Scots Way-Hay #74 - Amber Wilson

As is the way of things these days, I am running late. with my posts. So without further a do here's a charming young lady by the name of Amber Wilson from the Granite City. I have been meaning to feature Amber for a while now, having seen her play recently with Endor and The Moth & The Mirror (actually it was more like I heard her as I was upstairs doing the door). Each time she charmed the pants off everyone, well not literally, but you catch my drift. Her latest EP has been soothing me on the way home from work on these dark nights, so I thought it was about time that I mentioned her on here. So here she is to tell you a bit more about her music and how a certain Irish singer-songwriter made her so forgetful...


Would you care to introduce yourself?

Hello, I am Amber Wilson. I am not a traffic light crossed with the rugby ball from castaway, I am a singer songwriter - hailing from the greyest city in the world.


How would you describe the music you make?

It's like cotton wool being blown around your back garden as the sun is setting.


How did you start out making music?

I was given my first guitar as a birthday present at the age of 7 and have been playing (badly) ever since. The first song I ever learned to play was "The Magical Mystery Tour" by the Beatles out of a chord book, and using the exact same chords I wrote my first song at the age of 9 about my pat hamster Harry. At 15, I'd written my first "grown up" song. My Mum was so proud that she phoned up our local radio station and made me sing down the phone to the DJ! This actually led to me doing a live studio session that very next week. Since then, I've been playing gigs up and down the country, found management with the lovely Jagged Roots in Dundee, released an EP and a single, signed an online distribution deal with Believe in France and have had a brief stint of doing session vocals with Morcheeba.


What process goes into the way you write songs?

I've found recently that all of my song ideas come to me when I'm sitting on the bus! If something's making me happy, getting me down or p*ssing me off, I'll tend to sing about it in my head and I come up with songs that way. The music is then arranged around the melody that I have in my head.


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

I grew up listening to the Beatles so I was very inspired by them, particularly John Lennon, I remember watching "Imagine" at 7 years old and crying my eyes out! His song-writing appealed to me from a young age, I admired his honesty as well as his ability to write about utter garbles. Nowadays I'm also inspired by the song-writing genius of Justin Vernon and Elliott smith as well as the production genius of Massive Attack and Thom Yorke.


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

For a long time my music was very "doom" ha ha and I do think that was partly because of all the granite here. At times where the sky matches the pavement, I would just hide away and write the most depressing songs. As I've matured though I've started to cope with that a lot better and I'm writing lots of happy songs, seeing the beauty in things I never did before.


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

Anything they like really, although, I would be honoured if anyone found comfort in one of my songs. I am so grateful to many artists for providing it to me over the years, and I'd like to hope that people can relate to my lyrics, on many levels.


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

My most memorable gig would have to be supporting Fionn Regan at The Tunnels just before he released The End of History. It was a cosy candlelit affair with a lovely respectful audience. I'd never heard him before, and I was just completely blown away. I remember meeting him afterwards, being completely starstruck, and introducing my boyfriend as my friend. I got a free album though!


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

Well my voice is fecked just now unfortunately, so I'm having to rest it for a while :-( But the plan, all being well, is to release 3 or 4 consecutive singles online starting early next year and then round up with a physical EP and a tour. Meanwhile my latest single Raise the Alarm / An Affirmation is available from iTunes.

Amber Wilson - Sleep (removed by request)

Amber's new single Raise the Alarm / An Affirmation can be downloaded now through iTunes. You can catch Amber and her band live at the Tunnels in Aberdeen on the 13th of November. Also, if you sign up to her mailing address she'll send you a free MP3 of her 'Things Will Be Better' demo.

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Friday Freebies

Los Campesinos!
If you didn't chekc out the PopCop yesterday, then you might missed this little twitter argument between LC! and Kev from Avalanche, which from an outsiders point of view was one of the funniest things I have read on twitter in ages. Anyway, the one good thing that came from all of this was that it alerted me to a free download of the new LC! tune By Your Hand, which you can find for free here.

Trips and Falls
Wur good pal Matthew at Song By Toad has just released the new album by Montreal outfit, Trips and Falls, I have to admit that due to my 'only listen to Scottish music' policy, their first album somewhat passed me by. Although after listening to this free download I am going to have to make exceptions to that (stupid) rule.

The Rest
It's been a whole since I last listened to anything from Canadian outfit, The Rest. Having bought their debut album, 'Everyone All At Once' on a bit whim a few years back from Rough Trade (it was mega cheap), in a post-Funeral-world they were one of the bands that got me really excited about he Canadian music scene, so it's good to have them back. You can download their new double A-side single 'Always on my mind/The Last Day' for free on their Bandcamp, fucking ace it is too.

Amber Wilson
I was going to save this for a future We've Got It Covered post, but it's too good not to share now. Having charmed the pants of pretty much everyone at the Captain's Rest last Friday, the lovely Ms Amber Wilson has made her live cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart free to download on her Soundcloud page.

