Fresh Meat Monday - If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now

Would you care to introduce yourself?

My name is Clare, I'm in 'If you lived here, you'd be home by now'. We are a 4 piece band from Glasgow...


How would you describe the music you make?

The songs are mostly simple songs that combine layers of other strangeness. The music has a lot of space within it. I like things to sound quite wonky, and draw inspiration from nostalgia.


How did you start out making music?

I went to keyboard lessons (thanks mum) when I was 9 and have always loved creating musical things since then. I then went on to be in other bands and when I moved to Glasgow met Ruth and Iain. I have really liked musicals from an young age and that has also helped me make music!


What process goes into the way you write songs?

It can change, but its mostly trying to translate an idea in your head and recording it then layering other part on top.


What can people expect from your live shows?

Our live shows are more theatrical. We are playing this Saturday (sorry guys this has been and gone - Peenko) and will be joined by a dancer. We like to use space between songs and try to make our performance visually, quite interesting.


What are you all listening to at the moment?

We like lots - I mostly listen to older music most of the time like Sammy Davis Jnr, Barbara Streisand and Edith Piaf. We all love Tom Waits and PJ Harvey is my absolute favourite person.


What can we expect to see/hear from you in the future?

Hopefully a Christmas song with our pals Black Jash! another recording next year and more live shows :)

If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now - Sleeping Beauty

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Introducing - The Shivers

It's been ages since I have posted anything on one of these wee introduction posts, mainly because I no longer have the time to check out new music, out-with Scotland (no bad thing in my eyes). I was introduced to The Shivers by Johnny 'Pictish Trail' back in September when I was helping to do Kid Canaveral's merch at King Tuts. The duo who are based in Queens, New York, had recently signed up to his label Fence Records and he was looking to book some shows for their UK tour and he wondered if I might be up for putting on their Glasgow show. He duly sent me over their new album. I thought it was great and the next thing I knew I was hunting round venues in Glasgow to put them on. So as I am sure that most of you who visit this site on a regular basis will already know, next Monday (the 7th of November), The Shivers will be hitting up Mono for their first ever appearance in sunny Glasgow. Ahead of the gig I caught up with Jo and Keith to tell you a bit more about themselves and to tell me a bit more about how a band from New York ended up on a Scottish label...


Would you care you to introduce yourself to the Peenko readers?

I am Jo Schornikow, keyboardist.

I am Keith Zarriello, guitarist, singer.



What three little words would best describe the sound of The Shivers?

Raw honest beautiful


Have you met your initial ambitions for the band? And what are your aspirations for the future?

Jo: the only ambition i have anymore is to make good music. so yes, because I believe in what we've done, and also no, because there's so much more to do.

Keith: My aspirations are finally to reach the point where we're no longer really called a band who is clearly influenced by certain artists of the past but we have our own sound that is completely unique and although it would of course draw from the past, it makes something wholly original and new. This is why the direction we are heading incorporates elements of hip hop, electronic and film music to go along with our clear influences of rock, soul and folk. I have a sound in my head that sounds both new and fresh and yet doesn't lose any of the soulfulness of all the music from the past that I love.



You’ve just released your new album, ‘More’ in the UK through those lovely folk at Fence, how did that come about then?

Jo: did you ever see the movie Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow?



You must spent a lot of time in the studio and on the road touring, which of the two do you prefer?

Jo: whichever one we are not presently doing.

Keith: I would have to say the studio just because I love the idea of creating documents to mark a period of time and last into the future and because I get incredibly nervous and sick whenever we play live. Although, when we do have one of those really good live shows absolutely nothing in the world can compare. When we have a triumph on the stage, which is not every time, it makes me realize why I do this. The part that gets to me with playing live is that if we do a bad show, I dwell and dwell and beat myself up about it. It makes me disgusted so it's a difficult thing.




I’m always on the hunt for something new that I have never heard before, are there any bands from your neck of the woods that you would suggest my readers check out?

Keith & Jo: RACES from LA, Cameron Hull from NYC, Ainslie Wills from Melbourne Australia. Trash Gut from Providence, RI. Viking Moses from USA.



How excited are you about your forthcoming UK tour? And more importantly how much are you looking forward to the Glasgow date (that I am putting on coincidently)?

Jo: I am especially looking forward to Glasgow because I want to hunt down Frances McKee (who lives there I believe) and do yoga with her. that would be a million dreams come true at once.

And also because I heard no one throws down harder than a Glaswegian at a folk love song show.

Keith: I am extremely excited to come to the UK. I've always thought if we had any chance to ever have a wider audience it'd be over there because you guys have different (and I think better) taste in music. Glasgow in particular excites me because growing up I listened to Arab Strap, Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian and other great Glasgow bands and that gave me a romanticized view of your city and its music scene. And we've never been there so we're psyched.


