Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past and present), playlists and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
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If I was 20 odd years younger I would probably be a little jealous of Spinning Coin; releasing on Stephen Pastel's Geographic label with support from Domino, recording with Edwyn Collins and touring with Teenage Fanclub and Dinosaur Jr... the stuff of a young indie guitar fans fantasies.
And as I approach 42 it still is a kind of fantasy of mine to put together an indie guitar band and have loads of fun. I can't afford the mid-life crisis sports car, so that might happen!
It is a reality for Spinning Coin, they are playing great shows, they have recorded a great indie guitar album that is at times; fragile, raw, rough n ready and full of harmonies, humour and playfulness.
Photo by Stuart McIntosh
Spinning Coin have released a number of singles from the album over the last couple of years; drip feeding their sound on to record tables and into hearts.
Only 5-songs (one by a mere 2 seconds) across the 14 on Permo break the 3-minute barrier. They don't mess about with the two songwriters Sean Armstrong and Jack Mellin displaying their talent in many ways.
Fuzzy melodic guitars and beautiful strained vocals usher in Armstrong's Raining On Hope Street, while there is pace, power and more frantic riffs to Mellin's Tin.
We then have two songs referencing money in the title; Money For Breakfast and Money Is A Drug. The first has some beautiful lyrics and has a great melancholic vibe to it, a kind of stoned groove.
So soothing, it's so soothing when the sunlight reaches your bed
Armstrong's fragile and melodic tunes with his storytelling lyrics that somehow fit into a song are pretty special. It almost kind of should't work, but it really does as evidenced on Metronome River.
Floating With You is a gorgeous tune, possibly my favourite from the album. Did I mention stoned groove earlier on? Well this is the sound of someone in a special place, just happy, gloriously so.
Everything you say just gets me higher
I'm happy just floating with you
Sides punky pop urgency has delightfully simple lyrics that we can all relate to and a brilliant guitar break/riff halfway through that propels the song towards a great conclusion with Mellin and Armstrong's voices combining deliciously.
Telling lies all the time
Telling lies is a waste of time
I've blogged about Sleeplessbefore and it is another fave; melodic, fragile, heartfelt and soulful with lovely chiming guitars.
There is definitely an element of Collins and Goddard to some of Mellin's songs in his style, phrasing, lyrics and delivery. Powerful is an example of the raw yet melodic punk pop racket he demonstrates throughout the album.
These words just can't express
Just how much I have been blessed
Starry Eyes has an unexpected political tone, while Running With The World is another of my favourites before the album closes with the gorgeous I Feel The Need To Be An Actor.
Well I sure love the rain
I love the way it defeats me
I try to explain
But I don't have the brains to
You can order the vinyl from Monorail's website with a signed print, or pop into the store.
Being in a DIY band can be a whole heap of fun; hanging with your friends, creating music, playing, making new friends and fans, a festival here, a radio session there.....
There also incredible challenges and tough decisions to make - is it worthwhile travelling to play a show in Inverness, losing money and playing to 20 people? Can we all get time off to go on tour? Can we afford to go on tour? How do we organise a tour?!
Chris Cusack is the booker for independent venue Bar BLOC in Glasgow, helping bands from all over come to play in Glasgow. Chris is also in Outblinker; a fiercely independent band that have the ability and vision to create cinematic psychedelic grooves that take the listener on a journey.
The band are about to head off on a European tour to promote their forthcoming The Remains Of Walter Peck EP. In the meantime they have released a cover version of the Neu! song Halogallo.
The cover version is available to download at a price you name. The proceeds will go to Marie Curie under the guise of the Human Is Not Alone project - set up in memory of Robbie Cooper.
Robbie is someone I was introduced to by his great friend Chris. His intelligence, wit, charm, humour and views on life, death and the universe won me over in no time. Sadly Robbie passed away after a brave fight against a very rare and aggressive form of cancer. It is safe to say that Robbie is someone I will never forget.
You can view the video for Halogallo below.
I caught up with Chris to find out how the hell your organise a DIY European tour. Tour dates at the bottom.
1. You have an extensive European tour booked. How hard is it to organise something like this as a DIY band? Who helped? How long did it take? (all one massive question really)
Hi Murray. Yeah this will be our longest European trip, even factoring in some of mine and David's previous act Hey Enemy's bigger outings. It is of course very time consuming to organise these things and can often feel like a full time job in itself when you're in the eye of the storm. We started planning this together around February then it began to take shape in earnest in mid-August. I started the process and Luigi joined when things got serious. Meanwhile the other guys in the band handled peripheral things like bank accounts, insurance and boring stuff I couldn't face.
2. What do you enjoy about ‘being on the road’ the most?
Being on the road in Europe is, for me, without a doubt the highlight of being involved in music. Over 15 years I (and we) have forged some very strong friendships in other countries and it is really akin to visiting family. The European underground has a strong sense of community and it's a lovely feeling to draw up outside a bar 1000 miles away and have familiar faces walk out to give you a hug.