Blink182
Now before you start berating me for posting Blink182, just wait until you have checked out the link. In order to download their single for free you need to stop the timer dead on '182', having spent the past five minutes attempting to do it I have to admit that this was a lot of fun. So even if you're not a big fan of the band, this is sure to help kill some of your time this afternoon until it's time to hit the pub at 5.

Scottish Fiction
The latest addition to the Scottish blogger fraternity, Scottish Ficiton, has just made his latest monthly EP available to download for free. So if you want free tracks from Black International, The Celestians, velcroBrother and Lou Hickey, then get tucked in here.

Collar Up
Not content with releasing some of the most innovative music to come out of Scotland in recent times, now Sean and Fabien from Night Noise Team have decided to set up their own label together called PermWhale Recordings. Their first release is going to be with a trio from Edinburgh called Collar Up, who's song 'Short Term Memories' is free to download on their Bandcamp.

Dave Hughes
Resident folk-punk Weegie, Dave Hughes has made his track Mirrors, free to download using this link. If you like what you hear then make sure you check out his album Despite the Blackout.

Friday Freebies

Right I know I said I wasn't going to do one of these for a few weeks, but seeing as my favourite bookmarks is getting out of control I thought I'd post up some links to some of the best stuff that I've found recently.

We Were Promised Jetpacks
One of the main reason for me wanting to post a Freebies was the new Jetpacks song, I fully appreciate that most of you will have already downloaded their new song 'Act On Impulse', but if you haven't then you really should as it's fucking ace, a welcome return and then some.

Letters
When Letters first burst onto the scene at the start of the year I must admit that I was a bit taken aback by the amount of hype they got from many of my fellow blogger friends. After hearing their new single, 'Flash! Lights', I have to put my hands up and admit that I was wrong, as this song is a wee belter and best of all it's free. You can download yourself a copy for free using the following link.

Bear Bones
I'll warn you now, I am going to mention Wickerman a few times in this post. Last weekend Bear Bones were the biggest surprise for me, I have heard songs in the past and enjoyed them, but I rally hadn't listened to them enough to fully appreciate just how good they were. They really impressed me with how good they were live, tight as fuck, with tunes to boot. You can download yourself one of these said tunes by signing up to their mailing list and they'll send you their track 'I Scare Easily'. Dae it!

Spaghetti Anywhere
It's almost a year and half since Jim Ayetunes sent me over an email about Spaghetti Anywhere, at the time we got ourselves just a little over excited about their self titled debut EP. Since then they've kind of disappeared of my radar a little, mainly because they're based in London and they haven't ventured north of the border for a gig yet. Hopefully they'll make it up one day, until then we can content ourselves with a free download of their new EP 'Doolally' which you can find on their Bandcamp page.

Amber Wilson
Hailing from Aberdeen, Amber Wilson was fucking great when I saw her play with Endor and Randolph's Leap a few months back. She's about to release her new double a-side single on Monday 15th August, again it's fucking great. You don't have to take my word for it as to how talented she is, you can find out for yourself, as by signing up to her mailing list you'll get a free MP3 of her song 'Things Will Be Better'.

Citizens
I might well have mentioned that I was at the Wickerman Festival last weekend, if not, I was and I had a fucking great time. I have promised myself that I will try and write a review when I get the chance. Although I have to admit that my memories are somewhat hazy, so a 2,000 word article on how I was drunk and can't remember anything might not be the most interesting post. One thing that I do recall is drunkenly debating (arguing) with one of Citizens about god only knows what. I think we must have talked all the way through Rachel Sermanni's set, but then again fuck it she was about 2 hours late for her headline slot. The following day I went to see Citizens play and they kicked the fucking arse out of the Solus Tent they were playing in. I also bonded with the same guy that I'd been arguing with. Fun fun times were had.
You can enjoy some fun too by downloading their EP Try Harder for free on their Bandcamp, those of a nervous disposition might want to avoid this one.

Kobi Onyame
Another act that I caught at Wickerman who surprised me a lot, was Kobi Onyame. I'll admit that I know fuck all about hip-hop, but I really enjoyed his set, so when I got back I did some hunting and found out that he has a free download up for grabs on his Bandcamp.

The Phantom Band
Having done Wickerman, I am now getting pretty excited about next weeks Belladrum Festival near Inverness. I know I am going to lose what little credibility I have built up already, but I must admit that I am pretty excited about seeing Deacon Blue. There I have said it, mock me all you want, but when I was very young they were one of the first Scottish bands that I really got into. Since then it's safe to say that my tastes have changed a tad, which leads me to the band that I am most looking forward to seeing, Glasgow's finest, The Phantom Band. It's only been a few months since I last saw them playing live, but it feels like it's been fecking ages.
Having messed about on their new Bandcamp page a week or so back, I came across this free download of their live cover version of Moondog's Fujiyama which was originally recorded as part of a Moondog tribute album that the band missed the submission deadline too. You can download it for free on their Bandcamp.

