Towards the end of last year the lovely folk over at Elba Sessions kindly asked me a few questions about my highlights of 2009. Up until that point then I had been a bit overly obsessed with albums/gigs of the year and hadn't actually thought about what my genuine highlight of the year had been. The answer I gave at that time was "getting to meet so many great like minded folk that are so passionate about the music currently coming out of Scotland".
Doing this blog has allowed me to meet so many amazing people, many of whom I now consider to be good friends. Jim who runs the blog Aye Tunes most certainly falls into this category. He always claims that it was me that started stalking him first, I have always argued to the contrary. I am pretty sure it all started with him warning me about travelling to Paisley for a Sons & Daughters gig.
If you are ever in the 13th Note or Sleazys and you spot a shaven headed ginger man sporting bunny ears, then you might well have spotted the little sex beast that is Jim 'Aye Tunes'. Buy him a pint and he might even tell you about the indie starlets notched up on his bedpost (sorry kidda - I'm still in shock at that one). We also have quite an exciting announcement (well at least it's exciting as fuck to us), but I'll let him tell you all about that.
Anyway, I digress, if you are looking for a blog about exciting new music coming from these fair shores then kids look no further. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the man...... the legend...Jim 'Aye Tunes'......
Would you care to introduce yourself?
Hiya, I'm Jim. I write the Aye Tunes blog and make a pest of myself at gigs.
What was it that motivated you to start writing a blog all about Scottish music?
It started with thinking up the name, pretty much. Aye Tunes popped in
to my head one day and no one else was using it, so I figured I'd get
in before anyone else had the same idea. It only took two years for
another music site to nick the name. At the time there wasn't as many
Scottish focused blogs around as there is now, so there was a bit of a
gap there. It took me about a year to actually start posting regularly
though, by the time I started putting effort into the blog there was
tons of places writing and talking about the Scottish music scene.
Some of those helped me get the motivation to get back to blogging
regularly, and getting out to more gigs than I'd been to in years.
What would you say has been the best thing to happen since you started it?
Probably the best thing is the fantastic new people I've met through
it, whether they be bloggers, musicians or just regular music fans.
There's something coming up at the end of April which will, if all
goes well, be a real highlight for me. Getting sent music is always
nice too, even if not everything that comes my way is to my taste. The
number of gigs I've been to in the past year hasn't done my liver any
favours though.
For you personally what artist/band has excited you most over the past
12 months?
Oh, loads, too many to list, but I'll pick out a couple. Beerjacket
made one of my favourite records last year and is always a delight to
listen to. The Gothenberg Address and You Already Know are two bands
whose music sends shivers up my spine without using lyrics. I hear a
lot of potential in We're Only Afraid of NYC and Macabre Scene, every
time I hear new material from either band it seems to be a step up in
quality from the older stuff, which is already good. If they keep
improving like that they could be scary. Also I can't wait to hear
albums from Mitchell Museum and Kid Canaveral, both of those bands
always make me both grin like an idiot and dance like one. Another
band that's really caught my interest is Spaghetti Anywhere. Their
debut EP landed in my inbox when I was having a rotten day and cheered
me up right away. It's been played a lot of times when I'm feeling a
bit down since and always makes me feel better.
Lastly, what can we expect to see from Ayetunes in 2012?
2012? Hopefully I'll still be alive, and cars will fly.
2010 will be more of the same, reviews and random blethering on the
blog. At some point I hope to catch up on the backlog of stuff to
listen to that always builds up.
Aside from that there's a little something coming up on the 30th of
April. I've teamed up with another blogger - you might know him - to
put on a gig at The Captain's Rest. We've got Campfires in Winter,
Mitchell Museum and Kid Canaveral playing which is really pretty
special for me. I'm impressed and a bit humbled that bands I like so
much are willing to come play a gig for two guys who have no idea what
they are doing, and I can only hope we can do them justice. If that
goes well then I hope there'll be more gigs this year.
Doing this blog has allowed me to meet so many amazing people, many of whom I now consider to be good friends. Jim who runs the blog Aye Tunes most certainly falls into this category. He always claims that it was me that started stalking him first, I have always argued to the contrary. I am pretty sure it all started with him warning me about travelling to Paisley for a Sons & Daughters gig.