I'm also lucky enough to be in a group of good people with a real nice internal dynamic. It's a pleasure to spend time with the guys in Outblinker and that makes the entire process infinitely easier. I am well aware that this is frequently not how it plays out in bands. Stuck in a van for hours. Cabin fever. Personal space. Many a musical project has met it's match on the road and torn itself apart on returning. I've watched it happen first hand.
3. What are the challenges?
As I say, one challenge is being considerate and establishing good understanding between the members. Making sure everyone plays their part and respects the others. That can take time and frequently needs to be learned the hard way, but all of the best touring acts have ultimately had to forge a viable dynamic through communication and understanding to have any chance of lasting when crammed into each other's company for weeks at a time.
Outblinker's tour van - any room for the band?!
On a practical level, as regards booking, timing is key. it pays to get your plans in place early (as I say, for us we began discussing a November tour in February, making sure everyone was happy and fully committed). However many DIY promoters often cannot commit to solid bookings until much closer to the tour date. So it pays to try get a basic routing or spine of shows in place securing anyone who is comfortable booking well ahead, then being sure to have everything ready to go (bios, riders, online resources) when the "sweet spot" come around. For DIY tours that is usually between 12 and 8 weeks before departure. Activity in that window is frantic as you build a coherent route and swap dates, juggle options etc.
There is usually a final burst of activity which involves trying to fill any conspicuous gaps afterwards. Most early stages of booking tours will result in one or two unplanned holes. Certainly days off are vital, but too many gaps and it takes a toll on the finances (not to mention making for long journeys and musical rust). So between 8 and 4 weeks there will usually be a bit of last-minute horse-trading to get the remaining gaps filled, perhaps by joining existing shows or asking a couple of the existing promoters to put the word out on your behalf.
After 4-weeks, it's really just getting your equipment ready, your transport nailed and anything else is covered.
4. What advice would you give to other bands/artists looking to do something similar?
My advice would be engage with as many other DIY acts as frequently as possible. Unless you get very lucky or have powerful allies, these tours only really work by building up a network of contacts based on mutual respect and philosophy. So for example, helping put touring acts you like in touch with reliable local promoters, putting up posters, sharing online events within a scene you understand - basically acting as feet on the ground for bands looking to visit a foreign country - is an invaluable and greatly appreciated service.
Certainly touring bands will be all too familiar with cold-calling hundreds of venues and promoters when attempting to organise a tour but the response rate generally hovers between 10-20% if you are lucky. There is a much greater strike rate when you have someone who is knowledgeable about that specific territory putting you in touch with people more likely to be interested in your show. it saves the band/booker masses of time (and emotional energy) and ultimately creates a reciprocal sense of good will when time comes for you to visit their homeland.
By all means, when looking to build your touring network, speak to other bands in your area or genre who have toured ina similar fashion and ask if they can share any good contact lists. At any one time there are generally a set of these lists being shared round the continent between bands on the various scenes. Each time being modified and augmented as new people share them and time passes.
5. Where are you looking forward to playing the most?
As much as it is nice to play fancy venues - our show in Barcelona with Zu is especially appealing - some of the best times I can remember touring were in the most unlikely of locations, such as Le Cave in Chadenet or Lakaxita in Irun. This time around, we are returning to Le Pakebot in Chadron. A tiny village in the hills of France. Last time we played people had driven for hours to get to the concert and we bothdined and slept in the same building as much of the crowd afterwards. It was a real community effort.
Also, at one point during the show, I looked out the window of the venue and saw a herd of cattle being herded down the main road past the venue, a few looking in at the noise. We were in the middle of nowhere. The place was packed and full of good vibes. That was pretty surreal and also pretty great.
6. What can people expect from your shows?
Our shows are certainly loud, but grounded in a lot of melody so I hope people can expect as much euphoria as catharsis. Whilst we have a number of songs carefully rehearsed, we also have a large amount of room for improvisation which means each concert is slightly different and in turn reflects it's environment. In a room that responds to heavier parts, we might take these large sections in that Sunn0))) direction. On a more electronic night, we might get a bit more Aphex Twin. In that way the crowd help dictate the show.
In real terms, the music is expansive, pretty trippy and psychedelic, with some cool lights, a love of smoke machines, and one big (hopefully) seamless performance.
7. All the proceeds from the single are going to charity. Can you tell us about this?
Yeah the new single - a cover of Hallogallo by Neu! -was intended to elp promote the tour a bit and is effectively dedicated to "Walter Peck", the deceased protagonist of our current EP ("The Remains of Walter Peck"). It's a typically sprawling space-voyage of a song, as illustrated by the video that is coming out to join it. We tried to stay reasonably faithful to the original version for the first half of the tune but then take it into our own back garden for it's conclusion. Make it something much more authentically "Outblinker".
The single will be "name your price" on Bandcamp and that money will go via the Human Is Not Alone project that was set up to fund the work of Marie Curie Cancer Care. Something close to our hearts and with subtle relevance to the subject matter that we will let remain a mystery.
