Scots Way-Hay #15 - Fear the Fives

Every so often something pops into my inbox that makes me realise what a privileged position I am in. The possibility that someone out there might deem me worthy of being a so-called 'taste maker', still feels pretty alien to me. Not that I'm complaining, as every so often something pops into my inbox that makes me realise that the work I put into writing this blog is all worthwhile. The Fear the Fives would certainly fall into this category.
If you had mentioned their name to me less than a month ago I would have probably shrugged my shoulders in a state of bemusement, one month on and I'm completely sold. Imagine Nick Cave fronting Beirut, it really shouldn't work, but it does and then some. In a world filled with run of the mill indie bands, Fear the Fives have crafted something unique that should be treasured.

Would you care to introduce yourself?
Fear The Fives are, in no particular order, accepting subconscious bias: Blonder than blonde, but not whiter than white, bassist and future Emperor of Iceland, Ragnar Fjölnisson. Tim Sandys provider of primal rage and rhythm, smut and surprisingly high pitched backing vocals Ex-mine clearer and bastard son of Hugh Laurie and Martina Navratilova, guitarist Ally Batten Degenerate procrastinator Charlie Milne, tickler of small dogs, Serbs and The Ivories.


How would you describe the music you make?
I think perhaps at the start the idea was to have songs you could sing drunkenly around the piano but done with a full band adding more brute force and dynamics. However, as the band gets better and better options open up and new ideas come in so it’s starting to change now into something a bit different. We have a lot of new ideas and sounds we want to use as soon as we have time to rehearse things well enough to pull them off live properly

How did you start out making music?
Ally came back from Angola and moved into Charlie’s spare room. For a year we did very little, then he moved out and we started to get things done – just acoustic guitar and piano. However, at heart we really want to make a lot of noise at least 70% of the time so we drafted in Tim and Ragnar because they were two people we knew could keep up with the rhythms and chord changes.

What process goes into the way you write songs?
Some songs are finished before they come to the rehearsal and they usually start with lyrics. Other times the idea happens in rehearsal and then the song is taken away to be refined and lyrics worked on. With some of the ones with compound rhythms the lyrics can be a challenge.


Who are your big musical influences?
We listen to a big mix of things but I think we are all into intrusive music that has quite a pronounced affect on the listener. Pixies, Fugazi, Afghan Whigs, Morphine, Talking Heads, HAM, Grizzly Bear and Gus Gus all come to mind though.

What are you all listening to at the moment?
BBC Radio 6, 4 and 3

What can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?
A couple of singles over the summer. An album by the end of the year? We are open to offers.

Fear the Fives - No Hurry Home

Fear The Fives self-titled debut EP is available to download now on iTunes, Amazon and other digital media. If you fancy catching them playing live, then you're in luck as they're playing at Stereo in Glasgow on the 20th of May with Static Cult, tickets are only a fiver.

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Weekly Round Up - (02/05/10)

Monday - Fresh Meat Monday - David Hughes & The Renegade folk punk band
Tuesday - Copy Haho's session for Mr Galloway
Wednesday - The mind boggling Super Adventure Club were the thirteenth entry into the Scots Wa-Hay club. Plsu Meursault's rather brilliant session for Andrew Collins 6Music show.
Thursday - the legendary Pop Cop became Community Service victim #8 and the mighty Admiral Fallow's Radio One Session. I also managed to record a frabbit session, hopefully I should have a few more posted in the coming weeks.
Friday -as always it's all about Freebies!!!!!!


News, gigs and any other gubbins......

Tonight in Glasgow, see the return of Get A Room. here's the blurb (yes I'm being lazy, and no I don't care if you look down on me for it) -"I'm a charity night held in Glasgow once a year. The date for 2010 is Sunday the 2nd of May which is a bank holiday weekend. As usual we'll have around 15 live acts and 15 or so DJs playing over six floors of the Brunswick Hotel in Glasgow's Merchant City. If you haven't been before then here's a short rundown of the evening: Doors open at 7pm and the live music starts promptly at 8pm. We have the whole hotel for the night (all six floors) with live music in the basement, the ground floor bar and the split level penthouse. We'll keep on keeping on 'till 2am. Let us know if you're planning to come along and we'll reserve tickets for you in advance. If you're planning to stay in the Hotel on the night there are some rooms available. Please call the Hotel on 0141 552 0001 or email enquiry@thebrunswickhotel.co.uk to book. "

On Thursday (the 6th) Elba Sessions are going head to head wiht the General Election with their sixth Elba Sessions Presents… at the Liquid Ship in Glasgow once again for the sixth evening on May 6th. This month, they've decided to treat us all to some acoustic goodness with sets from Bad Bad Men, David Bova and marky:boyofdestiny.

Alternatively you could head along to Fear The Fives EP launch night at Bar Bloc, which see the band playing live with support from John McFarlane (Sluts of Trust) and a DJ set from the Glasgow PodcART crew.

We Have Lift Off

Launch nights, are they really like buses, na not really but alas we have two which have come up pretty quickly after one another. January is notoriously a pretty shitty month for gigs, everyone's skint and there's generally not much going on apart from Celtic Connections. This year might well buck this trend as there are not one but two cracking wee gigs lined up in the first couple of weeks of January. First up is the launch night for We Sink Ships Radio, at the 13th Note this Friday (08/01/10), which boasts a line up of the second hand marching band, Benni Hemm Hemm, Euan McMeeken (The Kays Lavelle) and beneath us, the waves (DJing). A cracking wee line up if I do say so myself, it's only four quid so it shouldn't break the camels back in that long wait until payday.
We Sink Ships is an interesting collaboration between Heidi Kuisma, a Finnish, Glasgow based photographer and Neil Milton, a Scottish photographer, musician and record label owner who now lives in Warsaw in Poland. Together they create and curate online photo exhibitions and now present a show on Radio Magnetic called (unsurprisingly) We Sink Ships Radio, you can download a sampler of the Podcast here. Well worth checking out if you like your Scottish music.

The following Friday (14/01/10) after that we have Ten Tracks in Stereo, a new monthly gig night in Stereo, Glasgow. Which boasts a line up of Super Adventure Club, Tokamak, Fear the Fives. Quite a nice wee line up they have going on there, cash might be even tighter by then, so you can't really complain at £1 entry fee. Personally I'd be there in a shot, except I'l; be away n Bremen for a mates stag, anyone been there? Anything worth visiting?
Anyway, I digress, if you haven't heard of Ten Tracks before it's well worth checking out, it's a monthly Scottish-based music download service (run by the Skinny I think) where you can download ten quality songs for the bargain sum of one measly pound. It's a great wee idea as it allows you to discover great music for not a lot, while also making sure that the musicians get something back. For a more logical explanation as to what it's all about head on over to their website, Ten Tracks. Further details on the night at Stereo are available on their Facebook page.