The Shivers - Irrational Love

'More', The Shivers’ sixth album is out now through Fence Records, you can catch the band live in Glasgow on the 7th of November at Mono with support from Randolph's Leap and Where We Lay Our Heads. Tickets are available through Tickets Scotland, they're £5 in advance and £6 on the door. As always it would be great to see some of your beautiful faces coming along for the evening.

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We've Got It Covered #74

It's not really a big secret round these parts that I like Kid Canaveral and King Creosote, I don't tend to hide these things very well. I am sure that most of you will already know all of this, but in case it somehow passed you by, they're currently on a co-headline tour of Scotland and further afield. Tonight they're hitting up Inverness, then they'll be moving on to Aberdeen, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Dundee, Banchory, before finishing up at Fence's Hot Loggz Festival in Cellardyke. After which the Canaverals will be heading off down south for some dates with their friends, Standard Fare, before rounding off the year with their second Christmas shindig, cleverly entitled Baubles II at the Summerhall in Edinburgh on Saturday 17th of December. Where they will be joined by Slow Club, Standard Fare, Josie Long, eagleowl, Martin John Henry and Sweet Baboo. They have promised that a few more names have still to be added, keep your eyes peeled for future announcements on their website.
To tie in with their co-headline tour the Kid and King's of C have released a split 7" which will only be available at the shows, plus they also have these rather nifty t-shirts too. If you can't make it to the shows, then you'll need to keep checking the Fence website to see as they are a tour exclusive, so it really depends as to whether they have any stocks left at the end of the tour.
If like me you can't make it to any of the shows, then feel free to console yourself in this cover that they did of REM's 11, which they recorded as part of their session for Vic Galloway a couple of weeks back...

King Creosote & Kid Canaveral-11 (REM cover)

Friday Freebies

John Knox Sex Club
For fear of repeating myself, I will say this just once more. You need John Knox Sex Club in your life, no really you do. If you don't believe me then you can see for yourself by downloading some free tracks using this link, once you've had a listen then you can invest yer pennies in their latest album 'Raise Ravens' as its awfy good. You can catch the band in the flesh alongside Olympic Swimmers on the 19th of November at Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow, which is also one of their 20 Years of Sleaze gigs. They're also supporting Three Blind Wolves at a very intimate show at Brel this coming Sunday.

We Were Promised Jetpacks
Stereogum had a wee exclusive this week from We Were Promised Jetpacks, they posted up the video for the bands new song 'Human Error'. The song which is taken from their new album, 'In The Pit Of The Stomach' is also free to download too.

PET
You might recall me getting a bit over excited about Edinburgh outfit PET back in the summer, their debut EP, 'What you building?' has been one my surprise finds of the year. With an equally good if not better EP coming out in a few weeks time, they've just posted up a remix of one of their new songs 'Middle Child Syndrome' by another new favourite of mine Age Of Consent. You can download this awesome wee number for nowt on SoundCloud.

Uniform Motion
If you are on the look out for new music and you haven't already check out the Edinburgh Man podcast, then I would urge you to check it out. In the past few months he's turned me on (ooer missus) to an array of new stuff that I would never have come across. Most recently he's introduced me to an indie-folk outfit by the name of Uniform Motion. You can check them out for yourself by downloading this free sampler.

Hercules Moments
I posted a link up to this compilation in Friday Freebies a few months back, the one thing that I hadn't noticed at the time was that it wasn't actually out yet. Now that it is, it's time for it to make another appearance. The compilation which features an array of acts including The Xcerts, The Little Kicks, Min Diesel, The Deportees and Seas, Starry, can be downloaded for free here.

The Machine Room
Ahead of their appearance on this coming Sunday's Ally McCrae show, The Machine Room have made their cover of New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle free to download on SoundCloud.

The Mirror Trap
Dundee four piece, The Mirror Trap have made the lead track from their new White Rabbits EP free to download on their Bandcamp.

coma emilio
Bloody hell, Glasweigan lo-fi soloist coma emilio isn't one for keeping things to a minimum. If you check out his Bandcamp then you'll find a shit load of free tunes up grabs, including a 69 track album.

Drunk Mule
I can barely keep up with Drunk Mule's free tracks, his new album is now up to a whopping 28 tracks, all of which are free. If you want a starting point I'd suggest checking out new tune 'As One' which you'll find here.

Veronica Falls - Marc Riley Session (24/10/11)

Track Listing

1. Bad Feeling
2. Heartbeat
3. Right Side of My Brain

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If you're looking for something sensible you've come to the wrong place.... A News Roundup

I guess most of you will already know this, but in case it somehow passed you by Dananananaykroyd have announced that at the end of their current UK tour they'll be hanging up their boots for good. In what will be there last ever show in Glasgow, the boys will be tearing the roof off the ABC in Glasgow this Saturday night (29th). If you fancy sending one of Scotland's finest live bands off in style, then you can still pick up a ticket in advance via Synergy Concerts website. If you are planning on going along, make sure you get down nice and early as United Fruit have just announced that they will be the support for the evening. If you get the chance then you should check out the video for their current single 'Go Away Don't Leave Me Alone', it's rather good.