How do you choose what song(s) will launch a record label?
Well in the case of Last Night From Glasgow Records, the label that I helped to co-found earlier this year, it kind of landed in our laps.
Mark W Georgsson has recorded a stunning album of celtic/folk/Americana songs with Rod Jones from Idlewild producing. I've known Mark for a number of years as he used to be in a band called the Velveteen Saints who I really liked.
Mark went off and did something completely different after the band broke up. The depth, maturity and quality that is displayed throughout the album (that the label will be releasing in January) is quite incredible.
So Mark sent me the album, around the same time Ian Smith and I started discussing forming a record label. We approached Mark and asked if he would be interested in releasing a single - a AA side as Mark's friends in Iceland had recorded vocals for The Ballad Of The Nearly Man in their native tongue.
So the A-side is a beautiful duet between Mark and his friend Katie McArthur and the AA-side is the same song in Icelandic by Mark's friends, including Arnarni who sings for the band Leaves.
AA-side artwork by Brian Sweeney
So Mark is pretty good at networking! Rod Jones for production, friends singing on his record and then as a friend and fellow Albion Rovers fan, acclaimed Scottish photographer Brian Sweeney has provided the artwork. The AA side cover (above) is an Icelandic football pitch in the snow (quite stunning) and below is the A-side cover is a Scottish football pitch.
A-side artwork by Brian Sweeney
OK - now i'm going to ask you all to set aside 3 minutes and 13 seconds to watch Brian's beautifully shot promo film to accompany Mark's single.
I'll then tell you what I think of the film and song afterwards.
Well I hope you agree; song and film are beautiful.
The guitar is sparse and beautifully played, Mark's voice is gentle, weary and soulful, the lyrics paint a picture, the production allows everything to breath, there is no rush, a sense of reflection...
The barren winters cast a doubt
Upon his weary mind
As a storm brews out on the Atlantic Sea
Set to blow all his thoughts back to me
That sense of space, time and reflection is amplified by a truly gorgeous 40 second instrumental featuring some exquisite guitar playing.
Katie McArthur then joins us to beautifully sing a verse, before Mark returns towards the end and the two sing in tandem;
As a storm brews out on the Atlantic Sea
Set to blow my one true love, back to me
Brian Sweeney was introduced to me by Mark as 'a mad genius'. I've met Brian a few times and Mark's description is pretty perfect. He is literally fizzing with creative ideas 24-hours a day. His thoughtful and stunning film (featuring South Uist, Vatersay, Eriskay and Barra) is the perfect compliment to Mark's song. It is truly beautiful.
So yeah, I'm delighted with the first release on Last Night From Glasgow; the song, performance, artwork, film, the people involved...... we have many more to come.
November is a crazy month for gigs in Glasgow and also for nights out. Sadly I couldn't make Vigo Thieves at the Art School on Saturday night. Thankfully my friend Gordon (a previous guest blogger) was there and more than happy to write another guest review for me.
Gordon
photo by drummer Alan Jukes - brother Stevie in top form
November has always been my favourite month for gigs mainly because plenty of bands tour at this time as they are looking to promote new albums for the Christmas market. It often brings problems because there aren`t enough days in the month and there will be inevitable clashes between bands that I want to see and this year proved no different.
We had already bought tickets for a Samm Henshaw show on Nov 8th and Prides / Fatherson on Saturday night just gone. These plans were booted into the air as soon as Vigo Thieves announced they would be touring in November. Both of our previous gigs clashed with Vigo gigs, one at Sneaky Pete`s in Edinburgh and the other at The Art School in Glasgow so we gave the Samm Henshaw tickets to a relative and booked an overnight stay in the capital to see the lads play through there.
At that gig I managed to wangle access all areas passes for the Glasgow gig as I wanted to put a new camera to the test and we then had to change other plans about. We had intended going to the ABC first to catch Fatherson and then heading up the hill to The Art School but in the end we just decided to sell our tickets at the door in Sauchiehall St. We ended up making two young ladies very happy as the Prides gig was sold out and we sold them the tickets at face value instead of them being ripped off by the usual touts that hang outside most venues in Glasgow.
We met up with my cousin and his wife for a beer in the bar downstairs before heading up into the venue to catch the support acts. It took a while for the crowd to come in and many of them will have missed the debut gig of BAD MANNEQUINS. Ross Hamilton , Craig Douglas ( Sonny Marvello ) and Jamie McGrory certainly made those who caught them sit up and pay attention, for a first gig together they absolutely creamed it and sounded superb.
I missed NIEVES as I was backstage talking to a few people but my cousin spoke highly of them . They have a headline gig at King Tuts coming up on Friday 18th December that we`ll be getting tickets for .
The floor was starting to fill up by now and I made a snap decision to go and put my camera away backstage. I`ve never been one for standing still at gigs and I had a feeling it was going to get rowdy as the boys hadn`t played live in Glasgow for a while. The lights dimmed and The Killers All These Things That I`ve Done was cranked up with the crowd stamping their feet and roaring out the I`ve got soul refrain as the Vigos` took to the stage . With everyone pushing to the front, Stevie Jukes took the mic and thanked the crowd for coming out .
