a church where there was a wedding car waiting. A small boy and girl, each about 6, presumably an usher and bridesmaid, were chasing each other outside the closed door. Sounds made up really, but it was from that little image that the rest of the song spun from.”

It is hard to believe that the record came out mid-2010. It has been on constant rotation. Have you written any new songs? Are there any plans to release them soon?

“We have written songs since, some of which we like and plenty that are rubbish. When we finished the first album there were a few hungover little bits and pieces that we took a while to work through and decide whether they were worth keeping on or letting go. One song in particular really picked away at us and I couldn’t stop playing it on piano, but I couldn’t write final lyrics. We finished that around 3 months ago and it feels now like we’re able to properly move on to album two. That piano song will definitely be on there and we’re going to have to pick 9 more by Summer which is when we’re aiming to record.”

Apparently my Endor collection is not complete. Is there any chance of making the first single available digitally as well?

“Nope, sorry. ‘Hold On’ sold out back when it was released and it was never available digitally. We actually don’t have any control as Say Dirty Records would be the ones to decide to rerelease it or not. I really hope they don’t though, not that we weren’t happy with it but it’d be like someone releasing your baby photos.”

It seems that the helptheendorly wordpress blog seems dormant. Is facebook your new forward operating base?

“Yeah that would be my fault. We will update the site more when we swing back into things fully (if we don’t our managers Paul and Vicki might kill us). Facebook is great though for chatting to folks and letting people know about shows.”

With the usual pangs of envy, I noticed that on Dec 16th  you opened for the Jetpacks and Remember, Remember.  I’m curious how you got that support slot. From here it is all magical looking, but I imagine quite a few outfits would have coveted that slot. Why Endor?

“The Jetpacks asked us to. We’ve been friends for years so it was a bit of a Christmas night out vibe. Richard and I played extra guitars on a few of they’re songs on the night and I got to sing the ‘oh oh oh ohs’ on ‘Quiet Little Voices’ which was awesome. but we were taken aback by, like, 1000 people screaming that part back at the stage. It’s amazing how well they have done. They’re one of the best bands around..”

I’ll confess that I might be playing ‘Star Wars: the Old Republic’ right now. Does the band name have anything to do with that universe? I must ask since I’ve learned that I can’t assume anything when it comes to a band name choice.

“Yeah it does but only because we formed the band when we were high school and never grew out of it. Quite a lot of people tell us that when they think of that word now they think of us, which is nice. It also appears in Lord of the Rings and the Bible apparently so we should be safe from any Lucasfilm legal departments.”

Do you have a hat tip to what we should be looking for this year? Personally, I’m really looking forward to Chris Devotion and the Expectations in January.

“Randolph’s Leap’s debut album, Washington Irving’s, and Bear Bones’ too. Also the second State Broadcasters record (you MUST check out their first, it’s called The Ship and the Iceberg), They are our favourite bands. We like them so much we have stolen members from all of them! It’s really more of a timeshare I guess.”

I want to ask another song specific question – ‘Seek Cover’.   I’m in love with the Belladrum live version. How exactly does Belladrum work?  Can we get these recordings somewhere? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHw8yDo6SzI

“Belladrum is a normal music festival in Scotland. That video was filmed as a session when we were up there by Netsounds. I think they audio file is free from their website.”

Constant ‘twitter’ useage forced me to look up ‘Hogmanay’. Since today is the 31st, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask how you spent it.

“We were all in Glasgow I think. Richard, Mark and I were at a party at a friends house, Kieran was in a club in town and Andy… actually I’m not sure I’ve heard from Andy since Hogmanay. If he isn’t at practice tomorrow you’ll have a scoop on your hands.”

Lastly, we’d love it if you asked glasGOwest a question.

“What made you decide to focus on Glasgow?”

Urusei Yatsura – Mogwai – Delgados – The Pastels – A.C Acoustics   …..  to the curent glasGOwest band list. Look at the list then think on how many are still missing. I cannot think of any place with such a concentration of music that moves me. It couldn’t be anything but Glasgow really.  Then there is my infatuation with Chemikal Underground. I’ve always thought of my music as coming from regional center points. Glasgow – Leeds – Cardiff . Of course, what once starteed out being primarily glasgowcentric is gradually spreading out. I think it is safe to say that it will remain the musical heart.

T&P