"As part of her "30 Before 30" list, Lisa from Last Years Girl blog is joining the list of bloggers who are putting on their own gigs, as she wants to"play too". On December the 2nd, she's booked up the Old Hairdresser's (across from Stereo) for a night of entertainment entitled 'Friday Night Speakeasy' featuring Franz Nicolay (of Hold Steady fame), Brighton-based political songwriter Chris T-T plus Glasgow's finest folk-punk singer-songwriter, Dave Hughes. Tickets for the gig are available now, although due to the size of the venue numbers are very limited so if you want to go you best be quick in snapping up a ticket.


Those lovely folk at Born To Be Wide have announced their next monthly night is going to be radio seminar featuring an array of guest speakers including the Vic Galloway, Jim Gellatly, the radio plugger Grant Crain and producer of Radio’s Scotland’s Iain Anderson Show, Stewart Cruickshank. The event will take place at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus on Thursday 3 November, if you want some more information or you would like to pre-order tickets, then just click the link.

Next Thursday, For Pete's Sake, new live music initiative are putting on their first ever gig night at Jim's Bar in the QMU in Glasgow. For their debut night they've lined Aerials Up, Young Aviators and Kevin Harper. Tickets for the gig are only £5 and it's open to both students and normal folk, if you want to book yours in advance then here's the link you need.


Right I think that's enough rambling for one post, I am going to finish up with this cracking wee video from Paisley's noisiest sons, Carnivores and their new video for their song 'Scottish Football'. The band have just announced that they'll be playing a headline gig with Marvel Heights at King Tuts and So Many Animal Calls on Sunday the 11th of December...

Dems - House (video)

It feels like an age since we last heard anything from Dems, or Dan Moss as I used to know him better has. Having relocated from Edinburgh back to his native London, he's been busy working away on a new EP and has even recruited two new members, David Gardener and Duncan Mann to what is now a band. Their new EP, 'House' is out on November 14th through Bad Life, it will be available as digital download and on limited 7” vinyl. As a wee taster of what to expect from this more than welcome return you can check out the video for the lead track from the EP below...

Scots Way-Hay #73 - Emily Scott

Okay so Emily Scott may well be from Northern Island, but seeing as she's based in Edinburgh I can technically classify her as a Scot, or at least I am going to try to (she might not quite agree). The multi-instrumentalist has just released her third album 'I write letters I never send', a cracking wee album that's charmed the pants off me over this past month. Having been somewhat disappointed by the new St. Vincent album, her new album filled that void and then some. Her soulful vocals, blend in with off-kilter folk-pop to produce an album which is either destined to either make her a new star on the Scottish music scene, either that or this is destined to become one of those classic lost albums. Please don't let it be the latter. Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings, here's Emily with some more sensible words of wisdom...

Would you care to introduce yourself?

Helloooo. I'm Emily Scott.

How would you describe the music you make?

I sing and play ukulele, and write music for a string trio, then the string trio play really well and people listen and fall in love, or eat their lunch by mistake, or cry, or get run over, or fall asleep. One of those.

How did you start out making music?

Like anyone I think; I pushed the buttons on the piano and noise came out, and it was the best fun ever.

What process goes into the way you write songs?

Pretty much nothing has changed since then… I play around a bit, it's usually a musical phrase first that naturally lends itself to some key words, then the thing builds outward in all directions from that.

What artists would you say have had the biggest influence on you?

Musically pretty much everything I've ever heard, I don't seem to have a filter, which makes me a bit uncool, because what you listen to helps people decide what you are. The music that inspires me is never what we end up sounding like, so I'd consider it a major influence but not a direct one: I listened to Smog's "A River Ain't Too Much to Love" for about a year while I made these songs, and I don't think any of it has rubbed off, for shame, I just feed off the sound of his voice. Same with Elvis Costello's "The Juliet Letters" which is all string quartet, but I don't think we sound like it at all, despite it being a main inspiration in getting the strings involved.

What kind of influence do you feel that where you come from has had on the music you create?

I'm from Belfast; there's an obvious folk element based there, but I'm definitely not traditional 'folk', we get offered these gigs, and play to bemused faces. I grew up mostly in the country though, so my lyrics are definitely influenced by the land itself, and I'm quite nostalgic about my childhood in Ireland, but that's more to do with the childhood than the place.

What would you like someone who’s listening to you for the first time to take away from your music?

I suppose what I'm working on is to evoke some kind of feeling, or to capture a feeling for myself, but I'm not about to dictate what other people should take away from it, that's something different. I like to be treated like a grown-up as a listener, where meaning develops with listening, so I don't spoon-feed people as such. I'm not out to create hooks that make people feel a certain way; I present the material, and see. Maybe I'm an idiot, it's not exactly the path to writing a hit, is it?