It`s been a while , Glasgow , let`s get fucking loud.
They blasted straight in with BELIEVE and the crowd joined in with such force that Stevie was forced to signal that he wanted his mic turned up. Coupled with Gino Phipps bouncing around like Zebedee on speed, it was obviously going to be one of those nights. Mixing old favourites like STEAL YOUR HEART and GHOSTS with new material THE ONE, new single FREE and the absolutely spectacular KING the band were on fire with Stevie encouraging everyone to sing along as Chris Gorman played the piano solo intro to HEARTBEATS.
You know the words, let`s hear it he shouted and the whole venue sang them back to him .
As they clambered towards a noisy finish with THIS LOVE, Stevie decided to dive head first into the crowd and got bumped around on top of people for 30 seconds before they manage to direct him back towards the stage.
They finished with the soaring sound of the full version of HEARTBEATS and the mosh pit that had developed in front of the stage was soon joined by the lead singer diving in again. He had warned that he`d enjoyed the first one so he was going to do it again and he was true to his word. As the gig drew to an end it had been an hour of unadulterated joy and noise that saw everyone smiling and covered in sweat , just the way these things are supposed to be.
Vigo Thieves have been quieter this year in comparison to the last few but there is an album on the way and the new stuff they are producing seems to be much more polished. The live shows continue to grow and they continue to catch the eye and ears of music goers up and down the length of the country. As they say themselves
Wuh Oh is an act I discovered after reading about their song Stay Tuned on the Podcart website away back in April. Podcart described it as a summer soundtrack and had this to say;
With its own distinct flavour,
this sun-kissed pop odyssey will make sure a smile doesn’t leave your face.
I totally agree, Stay Tuned by Wuh Oh is like the sound of sunshine on ecstasy, sample heavy uplifting pure pop, sounding like it is a lost cut from Since I Left You, the classic album by The Avalanches.
Wuh Oh has released the Wuh Oh EP to date (featuring All Yo, Saxy Beast, Trippin, the aforementioned Stay Tuned and Self Titled) and comparisons to The Avalanches can continue as he samples Marvin Gaye, jazz and pretty much everything he can get his hands on to create something unique.
I was going to email a few questions to Peter Ferguson, the producer behind Wuh Oh, but The list have beaten me to it and have an excellent interview with Peter HERE
Sample (and brilliant) quote;
My song 'Stay Tuned' is basically five seconds or so of a jazz fusion song spread out over three minutes, pitch shifted and chopped up and rearranged. I don’t usually actively look out for samples, but when you hear five seconds of music that clearly deserves to be a whole track, it’s hard to resist trying to make that happen.
It sounds like Wuh Oh is going to be releasing quite a bit of music in 2016, so Stay Tuned indeed!
The start of October will see two increasingly important events in the Glasgow/Scottish music calendar take place. Both highlight the incredible talent and diversity of the Scottish indie/DIY/laternative music scene, both have been born from grassroots entrepreneurial spirit and both have been warmly embraced by music fans.
Saturday 3rd October will see The Tenement Trail take place in Glasgow - using venues on or around Sauchiehall Street - Broadcast, Flat 0/1, Nice 'n' Sleazys, ABC2, the Art School and King Tut's will feature a whole hosts of bands and artists that include the likes of White, Neon Waltz and Atom Tree who all featured in my recent blog HERE
The urban festival starts at 2pm and lasts (at least in some venues) all the way through until 3am. Tickets are only £15, available in advance from the website or Tickets Scotland, or you should be able to pick up some on the day if you are quick.
Tenement Trail is the brainchild of the team behind the brilliant Tenement TV which, like the festival, grows from strength to strength with every year.
Here is the line-up and times.
Then next Thursday 8th October it is time to get a little glitzy with the 6th year of the Scottish Alternative Music Awards (the SAMA's), taking place at The Garage.
Richy Muirhead is the bright young spark behind the awards and has grown the event into a highlight of the Scottish Music calendar, gathering increasing support and exposure.
Voting for this years awards has closed and over 20,000 votes have been cast - fantastic stuff.
The amazing Crash Club are playing live, along with special guest performances from previous winners and Holy Esque who have been on the verge of breaking through for a few years.
Richy said; "The shortlist is extremely strong this year, with nominees from every corner of Scotland. There is a huge surge in nominations for new bands which goes to show that Scotland is forever churning out new and exciting talent. It's our sixth birthday, so we've got a few surprises and crowd-pleasers up our sleeves."
