I’ve been tending to my personal life, enjoying a break from making music. De Rosa had been going hard at it for a few years and it was nice to step back for a few months. I’ve been listening to a lot of music rather than writing loads, thinking about how to approach this new solo project.
I really don't want to beat about the bush, so what brought about the demise of De Rosa? I really believe that De Rosa had run its course. We had worked with such rigour during the making of our two main albums that it was disheartening for us to see them go largely unnoticed. There was a bit of tension within the band at the end of our last tour supporting
Doves and it just seemed to show that we were all really tired of it all. By the time we all sat down to talk about things, I think each of us had already decided to call it a day.
Do you find it more liberating working on your own, or do you miss the team spirit that you can get in band? I miss the band a lot. When it was good it was the greatest time of my life. Being in a band is like having a family around you, people who you trust that can inspire you to be your creative best. Every one of those guys put their own stamp on the demos I brought, taking the music to a place that belonged to the collective, not just myself. The thing is, that band was the only band I had ever been in, and my only experiences of making music had been in that setup. It’s exciting to take on the challenge of creating something on my own, seeing things through from the original idea to the finished recording.
Have you been writing much new material?I’ve been writing for an album. I think I have about three quarters of it written, but there are a few songs still to come. Andy Miller - who recorded all the De Rosa stuff – will be recording it. I’ve played a few solo gigs in Scotland recently, just to get that first hurdle out of the way. It gave me the chance to try out some new material.
If so, what likelihood is there that we'll see any of it being released? Anything that I think is good enough to be put out will be released in some form or other. I’m going to do a few DIY releases before the album is finished. I was thinking that these will be short run singles that I’ll sell through my own websites – quickly made, home recorded stuff, you know? I’m going to spend some time making the artwork interesting for these. The main album will be recorded at
Gargleblast Studios in Hamilton, and I’m planning for it to be out in autumn 2010.
Have Chemikal Underground/Gargleblast expressed any interest in doing something with you? Yes. These are early days and I hope to work with both labels again at some point.
What would you is your biggest inspiration in your song writing?The trigger for composing something new often comes from listening to other people’s music, although other things, personal stuff, bits of language, photographs etc, can be the inspiration behind the words. I was thinking recently that the way I experienced music in my teens - through headphones, where you are placed right in the centre of the recording – is what made me want to make my own recorded music. I think that’s why I enjoy the recording part so much. The record that inspired me to pick up my guitar again after De Rosa was
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle by
Bill Callahan, which is a fantastic sounding album. “Working through death’s pain” – what an inspiring line. The music that’s currently exciting me is the album
Actor by
St Vincent.
Do you find that you tend to come up with lyrics or the music first? Music every time, but I think it’s more romantic to say that you write lyrics first. Although, I often write lists of titles and choose the most inspirational as a starting point for the music.
You recently covered the Beatles 'Because', for Mojo Magazines 'Abbey Road' tribute, how did that come about?Dave Henderson, the guy who puts all the Mojo CDs together is a fan of De Rosa, and had asked us to do something on a previous CD. We were away touring at the time and couldn’t contribute anything. He got back to me a couple of months later, after the band had split, and asked if I’d be interested in contributing to the Abbey Road CD. It was really nice of that guy to give me the chance to do this. Andy Miller made a great job of that recording, and it was one of the best studio experiences I’ve ever had.
Where and when can people catch you playing in the flesh? I’m playing at
Sick Kids Sunday at the
GRV in Edinburgh on 31st January. Come and see me and help people that need it at the same time.
Lastly, are there any acts that you would recommend that I check out? Right now I’d get both St Vincent albums if you don’t have them. Best thing I’ve heard in a long time.
Once again I would just like to thank Martin for taking the time out to answer my rambling questions, it was very much appreciated. Now get yourself over to his
Bandcamp page and download his new song 'I Love Map', it's cracking. You can listen to it below if you don't believe me.
For even more stuff from Martin head on over to
Elba Sessions where you can stream a session he recently recorded for them, do it, do it now.
MyspaceBeboTwitter
So you've finished all of your Christmas shopping, or at least I fucking hope you have. It's time to chill out have a few beers and prepare yourself for having to spend the next 24 hours stuffing your face and drinking till you can longer speak (or is that just me?). You might already be preparing yourself for some pretty god awful presents that you'll have to pretend you REALLY like, so why not treat yourself to a wee handmade EP from the fabulous Second Hand Marching Band. For a measly £3.50 they will make you a CD and you'll get your own numbered hand made copy. This tasty treat is only available up to the 1st of January, 2010, so if you want one you're going to have to be quick off the mark. As there will probably only be a few dozen or so made so it might be "pure special", you can order yourself a copy here (if you can't be arsed with CD's anymore then you can also download it, but that wouldn't be anywhere near as pretty!). You can stream all of the songs at their Bancamp page, you can also stream the first track on the EP 'Bonbon' below, cause I know how tough it can be to click on a link. Stop faffing about and get this bought, it's Christmas treat yourself.
Track Listing
If there was any justice in this world, January of 2009 should have been the Phantom Bands announcement to the world that they were the next big thing, instead everyone lost their heads and went crazy over the Animal Collective. Their loss, as 'Checkmate Savage' is mind blowingly good, it's dark as fuck, I have been racking my brains as to how to describe this album, but to put it simply it can't be pigeonholed, which is probably the main reason why I love this album so much. If you choose to listen to me just once this year, then make this the time to let the Phantom Band into your life, you will not regret it.
Opening with a seven minute dance song (No One Had It Better) was really not what I had expected to hear on this or any other KC album, but as the album name suggests Kenny Anderson really isn't one for conformity. Taking a much more experimental approach, form dance to pop, to one of the most heartbreaking songs I have ever heard (Camels Swapped For Wives) everything is in there and it just gets better and better each time I listen.
Pure unadulterated noise at it's very best, the Kilsyth boys second album showed no signs of any difficult second album syndrome. This album clearly showed that the 'Sad had moved on both musically and lyrically, although I must admit that I don find it a more uncomfortable listen (not that I am suggesting that this is a bad thing) than 'Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters', it's certainly a lot louder for one.
For the third year running the good folk over at FatCat have struck Scottish gold in unearthing another amazing Scottish band, I wasn't sure if the Jetpacks would be able to convey their tight as fuck live shows onto record, but boy did the prove me wrong. 'These Four Walls' gets better and better with each listen, trust me I have had this on repeat a hell of a lot this year.
I can be a right stubborn git sometimes, no matter how many times folk started telling me how great this band are, I still didn't listen. I only caved in after Halina Podcart tweeted about it one morning so I had a wee listen on Spotify and then marvelled at my stupidity for ignoring this beautiful album. The whole album is harmonically beautiful, the theme of the album seems to be all about love and loss, but don't let that put you off as this is one of the most uplifting albums I have heard all year.
Back when this album first came out it was a minor revelation for me, I think I even heralded it as being the new 'Tigermilk', I might have been getting a bit over excited, but fuck me this album is good. It's very twee, so if that doesn't float your boat then it probably won't be for you, personally it really worked for me. Still relatively unknown in their home town of Glasgow, the septet keep things very low key, playing only a handful of low key shows in bowling clubs and cinemas. For me this album was a major step forward from their debut album 'Profit in Your Poetry' filled with beautiful harmonious songs, if you are looking for something that bit different to add to your Christmas list then look no further.
