Scots Way-Hay #26 - Bronto Skylift

And Now for Something Completely Different..... There has been an overly large percentage of indie-folk bands in the past few months. So it's time to bring in some rock, and not your average run of the mill rock. No this is some of the most ferocious, intense noise to have emerged from this wee nation in many a year. What makes it even more impressive is that there are only two of them. Now I am going to be honest, when I first heard Bronto I didn't 'get it'. Whilst all my fellow blogger-type friends went crazy over it, I found myself slightly bemused as to what all the fuss was about. Then I saw them play live, then suddenly it all made perfect sense. It really was a jaw dropping moment, that soon turned into a massive grin. Quite simply they are one of the most brutal and entertaining bands I have ever seen. When I saw them up in Inverness they had their drumkit set up in the middle of the dancefloor, they are beasts that just won't be tamed. Their debit album, 'The White Crow', is an intense head fuck of an album, be warned it's not for the faint hearted. Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings I'll leave it to the boys to provide some words of sense.

Would you care to introduce yourself?

We are Niall and Iain. Iain is from the Orkney Islands and Niall is from Inverness

How would you describe the music you make?

Energetic, sarcastic, visceral.

How did the two of you first meet and decide to form a band together?

Niall got the name at college and did some recording/gigs under bronto as a 3 piece but it wasn't complete until Iain got introduced through a mutual friend and we thought it would be more interesting to be a 2 piece.

How did you start out making music?

Strumming guitars, hitting skins and noises out the mouth

What process goes into the way you write songs?

Sometimes they come out of just jamming in the practice room and seeing where we can take it. Other times Iain may have a drum beat and then we build it from there. Or Niall will have songs or riffs that he's written on acoustic guitar.

Who are your big musical influences?

Dillinger Escape Plan, Shellac, PJ Harvey, Converge, Refused, Madonna

You are possibly on the most unrelenting live bands that I have ever had the good fortune to witness. Did you find it difficult to replicate that amount of energy on your debut album?

We decided before we made the album that the live show and our recorded output would be two entirely different things. Trying to recreate on record what you do in a live setting is almost always doomed to failure so we actually tried to make a 'record' with it's own atmosphere and layers but is still bristling with energy. Our producer Marcus Mackay was amazing and able to get sounds that we asked for and some good ideas to throw in. We're already looking forward to the next record now that we've found him.

The Detour Scotland boys seem to love having you boys play in some pretty weird places, in the middle of an island, down back street lanes. Is there anywhere that you think the boys couldn’t convince you to play?

Don't think so. We want them to push us further!


Having played gigs in Norway and Ireland, are you looking to try to continue to play gigs a bit further afield than just Scotland?

Yep gonna be hitting Scotland, England and possibly Germany and Ireland before the years end.

Lastly, what can we expect to see/hear from you in the rest of the year and beyond?

Well on August 6th we are releasing a single from the album for free download at www.brontoskylift.bandcamp.com the song is called Wolf. We will have our first music video online aswell which is shaping up brilliantly. Few tours coming together, supporting Kong, playing King Tuts 20th birthday...busy bees There will be more with Detour Scotland maybe at a festival that coincides with single launch At Xmas we will prob have another single out and we will be beginning to demo our second record. And for 2011 we have America in our sights but we can't say anything at the moment! buy our album here - www.brontoskylift.bigcartel.com

Bronto Skylift - Cobblepot

Bronto Skylift play King Tuts in Glasgow tonight alongside The Xcerts, , Otherpeople and Dupec, in what promises to be one of the most ear bleeding gigs of the summer. There are a limited number of tickets still available here. Their debut album, 'The White Crow' is available to buy through their Bandcamp page.

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