The nominees for 2015 are;
BEST ROCK/ALTERNATIVE sponsored by EmuBands
Monogram Wecamefromwolves Catholic Action Dear John SchnarffSchnarff Huxtable
BEST NEWCOMER sponsored by UWS Creative MARTHA FFION WHITE BAER MAN OF MOON ALPHAS BELLA & THE BEAR LIONEL
BEST HIP HOP sponsored by Splitter Scotland
MOG Delighted Peoples DJ YEMSTER & HEXTASY THE ILL COLLECTIVE BIGG TAJ & SPEESIXNINE SPRING BREAK
A band called The Velveteen Saints sent me an email earlier this week asking if I would check out their video for a song 'Rock 'n' Roll Is Dead' and invited me to come along to their next Glasgow gig at the Berkley Suite on 7th September. I liked what they had to say, relatively short and sweet but it all made sense - they didn't want to play 4 or 5 band bills and 11pm 'headline' slots so they booked Blackfriars in the Merchant City and had a party, entry was via a £1 pin badge.
This is the resulting video 'cobbled' together from fan footage.
The grainy footage and sound resembles early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, as does the frenetic energy and pace of the song. A shout of '1-2-3-4' kicks off a punk rock riff and a fast paced verse leads to a catchy bridge over mass handclaps.
hear the radio, play the songs I don't know
This leads to an even catchier chorus that stuck in my head on first listen, the first of many.
Strummer is gone and he's not coming back
He's hanging with the King and the man in black
All of you people, you don't know jack
Get it in your head
Rock'n'Roll is dead
It's under 3-minutes long and it is pop-punk-rock brilliance. Simple, energetic and effective. Catchy, spunky and punky. I definitely intend to try and get to the Berkley Suite on 7th September. The band only formed in April yet they already have a collection of songs on Soundcloud, the best of which (in my opinion) is 'Wake Me Up' which has a great feel to it, more glorious hooks and again it reminds me of BRMC. Check 'em out.
London 2012 was wrapped up a week ago tonight, the closing ceremony was somewhat under-whelming in comparison to Danny
Boyle’s epic opening, yet both ceremonies clearly highlighted how important
music is to British culture.
It got me thinking about the songs
and artists that could soundtrack the Commonwealth Games and Glasgow 2014; what
songs would kick-start the bash, prove how friendly, welcoming and organised us
Scots can be and then close the Commonwealth Games with a party like only
Glasgow knows how to hold.
We certainly have plenty of musical
talent to choose from and some of the names listed below would be more than
capable of producing a specially written soundtrack for the ceremony – think
Craig Armstrong, Mogwai, Bobby Gillespie, Mylo or Calvin
Harris.
Putting my own musical preferences
to one side and thinking of music and artists that would truly represent
Scotland, my own 1
hour-playlist for Scotland would
be;
Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham – A
nice traditional start
Eddie Reader – performing a Rabbie Burns poem
Paulo Nutini – taking on Dougie
Maclean’s classic ‘Caledonia’
Fairground Attraction -
Perfect - cause the Commonwealth Games will be perfectly organised ;-)
Lulu – Shout – raised in the East
End of Glasgow, this would be quite fitting and really get things
going
Bluebells – Young At
Heart - cause we are all so young at heart
Calvin Harris – Some rousing
electronic pop courtesy of the boy from Dumfries
Primal Scream – Movin’ On
Up - not sure if the punk in Bobby G would be up for this, but worth an ask.
The Proclaimers – 500
Miles - has to be included
Red Hot Chilli Pipers – An epic
rendition of ‘Flower of Scotland’ accompanied by a film featuring people of all
ages singing from all around the country in stunning scenery
Runrig – Closing the ceremony with a
rousing Loch
Lomond
That is a pretty safe choice and there are some shoe-ins there that you have to think you could place your mortgage on. Texas, Deacon Blue, Travis, Wet Wet Wet and Simple Minds are the other big names that will likely feature on the committee's 'want' list. Lets not forget Annie Lennox...
Perhaps an alternative
opening/closing ceremony could take place in George Square/Glasgow Green?
Aztec Camera – Roddy Frame with the
triumphant ‘Somewhere In My Heart’…’love will see you
through’
BMX Bandits – leading the crowd in a
sing-a-long of E102’s ‘I’m so happy that love has come around’
chorus
Primal Scream – ‘Movin’ On Up’,
‘Come Together’ and really getting the party started with
‘Loaded’
Superstar – ‘Superstar’ – for the
Superstars that will come out of the Games
Beta Band – a reformed Beta Band
with the classic ‘Dry The Rain’ - as we really don't want it to rain like it has this summer! Franz Ferdinand - 'Take Me Out' - an indie anthem Belle and Sebastian - 'The Boy with the Arab Strap' Teenage Fanclub - 'Ain't That Enough'
Closing the night in style would be the Optimo DJ's.
To bring the mood down we could bring on;
Arab Strap - reforming for a specially written drunken ramble about the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow akin to this joke
Glasvegas - 'Flowers and Fitba Tops'
Never mind an opening ceremony, lets get a festival of the best of Scottish music on the go!
In short, Glasgow (and indeed Scotland) will not be short of options when it comes to music in 2014 and we should make the most of the opportunity to highlight some of the fantastic artists that the city and country has produced.
I recently discovered a small independent/DIY label in Glasgow going by the name of Mecca Holding Co with the slogan 'the plan is, there is no plan.'