What has been your most memorable gig to date, (be it good or bad)?

We just had our first tour, which could've been a disaster, because I booked it myself and half expected no-one to come to see us anywhere, but it was amazing, and we pulled off a string of small but intimate and really warm gigs in village halls, bookshops, and tearooms around the UK, all memorable in their own eclectic way. There are certainly things I'd do differently next time, but I feel like that's a do-able thing now.

What are your plans for the rest of the year and beyond?

We're up in Aberdeen at the end of the October for the Sound festival, then it's back to the drawing board, I'm dying to get back to writing because the release and tour have meant months of admin, so I'm looking forward to winter in my cupboard with the piano.

Emily Scott - If I Am A Thing


Emily's new album 'I Write Letters I Never Send' is available now via her Bandcamp, I'd thoroughly recommend you check it out as it's one of the finest things I have heard all year.

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Django Django - Marc Riley Session (18/10/11)

Track Listing

1. Waveforms
2. Default
3. Wor

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Fresh Meat Monday - Niteworks

Would you care to introduce yourself?

Hi, we’re Niteworks originally from the Isle of Skye. We’re a four piece band, all still currently at Uni. So we spend most of our time between Glasgow and Skye at the moment.


How would you describe the music you make?

Our music is a mixture of folk and electronica. Between us we play drums, bass, keys and pipes and sing. It’s probably easiest understand described as house/techno with celtic influences.


How did you start out making music?

We started in separate bands a while back, and came together to start Niteworks about three years ago. When we started, we only really did a couple gigs here and there, but we’re putting more time into it now, and are really enjoying playing and recording as much as we can. With us living in separate places (Glasgow and Skye), we don’t get the chance to spontaneously practice or jam when we like, which is a bit annoying, but we try and get together to play most weekends which is good.


What process goes into the way you write songs?

We generally start with an idea, then record it and jam it for a bit. We then build up the other instruments around the ideas we have. We record everything as we go, and test everything live before committing to it.


What can people expect from your live shows?

Live, we keep things up-beat and try make everything fairly dance-y. We stitch our live sets together similar to as we would when DJing, so everything is linked together and (hopefully) flows together throughout the show.

This summer, we played a couple dates with a choir which was really fun. We like the idea of collaborating with new people and instruments etc, so we’re toying with the idea of some new projects in the future. We’re also hoping to integrate visuals into our set more, which is something we plan to work on for next year’s festival run.

What are you all listening to at the moment?
I’m currently listening to Apparat’s new album “The Devil’s Walk.” I’m a huge fan of his stuff, so hoping the new album lives up to it’s predecessors.
Apart from that I really really like Kollektiv Turmstrasse’s newest album. I think it was released around this time last year, but I still listen to it all the time, it’s brilliant.

What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2011?

We just released an EP (on the 15th October), which was our first proper release. We’ve also got some new material on the go, which we’ll be working on and we’re hoping to do a bit of a mini tour late December/January time.

EP Sampler by NITEWORKS

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We've Got It Covered #73

Clearing a dead mouse out a trap wasn't the most ideal starts to the day, and yes I know that we should have bought a humane trap, but when none of the stores nearby seemed to stock them I am afraid I had to invest in something lethal. Fuck it, Erin's safety comes first, as cute as they look I don't want her going anywhere near mouse droppings (they do bear an uncanny resemblance to her beloved raisins you see). I suppose in the grand scale of things it doesn't make much of a difference as I don't feel that guilty eating, but when you actually have to deal with the cleaning up a dead body, no matter how small it is, it makes me sad. Anyway, enough of this feeling sorry myself nonsense, today I plan to get myself into town to stick up a few posters for The Shivers gig that I am putting on in a few weeks time. I had meant to stick them up last week when I was off, but I got a wee bit caught up with all The Moth & The Mirror album launch malarkey. Right I really am starting to ramble a lot of pish here, so lets get on with this this weeks cover version which comes from the fabulously named, If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now. The Glasgow four piece have taken their hand to covering the Elvis classic, 'Girl of My Best Friend' which will feature on the bands forthcoming album 'a Room Dim At Noon', due out on the 7th of November. To celebrate the band are having a wee launch night on Saturday 29th October at Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow. You should go, it should be a lot of fun, plus from what I have heard of the album so far it's sounding mighty fine...

If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now - Girl Of My Best Friend (Elvis cover)

Friday Freebies

Frightened Rabbit
As part of their recent US tour the Frabbit boys were selling a limited edition EP, so now that their state side adventures are all finished up (for now), they've decided to make it free to download. Rather nifty it is too, featuring collaborations with Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell and Scottish folk singer, Archie Fisher, you can nab yourself a free download of the EP simply by signing up to their mailing list. A pretty good deal if I do say so myself.