If you are ever in the 13th Note or Sleazys and you spot a shaven headed ginger man sporting bunny ears, then you might well have spotted the little sex beast that is Jim 'Aye Tunes'. Buy him a pint and he might even tell you about the indie starlets notched up on his bedpost (sorry kidda - I'm still in shock at that one). We also have quite an exciting announcement (well at least it's exciting as fuck to us), but I'll let him tell you all about that.
Anyway, I digress, if you are looking for a blog about exciting new music coming from these fair shores then kids look no further. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the man...... the legend...Jim 'Aye Tunes'......
Would you care to introduce yourself?
Hiya, I'm Jim. I write the Aye Tunes blog and make a pest of myself at gigs.
What was it that motivated you to start writing a blog all about Scottish music?
It started with thinking up the name, pretty much. Aye Tunes popped in
to my head one day and no one else was using it, so I figured I'd get
in before anyone else had the same idea. It only took two years for
another music site to nick the name. At the time there wasn't as many
Scottish focused blogs around as there is now, so there was a bit of a
gap there. It took me about a year to actually start posting regularly
though, by the time I started putting effort into the blog there was
tons of places writing and talking about the Scottish music scene.
Some of those helped me get the motivation to get back to blogging
regularly, and getting out to more gigs than I'd been to in years.
What would you say has been the best thing to happen since you started it?
Probably the best thing is the fantastic new people I've met through
it, whether they be bloggers, musicians or just regular music fans.
There's something coming up at the end of April which will, if all
goes well, be a real highlight for me. Getting sent music is always
nice too, even if not everything that comes my way is to my taste. The
number of gigs I've been to in the past year hasn't done my liver any
favours though.
For you personally what artist/band has excited you most over the past
12 months?
Oh, loads, too many to list, but I'll pick out a couple. Beerjacket
made one of my favourite records last year and is always a delight to
listen to. The Gothenberg Address and You Already Know are two bands
whose music sends shivers up my spine without using lyrics. I hear a
lot of potential in We're Only Afraid of NYC and Macabre Scene, every
time I hear new material from either band it seems to be a step up in
quality from the older stuff, which is already good. If they keep
improving like that they could be scary. Also I can't wait to hear
albums from Mitchell Museum and Kid Canaveral, both of those bands
always make me both grin like an idiot and dance like one. Another
band that's really caught my interest is Spaghetti Anywhere. Their
debut EP landed in my inbox when I was having a rotten day and cheered
me up right away. It's been played a lot of times when I'm feeling a
bit down since and always makes me feel better.
Lastly, what can we expect to see from Ayetunes in 2012?
2012? Hopefully I'll still be alive, and cars will fly.
2010 will be more of the same, reviews and random blethering on the
blog. At some point I hope to catch up on the backlog of stuff to
listen to that always builds up.
Aside from that there's a little something coming up on the 30th of
April. I've teamed up with another blogger - you might know him - to
put on a gig at The Captain's Rest. We've got Campfires in Winter,
Mitchell Museum and Kid Canaveral playing which is really pretty
special for me. I'm impressed and a bit humbled that bands I like so
much are willing to come play a gig for two guys who have no idea what
they are doing, and I can only hope we can do them justice. If that
goes well then I hope there'll be more gigs this year.
Go visit Ayetunes - but before you do that, check below for further details on that little shindig that we're putting on next month.......
As Jim mentioned above, we're taking a step outside of our comfort zone and putting on a gig together. We're both still in a mild state of shock that the three bands have agreed to be our proverbial guinea pigs, they're three of our favourite local bands and we're pretty honoured to have them play at the our first ever 'Peenko vs Ayetunes' gig (or Ayetunes vs Peenko as Jim calls it). In case you missed the line up we have Kid Canaveral, Mitchell Museum and Campfires in Winter at the Captains Rest on Friday the 30th of April. Get it in your diaries kids as this is going to be a belter of a gig. Tickets are only £4 in advance and £5 on the door, provided we have any left that is. Postage is free and there is none of the usual booking fee nonsense. Tickets are on sale now, just click on the pretty black ticket below.
I can't wait, and I hope you can't too......
"Little sex beast"? Aww, you say the sweetest things,
ReplyDeleteAww lookit the ears.
ReplyDelete