The small label is run by Warren McIntyre who also has a band The Starry Skies. My sister recently gave me a loan of his bands debut album alongside one by Roy Moller who has also released an album on Mecca (to be reviewed later).
'Ask The Animals' mixes garage, psychedelia, punk and guitar pop to excellent effect. The band are clearly tight and Warren must have an excellent record collection to delve into for influences.
The opener and title track mixes garage and psychedelia with hints of Love coming through at times, especially when the trumpet kicks in.
'Baby you've gotta know, nothing can kill a dream, watch the empire burst at the seams'
'Let Love Come Back To You' is my favourite song from the album. Warren's voice sounds a little tender, the groove is completely different from the first song; the hooks are clearer, it is a great pop song. The trumpet appears again, lifting the song at all the right places along with some chiming guitars.
'Disappearing Darkness' slows things down and there is some gorgeous work on the steel guitar from the start. The backing vocals on this are glorious, the perfect combination of country and gospel.
I wonder where you are tonight, as I sit here under the electric light,
With the shades drawn to stop the daylight from getting through
Let it through, let it through
'How Many' comes across as a loose jam before 'Time Alone' kicks in with fuzz toned guitar, rediscovering the country vibe from 'Disappearing Darkness'. The arrangement on the backing vocals is fantastic again.
'Now Comes Autumn' is another fave of mine from the album. The feeling in the playing, production and hushed vocals makes it a real stand out and yet again the backing vocals are stunning. Warren has a real knack for arrangement and his guitar solo is beautiful leading into the most stunning part of the album, everything slows down...
Now comes Autumn, I remember
A thousand words I could, never tell her
So many pictures that have faded
Now things seem less complicated
It is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard in a long time. Check out the video below.
'Through The Black' picks up the pace considerably with a driving beat, soaring trumpets, and again their are echoes of Love, particularly with the trumpet solo and searing guitar before the final chorus.
'Catapults' has a weird shuffling military style beat and feels a little out of tune with the rest of the album.
'Secrets' is garage punk, exploding into life with a brilliant riff and Warren stirs his melting pot of influences with psych guitar and some gospel style vocals aiding the chorus and hooks; one which is pretty apt at this moment in time for bankers and politicians everywhere.
Every day they cheat us, every day they deceive us
Closer 'For The Dark Is But A Star' reminds me of the Polyphonic Spree? That kind of soulful vocal mixed with loads of backing singers. Unfortunately I didn't get to the bands album launch at Stereo a couple of weeks ago but I look forward to hearing this live some time soon.
A good end to the album which displays some real stand out tracks and I would certainly recommend checking it out. You can preview some of the songs via their soundcloud page.
It isn't often you get to witness a genius at work. On Thursday night I got to do just that when I caught Ryan Adams performing at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
Armed with two acoustic guitars and a piano, Adams took us on a 2-hour journey through his entire career. It was spell-binding. The audience lapped it up, sitting in awed silence before responding in rapturous fashion, with several songs receiving standing ovations.
The whole set was one long extended highlight. Adams moved from sitting centre stage playing one of his guitars, to stage right to stand and play his other, moving to piano for some stunning songs including 'New York, New York.' His between song humour ranged from the mickey taking 'here's another miserable song' to complete off-the-wall banter. There was also an 'Ode To A Cat' song sung at the piano that was hilarious.
Starting with 'Oh My Sweet Carolina' from his 'Heartbreaker' album just set the tone as he jumped about his albums, moving swiftly on to 'Ashes and Fire', the title track from his latest album. The range in Adams voice is evident on record, in a live setting it becomes even more apparent how talented he is. It seemed so easy and effortless.
'Winding Wheel' is one of my favourite Adams songs and tonight my love for it seemed to grow stronger with every second. 'Firecracker' was a dream, 'New York, New York' was turned into a piano heartbreaker.
There were some Adams nuts in the audience who applauded his every move, something that Adams took the piss out of at times after some guys applauded him for walking across the stage.
The swift double hit of 'Lucky Now' and the gorgeous 'Come Pick Me Up' prompted huge applause as Adams left the stage to a standing ovation.
The crowd wouldn't let him go and he sauntered back on to leaf through a huge black folder contaning who-knows-what. I imagine there are some works-in-progress and some long lost gems.
Getting annoyed that he couldn't find what he was looking for he played a song called 'Round and Round', a cover by a band called RATT.
One of my favourite blogs is The Pop Cop and he recently wrote an excellent piece about the costs to musicians as they attempt to push forward with their music and their creativity to raise the money required to do just that.
Being in a band costs money; the equipment – guitars, bass, drums, keys, synths, amps, mics, strings, skins. And that is what you need before you even start. Then you need to rehearse so there is the costs of travel and the cost of rehearsal space in a practice room. Then there are gigs, at the start you’ll be lucky to get a few beers and some money towards travel. Then what about recording some songs? You could use Garage Band or something, but if you are a live band with drums then you probably want to go into a studio – more money.