White Denim
I know that I ban on about Scottish music a fair wee bit on here, but on the odd occasion I do actually turn my ear to things outside of this remit. One such band who have been turning my head for a good few years now are Austin's finest sons, White Denim. If you haven't already checked out their most recent album 'D', then I would suggest you do as it's one of the finest things I have heard all year. If you want a wee taster of what to expect you could always down their free live EP, 'Live at the Ghost Room' which consists of four songs from said album, performed and recorded live in their home town.

Spanish Prisoners
I know I have said this a few times, but one of the first ever blogs that I read a back in the day was the I Guess I'm Floating, a cracking wee site based in Brooklyn in the US. Over the years the site has turned me onto numerous bands, although in recent times I haven't checked out as much stuff as I'd like to (the Scottish music scene some what dominates my time nowadays). This week though I did get the chance to check out their latest tip, Spanish Prisoners, who's Gold Fools LP is pay what you want on Bandcamp. I don't often find myself enjoying dreamy pop songs, but I fucking love this, check it out kiddie winks then go and say thanks to the good folk at IGIF.

Kowalskiy
Bloody hell time fairly does fly in, it feels as if it was only last week that I was mentioning the last free Monthly 5-track Scottish EP from my fellow blogger Kowalskiy. Now he's up to his 16th EP, which features among others the fabulously named If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now, The Stormy Seas, Supermarionation and Vladimir.

Yusuf Azak
Until recently I hadn't quite made my mind up about Yusuf Azak, my friend Ian described him as being a bit Marmite-esq, i.e. you either love him or hate him. Having given his new acoustic EP, Prizefighter, a good few listens I think I might now well be sold. You can make your own mind up by downloading the EP for nowt via his Bandcamp.

The Belle Hops
Inspired by girl groups of the 50s and 60s, Glasgow's The Belle Hops have made their song 'The New Boy's Really Great' free to download on their SoundCloud page.

Age Of Consent
Former Shit Disco-ers, Age Of Consent are busy touring Australia at the moment, but they've not forgotten about everyone back home as they've made The Toxic Avenger remix of their song, The Beach free to download here.

The Hazey Janes
The Dundee outfit have made their new single, 'Girl In The Night’ free to download on their SoundCloud page. The song is taken from their forthcoming album, The Winter That Was' which is due to be released on Monday 24th October 2011.

My Tiny Robots
Edinburgh four piece My Tiny Robots have released their song ‘Rock Bossa Nova Four Beat Black’ as a free download. The song is a precursor to their series of three singles which will be available on digital download and as a special limited edition release starting in October.

The Wynd
If you're looking for some alternative indie pop rock from the capital, then look no further as here's The Wynd who's single 'Favourites' is free to download on Bandcamp.

Louis Abbott (Admiral Fallow) - The Pop Cop Sessions (09/10/11)

Track Listing

1. The Beetle In The Box
2. Burn Me Now

Download
Listen to the Show

A Midweek News Roundup...

Once again my inbox is over flowing with loads of newsworthy things, which means it's time for another news roundup...

First off we have the pretty exciting news that Miaoux Miaoux has announced a very special live show at The Captain's Rest on the 23rd of November. The gig which is being put on to preview his new album, will see Julian (aka Miaoux Miaoux) playing with a full live band, plus some very special guest vocalists., including Profisee, Paul Carlin (Dananananaykroyd /American Men), Kris Ferguson (Mitchell Museum) and Anna Miles (Maple Leaves). Plus as if that wasn't enough there will also be support from the rather awesome Jonnie Common, it's £5 and tickets will only be available on the door so you'd be advised to get down nice and early.

Bloggers promoting gigs, it's a bug that seems to be spreading rapidly amongst the online Scottish blogosphere. This time round Jim from the Vinyl Villain has something pretty special up his sleeve as he's decided to commemorate the 5th Anniversary ofhis blog by promote his own gig. So on Saturday the 19th of November he's booked the Langside Halls on the south side of Glasgow and is putting on the wonderful Butcher Boy. I am pretty excited about this gig, as there are far too few gigs on the southside (if you exclude anything on the Academy that is), plus I can walk/stumble home from this one, which is all good in the hood. As if that wasn't enough, the support on the evening will come from Peenko favourite, Adam Stafford, who will be fresh from just having support the Twilight Sad on their Scottish tour. Tickets for the gig are priced at £8 and are available now using the following link.

Butcher Boy - The Day Our Voices Broke

Over in the east it's time for this years Oxjam Edinburgh Takeover, which takes place this Friday (21st) at various venues across the city, including the Cabaret Voltaire, Sneaky Pete’s, Electric Circus, The Wee Red Bar, Medina (now The Third Door) and Banshee Labyrinth with The Left Bank (formerly The Store) as the festival HQ.

The lineup includes an array of amazing local bands including: As in Bear, Black International, Citizens, Dead Boy Robotics, Endor, Esperi, FOUND, French Wives, i build collapsible mountains, Broken Records (solo), The Last Battle, Letters, Loch Awe, The Machine Room, Meursault, PAWS, Sebastian Dangerfield, Smithsonian, The Spook School, Trapped in Kansas, Trapped Mice, Vasquez and Verse Metrics.