Kowalskiy
Hopefully you've been keeping up with Kowalskiy's blog so you'll already know that he posted his 13th Free Monthly EP a few weeks back. If you missed it, then you missed getting your hands on free tracks from Verse Metrics, Letters and Campfires in Winter amongst others. Getting downloading it here.

Dolfinz
Credit for this find goes out Matthew from Song By Toad, after he posted about them a couple of weeks back, I checked them out and was mightily impressed by what I heard. You can find out what all the fuss is about by downloading some free tune-age from their Soundcloud page.

The Strokes
Stereogum have posted up a tribute album of folk covering songs from The Strokes (only good album) 'Is This It', featuring contributions from folk such as Peter, Bjorn and John, The Morning Benders and Owen Pallett. Download it for free here.

M83
My partner in crime, Halina has spent the past week 'spaffing' about how amazing the new M83 song is. I actually still haven't heard this song, so I can't comment, all I know is that their new song 'Midnight City' is free to download in exchange for your email address.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The come back I never thought would happen is about to happen, yes the worlds most stupidly named band are going to release a new album. As I have said before I am really looking forward to hearing some new material from them, their new single Maniac is free to download and I think it sounds ace.

Bobby Womb
Jon McCall, ex-Y’all is Fantasy Island drummer has issued his 2nd EP on Wise Blood entitled Dwarf Management, you can download it for free here.

Fun Fun Fun In The Sun Sun Sun: A News Roundup of Sorts

The line up for this years Home Game festival was announced today, for those without tickets I would advise that you skip this bit as it's only going to make you jealous (or at least it did for me). Here is the line up in full:
Andrew Greig, Babe, Burnt Island, Cancel The Astronauts, Cate Le Bon, Conquering Animal Sound, Colorama, David Thomas Broughton, Delifinger, eagleowl, FOUND, François & The Atlas Mountains, Geese, Gummi Bako, Hardsparrow, Indian Red Lopez, Iona Marshall, Jack Joseph, James Mathé, Jamie Harrison, Jo Mango, Jon Hopkins, Josh T Pearson, Josie Long (& Friends!), Kathryn Williams, Khartoum Heroes, Kid Canaveral, King Creosote & The Earlies, The Last Battle, Liz Green, Lomond Campbell, Martin John Henry, The Massacre Cave, Meursault, MonogAnon, Mystery Juice, Nathan Fake, OnTheFly, Over The Wall, The Pictish Trail, Player Piano, Rachel Sermanni, Randolph’s Leap, Rich Amino, Rozi Plain, Seamus Fogarty, Slow Club, Sweet Baboo, This Is The Kit, Tommy Reilly, Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou, Viva Stereo, Will Burns, Withered Hand with more acts still to be announced.

See I told you, you would be jealous!


Sounds in the Grounds which takes place on Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis have just announced the line up for this years festival. Alongside an array of local talent this year they have Kassidy, Colin MacIntyre (of Mull Historical fame), Amber Wilson, Dot JR and Dead Man's Waltz. Spread across two stages, the festival takes place on Friday the 20th and Saturday the 21st of May. Tickets and further details can be found here.


Continuing on with the festival theme, the Solas Festival returns for a second outing. Based near Biggar, the festival will be held from 24-26 June 2011, boasting an array of local talent of musicians, artists and speakers including: Emma Pollock, The Campbells, Stanley Odd, Iain Archer, Michael Marra, The Starlets, Emily Smith, Rura, Alex Cornish, David Ferrard, Rory Butler, Bannal, Adam Stearns, The Homecoming String Band, Julia and the Doogans, Silver Caves, We See Lights, The Wild Myrtles and our very own Esperi.
Further details on the festival can be found here.


If you're off to this years T in the Park then you might interested to know that The Strokes, Slash, Peter Doherty, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Jenny & Johnny, Devlin, Mona and The Naked And Famous have all been added to this years bill.

So Many Animal Calls released their first full length EP, "Eulogy", today. You can stream the release in full on their Bandcamp to see if it's your cup of tea or not. If it works for you, then get buying. Also, to celebrate the EPs release the band are playing at the 13th Note this coming Friday (22nd) with support from Campfires in Winter. The band are offering a special ticket deal to get the EP and a ticket for the show. For £6 you can get a Digital Download of "Eulogy", aPhysical Digipack CD copy of "Eulogy", one icket to the EP launch and as if that wasn't enough you get a handmade copy of "Your House Is A Hospice". What a kind bunch they are! Further details can be found here.

We've Got It Covered #43

I am running a bit behind today, I am currently feeling just a little bit delicate after a few too many sherbets last night. Thankfully though we have this little nugget to help ease the pain, it's Amber Wilson, a young lady from Aberdeen and her take on Band of Horses 'Detlef Schrempf'. If it tickles your fancy then you catch her in the flesh this Thursday at the Captains Rest, where she's supporting Endor, alongside Randolph's Leap and Esperi.


Amber Wilson - Detlef Schrempf (Band of Horses cover)