You could release your recordings and sell them, but it also costs money to print up CD’s, even more to print up some vinyl. Pushing ahead with merch you could design and print some t-shirts, get some tote bags…..more outlay in the hope that you will recoup some money. So it isn’t easy.
Record companies have been fast to recognise the importance of the live circuit as record sales diminish – unless you are Adele or Lady Gaga. Young bands are not far behind. Putting on your own gig is a great way to make some money that can finance some of the above – equipment, rehearsal time, studio time, printing cd’s. I’ll talk about this further below.
It all takes time….and money.
I am currently very excited about one of the acts I co-manage, Sonny Marvello, getting close to completing their album. It has been a long road, you wouldn’t believe some of the things that have happened to the band in their personal lives during that time, never mind the band stuff.
Introducing the band
I started working with Sonny in May 2009 having first seen them in November 2008 in Sloans Ballroom at an aftershow party for Glasgow versus Cancer. They were the most exciting band I had seen in ages, tight as f**k on stage and off, a real chemistry, songs that made me want to dance, guitar pop with melodies and choruses that stuck in my head immediately.
I sat down with the singer and songwriter Stephen for 4 or 5 pints of Stella in the 13th Note and learned about the history of the band. We talked about the aim and it was clear that Stephen wanted to get into a proper studio to record the songs that he had building up. The very next week the bass player Craig gave me 2 cd’s of demos of varying quality in terms of sound – some live round a mic, some at a cheap studio, some on to a laptop. There were a lot of songs. I immediately suggested putting out an album of demos as there was some cracking stuff.
In the basement of Oxfam Music, Byres Road, summer 2009
What I have learned is that talented people don’t like to put out something that is unfinished or a product that doesn’t show their skills to full effect. There is a saying that a songwriter/producer never truly finishes something, they just get to the stage where they let it go. I understand that now.
Anyway, back to the story. I wanted to demonstrate my faith in the band and also some managerial skills, so I promptly booked Stereo for June to get some money in. There was a great crowd and after paying support acts and the hire/sound engineer we cleared £400. We booked Stereo again for August and cleared a similar amount, so we booked 2-days at Cava Studios in Glasgow, a top class studio favoured by Belle and Sebastian amongst others.
Sonny Marvello, Stereo, Summer 2009
More lessons were to be learned – we went in to smash 2 songs in 2 days. No problem in terms of the bands musicianship, they would nail them. However there is a lot of time spent on production after that and we were kind of relying on a little bit of extra work being out in by the lovely producer Brian McNeil. The two songs recorded were the incredibly catchy ‘Easy Boys’ and the epic ‘We’re All Cruel’, the idea being to show off two sides to the band – the ear for pop (that is evident in all Sonny songs really) and the ability to soar where other bands can only dream of. Sorted.
We then found out that the Bluesbunny blog would be interested in putting out a single on vinyl – magic. And he would get the songs mastered at Abbey Road – FAB! As Beatles nuts this was a bit of a dream.
The cover of the debut single, released on glorious red heavyweight vinyl
More lessons to be learned – the masters didn’t sound as good as we had hoped. We really should have got them mastered at Cava. Also, we should probably have found the cash and booked another day at Cava just to tweak a few things.
However we wanted to get a single out, so we went for it.
Another lesson learned – it is great if someone who has a little record company as a hobby offers to put something out and getting that delivery of heavyweight red vinyl 7-inches put a huge smile on my face, however you kind of expect them to do some promo around the release. That didn’t happen and I wish I had been a bit more thorough in finding that out. I could have done it myself – sent some promo copies out etc etc.
Being in a band is like being in a dream a lot of the time, as is having your own little record company, or being a band manager for that matter. Sometimes real life gets in the way – illness, death, money matters, love, the loss of love, weddings, births…..
So no promo was done for the single.
We pushed on with plans to get an album together. I think we played Stereo twice again in 2010 and decided we didn’t have enough money to get the time required to record an EP at Cava. Thankfully a friend and fan of the band – Ross Hamilton, had set up his own studio, Rocket Science, above the Stand Comedy Club with his friend Michael Bannister. Ross and Michael love their pop music and the immediately ‘got’ Sonny Marvello and what they wanted to achieve.
The resulting ‘Pull Me Up’ EP featured – Pull Me Up, Made of Magic, My Lover and a reworked We’re All Cruel.We released it ourselves and got a bit of promo with some blog reviews and an excellent Daily Record review;
"What a joyous, glorious tune. Like The Monkees doing ELO, Pull Me Up is just perfect to banish the winter blues. The five-strong group from Castlemilk, Glasgow, are ones to watch in 2011. Every track on their debut EP is a sure-fire winner. Made Of Magic has the joy of Beatle-era Paul McCartney, stuffed with harmonies. Then it's all change with the rock-out of My Lover. Finally, the electro-pop of We're All Cruel has the melodic catchiness that has deserted Brandon Flowers of late. A truly exciting prospect."Daily Record review of the Pull Me Up EP, Nov 2010
The cover of the Pull Me Up EP
All good stuff. What was the next plan? Well we had a big meeting in early 2011 to discuss ideas for more money to get more recording time. Sonny Marvello like to be a little different and I love a bit of a gimmick myself. We didn’t want to so Stereo again, that was the easy option. So I suggested forming a fanclub and came up with the idea of the 100 Club after the famous punk venue in London. 100 members paying £10 to join the club; they would get a mini-album, access to an exclusive show, a badge, chance to appear in a video, name on the website and a free download of the early Sonny Marvello favourite ‘Who Needs Somebody’ – Not bad for a tenner!