On the day The Left Bank will be festival HQ from 3pm – 3am. It will house wristband exchange along with a few acoustic sets, merch for sale, cakes etc, a raffle and Oxfam reps. The afterparty is also happening here, featuring DJ sets from PAWS and Fresh Air with a few others TBA.

Tickets are £10 and are available from Avalanche Records, Tickets Scotland and WeGotTickets. Entry to the afterparty is free with Takeover wristbands or £4 without (£3 students). A full break down of all of the stage times can be found over on The Pop Cop.

To finish up I have a video of the new French Wives single, 'Numbers', in case you'd forgotten they have a wee single launch at Mono tonight, with support coming from Blochestra and Endor, oh and doors are at 7:30pm...

Scots Way-Hay #72 - Bear Bones

Yes, I am fully aware that the picture above is a bit shit, but then again how could I resist posting a photo of a man so happy with his bowl of Ricicles. The man in question is of course Ben the lead singer of Bear Bones, an '8 piece ensemble of accordion, brass, bells, banjo, strings, drums and voices'. I first came across the band last year when they released their debut single, 'Oil & Lacquer' late last year, but to my shame I didn't catch them live until just a few months back at the Wickerman Festival. I spent most of that weekend bouncing around like a drunken Duracell Bunny on speed, so some parts of that weekend are a wee bit hazy, I can still vividly recall just how much I enjoyed seeing Bear Bones. Their folk pop tunes are unmistakably Scottish, which as I am sure you know is a major plus point in my books. I caught up with lead singer Ben and his Ricicles to tell us a bit more about the band...

Would you care to introduce yourself to the Peenko readers?

Hi, I'm Ben and I play in a fabulous band called Bear Bones.


It’s that question that all bands seem to hate answering, but how would you describe the music you make?

I'd describe it as miserable drivel pimped out with beautiful melodies. There are a lot of layers and we aim to keep lots of the best parts subtle so that the songs unravel as you get to know them.


How did the band come together then?

I started writing songs for this project about 3 years ago but it took a long time to get to the stage where we had "a band". It's been a very fluid ensemble over the years and I've just realised that we've had nearly 20 different members since we started trying to piece it together.


So where does the band name come from then?

The name comes from the idea that I wanted the songs, first and foremost, to work with just acoustic guitar and vocals. I didn't want to be turning down gigs because the bassoon player had hurt his back or whatever. So that's where the idea of Bare Bones came from but that sounds lame and since we're more twee than an oak with a speech impediment I thought I better force an animal name in there too.


Is there a certain process that goes into the way you write songs?

The songs always start with just me and guitar and they go no further until the structure, guitar bits, melodies and lyrics are done. Then I usually play the song through to the band and realise I hate lots of it so take it back home and change those bits. Once that's done I write the other bits and take it back to the band and we learn it and make sure it all works. Basically, it's a very long process for me but a very short process for everyone else.


What artists would you say have had the biggest influence on the band?

Since I write the songs I guess it's everything I listened to growing up. Now, I could lie and name drop lots of credible bands but I'm not going to do that - the biggest influences on Bear Bones have been Kenny Rogers, The Dubliners and hours and hours and hours of Born To Do It by Craig David.


What would you like someone who’s listening to your music for the first time to take away from your music?

Preferably nothing about Craig David. The first time, all you can hope for is a hook that makes people want to listen again. Then on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th listens the intention is that listeners find more and more reasons to come back.


Do you feel that where you come from has had much of an impact on the music that you create?

A massive impact. I grew up on the Isle of Islay and, as clichéd as it sounds, never appreciated all the great things about it until I left. I was desperate to move to "the mainland" and meet new people. Now that I've met everyone in Glasgow I find myself pining for awesome Islay things like jumping off the pier even though you don't want to (pier pressure) or going to the beach at night and it being darker than Frankie Boyle doing a gig at Yorkhill. Lots of the songs I'm writing recently are based around things that happened on Islay and the music is certainly rooted in the Islay folk scene.


What has been your most memorable gig to date, (be it good or bad)?

The first time we got everyone to sit on the floor at the Captain's rest was awesome. Our music works so much better when people are sitting rather than standing and that was the first time we realised that. To be honest, since then, every show we've played has been amazing. We don't play that much so we're very lucky that when we do we seem to get the best people in the world coming along.


Aside from world domination, what are your plans for the rest of the year and beyond?

Just the world domination if I'm being totally honest. We've got some recording sessions booked to make a start on the album which is very exciting. We can't wait to get it finished and then force people to listen to it until they like us. That's the dream.

Bear Bones - Oil & Lacquer

Bear Bones play at Stereo tomorrow (20th October) along with Kitty The Lion, Chasing Owls and Bella Spinks. Further information on the gig can be found here.

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King Creosote & Kid Canaveral - Vic Galloway Session (17/10/11)

Track Listing
1. Home Run And A Vow
2. Nowhere Near Half Done
3. 11 (REM cover)

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Fresh Meat Monday - Pioneers of Anesthetic

Would you care to introduce yourself?

My name is Steven Cossar and I make music as Pioneers Of Anaesthetic


How would you describe the music you make?

If I'm trying to describe it, I tend to come out with stupid stuff like, "Short songs for a long attention span", or "Cyclical bedroom FM folk-pop", but I guess I just make home-recorded stuff with obvious influences, but I try and approach the structure and arrangements a little bit differently.


How did you start out making music?

I started 21 years ago doing that whole two tape recorder dubbing thing when I was 14. They were really shrill recordings of what I thought was early REM combined with American Music Club or something. I remember the songs ended up sounding like barbershop because I was obsessed with layering harmonies. Pretty awful, but by the time I got into Sebadoh/Guided By Voices/Flying Saucer Attack I realized that you could make perfectly affecting music on shit equipment.


What process goes into the way you write songs?

It's a ridiculously 'no nonsense' approach. It can start as a Dictaphone message of me wailing a melody then wailing the Backing that I'm 'hearing' in my heid, but usually, I just find a guitar tuning I've never used and the first riff I play will usually sound fresh enough (to my ears) due to the new intervals in the tuning that I just go with it. I try and keep things back until the end of each song. It makes me feel a bit better about the listener's experience, if I don't smother them. Vocal ideas are almost always improvised - and I'm sure some of the more questionable lyrics are testament to that! The whole process never takes more than an hour or two. I just can't get too precious about spending time on stuff- despite contrary advice from literally all the dreadful music I hear, day to day. All the good stuff is just churned out - of the moment, Y'know?


What can people expect from your live shows?

Not a great deal at the moment.... Ha! A few other projects have delayed my live plans for solo shows. I'm hoping to be up and running again by the end of 2011. What tends to happen is that I rattle out a bunch of my real songs, followed by a bunch of Improvised tunes.


What are you all listening to at the moment?

Gaslamp Killer, Tangles, Kvelertak, Remember Remember's new one is fuckin' amazing, Tyler, The Creator (don't laugh), Happy Particles (of course), Off!, Kenny Process Team, Shabazz Palaces, getting heavily back into 60s psych after a period of obsessing over the Turkish stuff from that time.


What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2011?

I'm about to start Part 2 of a wee project I call Quantity Control. The idea is to increase output by limiting myself to 1 hour to write and record each tune. You can hear the (varied) results of Part 1 here.

New Stuff (Quantity Control Project) Pt. 1 by Pioneers Of Anaesthetic

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The Peenko Podcast #1

I have wanted to do a podcast for a while now, mainly because it makes more sense for me to be able to let you hear tunes that are exciting me. Plus it also allowed me to have a good old ramble, a favourite past time of mine. Here's the first attempt, which was recorded and edited by my friend Charlie (aka King Post Kitsch). If you like any of the songs and want to find out more just click on the links below. Be warned though, I do talk a hell of a lot of mince...

Peenko Podcast #1 by Peenko on Mixcloud

1. i build collapsible mountains - Face of Thunder Grin

2. The Moth & The Mirror - Fire

3. The Shivers - Used To Be

4. French Wives - Numbers

5. Martin John Henry - Ribbon On A Bough (Miaoux Miaoux remix)

6. The Son(s) - If I Hear You Talk Apostrophes Again

7. Emily Scott- If I Am A Thing

8. Sojourner - The Devil Makes

9. Kid Canaveral - Nowhere Half Done

10. Beerjacket - Island

The Twilight Sad - KEX Hostel, Reykjavik, Iceland (14/10/11)

Track Listing
1. Intro
2. The Summer At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy
3. Don't Move
4. I Became a Prostitute
5. Alphabet
6. Cold Days From The Birdhouse
7. Outro

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We've Got It Covered #72

Better late than never eh! If you don't follow me on Twitter you might have wondered why there was no Friday Freebies yesterday. or perhaps you didn't notice. On Thursday there the blog celebrated it's third birthday, which might not mean much to you, but it meant something to me. To celebrate this 'momentous' occasion, I have recorded my first ever podcast which I will be posting up at some point tomorrow - you have been warned!
The reason that there wasn't much happening on the blog over the past few days was because I took a couple of days off to go and visit my aunt and uncle in the East Neuk of Fife. After all of the exuberance from Wednesday's Moth & The Mirror album launch I really appreciated having a couple of dyas just chilling out, eating well and being by the sea. Having just gotten back into Glasgow this afternoon, it's back to the crazy times as I am off to a wedding tonight, then tomorrow I'll be at Fopp in the afternoon for an instore with Moth, before we head through to the capital for their Edinburgh album launch. One things for sure is that my liver is going to hate me come Monday morning. Anyway, this weeks cover is inspired by my trip to Fife as it comes from The Pictish Trail and his take on the Beta Band classic 'It's Not Too Beautiful'.