We sold out 70 memberships within a week and then over the course of 4-5 weeks we got to the magic 100. With a little bit of spare cash we booked into Rocket Science for 1-day and the band recorded the 100 club mini-acoustic album featuring; Welcome to the 100 Club, Invisible Girl, Hold Me Sway, Charlie Sheen (You’re Living My Dream) and the glorious Fire Went Out. Despite saying that these songs would never be released elsewhere we knew immediately that ‘Fire Went Out’ would be on the album proper. It was pretty much written and recorded in a day and it sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it.
In May the band played and spoke at the Apple Store in Buchanan Street and we decided to have the 100 Club party afterwards in the vintage clothes store Ruby Tuesdays on Bath Street (now closed sadly). It was a riot of a night, we bought beer, wine and cider in for everyone, someone brought Sambuca and the changing room ended up being ‘the sambuca room’. The band played a brilliant set with everyone singing along and trying on vintage hats.
It was one of the best nights out I have ever had. Thankfully I had booked the Friday off work!
The mini-album is brilliant and I know the band favour that method of recording, just going in and getting it down.
With the 100 Club money and some money made from a King Tuts support slot to Florrie, the band went back into Rocket Science to record a new song ‘Tiny Little Sparks’ that they had played for the first time at King Tuts. It is f**king epic and I forwarded it round a few people as soon as it was mastered. Craig McGee decided to play it on BBC Radio 1 Introducing during his slot with Ally McCrae and it sounded brilliant coming out of the radio with Ally declaring 'I can see that (Tiny Little Sparks) in a festival field with people bouncing and bouncing.'
Other songs were recorded during the summer with quite a lot of goodwill being shown by Ross and Michael, who as fans of the band were now spending their own spare time in the studio with the band. ‘Land of the Lost Cause’, ‘Wishlist’ and ‘Whispering Song’ and ‘Paint The Sky’ were knocked out quickly with Ross and Michael then spending considerable time on the production.
The band and I had become friends with Kevin Harper – a songwriter, singer, guitarist, producer, walking encyclopedia of music and film and all round good guy. Kev asked to record Sonny Marvello for free at his studio. Stephen had a new song called ‘Young Offender’ written after hearing a story about a young girl his wife Hayley worked with. So the band went down to Kev’s studio and produced a glorious piece of guitar pop.
We decided to release another EP (Tiny Little Sparks) in October as work continued on the album and the band played Stirling, Perth, Inverness and Skye to promote it. We wanted to do something different again and after being overlooked by festivals, something I find quite incredible considering how talented the band are and how festival friendly their songs are, we decided to put on our own festival. I looked at campsites, but wanting to keep things simple and in the event of rain I booked Roawardennan Youth Hostel on the banks of Loch Lomond.
With 75 beds we kept 15 back for the band, girlfriends and wife, sound engineer, a magician, photographer, me and Kev. We then sold out the rest and had an amazing day and night.
There was then a bit of a dip, as I think happens with most bands and people of an artistic nature. Energy can sap, especially after being involved in so many things – the 100 club, writing and recording, the mini-tour, putting on our own festival…After so many highs it was back to the reality of having no money and still needing to complete the album.
With the little money we had from the tour and EP sales we went into Rocket Science to record another new song called ‘Automatic’ – pop music in its purest form.
We then downed tools for a couple of months, skint and exhausted and emotionally drained after some terrible news suffered by two members of the band as loved ones were snatched from them in two very different ways.
I booked an over-14’s show for February, keen to get the band back on track. The band are genuinely loved by kids in Castlemilk and there had been a growing demand for them to play a show they could get into. At times I wondered (as did the band) if the show would take place due to everything that was going on outwith the band.
A first rehearsal since October and a few beers brought back the magic and the kids loved the show.
And after some bad luck came some good luck. ‘Wishlist’ was going to be used by the RBS in an advert, giving us (alongside the over-14’s money) a good chunk of cash to go back to Rocket Science and tidy things up and complete the album.
So there you have it – it has taken quite a while to get this album together and I am going off to Rocket Science studios tonight to listen to it with a few beers with 5 people who I have become very good friends with – sharing the trials and tribulations of being in a band, helping them with ideas and motivation to get to this stage.
I can’t wait to hear it. I wonder if we will come up with a title tonight...or if Stephen has one up his sleeve.
Then the next episode will be trying to get someone to release it, or going down the DIY route.