The Pictish Trail-It's Not Too Beautiful (Beta Band cover)

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Bats In The Attic (Unravelled)

Scots Way-Hay #71 - The Moth And The Mirror

Part of me feels a wee bit like I am cheating when I post about bands on our label, then the other half of me thinks stop being such a fucking idiot. If I can't post about my bands what's the point in having a blog if I can't promote the music that I love. Which brings me to the newest addition to the Olive Grove stable, The Moth And The Mirror. Up until earlier this year I will put my hands up and admit that I hadn't really heard any of their music, I had seen their name on plenty of bills but being the lay sod that I am I hadn't checked out any of their music. More fool me eh?! So when Halina got in touch to say that they'd been in touch about releasing their album I was slightly taken aback. If like me, you don't the back story of the band before hearing hearing them, then you couldn't fail but to be impressed by their credentials. Having been dubbed as being a bit of a Scottish super group (not by us - we just tried to point folk in that direction), the band who are made up folk from various bands including Frightened Rabbit, Admiral Fallow, Arab Strap and the Reindeer Section to name just a few - I guess you can see why I might like them then! Anyway, their album 'Honestly, this world' came out on Monday there, and a stunning wee album it is too. It's quite a dark we number that draws you in demanding repeated listens. I caught up with Stacey from the band to ask her to tell us a wee bit more about The Moth And The Mirror...


Would you care to introduce yourself to the Peenko readers?

Hello Peenko peeps, I’m Stacey from The Moth & the Mirror.


It’s that question that all bands seem to hate answering, but how would you describe the music you make?

It’s pretty dark with little light bits, kind of like the sky at night.


How did the band come together then?

We met through a friend, ‘The boy who trapped the sun’. I knew him and Gordon since they were just wee lads from some touring I did with a band called Astrid in the highlands. Colin asked Gordon, Kev, Murdo (our old drummer) and me to be his backing band. We liked each other so much we stayed together after Colin moved back to the Isle of Lewis. We joined together with another project I had been doing with Iain and became The Moth & the Mirror. Murdo then left to move to London and at that point we asked Louis and Pete to join the band - thankfully they said yes! We’ve been a sixsome ever since. It was all fate, you see.


So where does the band name come from then?

It’s from a children’s bedtime story in a ladybird book. It’s a fabulistic story about King moth who falls in love with his own reflection. There is a lightning strike, the mirror smashes, and suddenly his love disappears. He goes back to his forest and demands that all of his moths search in every light forever after. That’s why moths like flames: narcissism and foolishness! I love these weird strands of origin myths that dream up mental histories to explain the character and nature of a thing.


Is there a certain process that goes into the way you write songs?

Every song is a little bit different but they usually start with a simple melody or riff brought in by one of us, then we all get together and the fun starts. We really enjoy knocking ideas around and trying out lots of different manifestations of our songs before we settle on the one we like best.


What artists would you say have had the biggest influence on the band?

It’s difficult to speak for the whole band on this. My top 5 would be something like: The Cure (because they write amazing pop songs); Debussy (he writes in modal scales which is my fave kind of melody) , PJ Harvey (because it’s timeless) , Bright Eyes (for the words, and the passion), Sigur Ros (for their ethereal quality). If you asked Kev there would be some krautrock in there and some Japanese experimental rock. Pete would have some Danish techno band I’ve never heard of and Iain would like something Latin American- he loves to mambo!


What would you like someone who’s listening to your music for the first time to take away from your music?

A little toe-tap; a little smile; a little ache in their heart; and maybe syphilis.


Do you feel that where you come from has had much of an impact on the music that you create?

Of course, where you come from has an impact on every thing you do. It’s hard to say what that impact is but if this band had been with the same people 20 years ago we might have sounded like Guns & Roses.


What has been your most memorable gig to date, (be it good or bad)?

The time we arrived to play a show in Dunfermline and the venue had forgotten was a bit special. There were 2 people there and they’d come to watch the football.


Aside from world domination, what are your plans for the rest of the year and beyond?

Well, we’ve just released our album ‘Honestly, this world.’ this week and have a couple of Scottish gigs to promote that. It would be great to get a tour happening, we love playing live. Because it’s sometimes tricky for us to get together, due to everyone in the band’s commitments elsewhere, we have to make the shows we can do extra special. We’ve already started writing new songs so they will pop up at our future shows and hopefully we’ll be able to make a new album next year.

The Moth & The Mirror's debut album 'Honestly, this world' is out now, you can catch the band playing live tonight (12th) at Stereo in Glasgow, then on Sunday they'll be appearing at Fopp on Union Street in Glasgow doing an acoustic set, then that evening they're through in Edinburgh at the Cabaret Voltaire.

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