The Flock of the New This month’s T in the Park and Wickerman festivals are two prime opportunities to catch the finest up-and-coming artists this country has to offer. Here we talk to 12 burgeoning bands we recommend you see Interview: Chris McCall
he music festival has become such an integral part of the summer season in Scotland that it can be hard to recall what made these events so damn popular in the first place. Complaints about dodgy food, bad weather and indifferent headline acts have been so regularly aired over the years that they have almost lost all meaning. Those of us with memories not so badly damaged by annual treks to shit-strewn fields may recall that it was only two decades ago that Scotland offered little in the way of organised festivals. Down south, Reading and Glastonbury were long established live meccas, but those Scots without the inclination to travel had to make do with occasional events that were invariably badly run and lacking in basic facilities. The Fife Aid festivals of the late 1980s – to name but one of the various esoteric summer gatherings in those dark, pre-internet days – might have been raising money for some worthy causes, but its line-up would be laughed at by today’s relatively spoiled music fans. T in the Park – celebrating its 20th year – might be colossal in size, but its dedication to offering a platform, and in turn some much needed national exposure, to rising bands and unsigned artists cannot be doubted. This year’s BBC Introducing and T Break stage line-ups once again feature several acts who promise to offer unmissable shows, and at the very least these tents provide weary festival punters a valuable shelter – whether it is from the rain, or Mumford & Sons. Meanwhile, down in rural Kirkcudbrightshire, the Wickerman festival’s reputation for bringing together the very best cutting edge acts of the year continues to grow. The Solus and goNorth tents might not be the grandest of stages in
terms of physical size, but the talent contained within is immeasurable. Pitched in two opposite ends of the country, these four marquees are a very real reminder that Scottish festivals ain’t so bad; in fact they can be genuinely marvellous. The only question remains is: who should you go to see? Let The Skinny be your guide. Machines in Heaven Playing The T Break Stage at T in the Park and The Solus Tent at Wickerman Be prepared to scale a wall of bass when Glasgow’s formidable synthpop masters Machines in Heaven hit their stride. Declaring their intention to “put the humanity back into machines with our music,” the four-piece band are back with a new line-up and their seemingly boundless energy. “It’s a great line-up at Wickerman, and we can’t wait to see our pals Vasa,” says guitarist Graham Crossan. “We’ll certainly give the crowd something to dance to, anyway – and a wall of bass. Remember, even if the weatherman says it’s to be blazing all weekend, pack wellies anyway!” Wise words. Fat Goth Playing the BBC Introducing Stage at T in the Park and The Solus Tent at Wickerman No strangers to this magazine, Dundee power trio Fat Goth have enjoyed a turbo-charged 2013; they’ve gained rave reviews for their second album Stud and found themselves immortalised in Pandora Peroxide, Kerrang’s long-running cartoon strip. The group will be making their first appearance at T in the Park, and will return to Wickerman for a second time later in the month. If you’re lucky enough to be attending both festivals, you can look forward to two different Fat Goth sets. “I’m not a big fan of playing the same
Honeyblood
14
Feature
Plastic Animals
songs in the same order all the time so we tend to mix it up,” explains frontman Fraser Stewart, who also plans to keep an eye on Rihanna when she hits up Balado. “I’ve only heard her music in passing and first impressions are not good. That said, if I get the chance, I’ll try some of my chat and see what happens.” Plastic Animals Playing The goNorth Tent at Wickerman Many bands would settle for having their music played on the radio as well as releasing the odd record. Plastic Animals have already done both of those things in 2013 – and created their very own ale as part of the Beer vs. Records initiative. Sadly, licensing restrictions may prevent them bringing any kegs on site at Wickerman, but the Edinburgh group can be relied upon to serve up a refreshing round of their own-brand sludge rock, with an added dash of pop sensibility. “This will be our first time at Wickerman and our first proper festival show,” explains the band’s Dave Wark. “We played goNorth [in Inverness] at the start of June, which was great fun, but it’s not quite the same as playing in a muddy field. We’re not too nervous about playing, more just apprehensive whether anyone will come to see us.” With tunes as good as Ghost, they should have little to worry about.
Photo: Laura Coulson
T
Honeyblood Playing The T Break Tent at T in the Park and The Solus Tent at Wickerman Garage rock duo Honeyblood create a primal sound that’s impossible to ignore – it led to them playing a well-received show at this year’s Great Escape festival in Brighton and securing a support slot with The Twilight Sad, despite not having released any records. That’s a situation they plan to rectify with the release of their debut single in August, but before all that there’s the small matter of debuting at two of Scotland’s leading festivals to contend with. “Nerves?” asks singer and guitarist Stina Tweeddale. “It’s always good to get a little nervous before shows. It’s exciting more than anything!” She also has simple but sage advice to all you punters who plan to attend an outdoor gig this summer: “Don’t piss in your own tent!”
MUSIC
Vasa Playing The T Break Tent at T in the Park Vasa will add a welcome dash of experimental post-rock to the usual cocktail served up at Balado. The four-piece from Glasgow have already shared stages with the likes of Maybeshewill, Brontide and Mutiny on the Bounty, and will adopt a straight forward approach when it comes to competing with other bands on bigger stages at T. “To be honest, we’ll just play very loud and hope to drown out the main stage,” states bassist John Niblock, confidently. “We’ll just do what we always do onstage and hope people appreciate us. We’re very different from most of the other bands, so hopefully the folk there will take notice.” Discopolis Playing The BBC Introducing Stage at T in the Park There’s four of them, they hail from Edinburgh and they’ve come a hell of a long way since making their T in the Park debut as relative live novices in 2011. “Those were such early days for our show and for us personally, so we’re really keen to get back in the ring and show people what Discopolis [all grown up] has to offer,” says the band’s Fergus Cook. Riding on the success of their current EP Committed to Sparkle Motion, you can expect a euphoric set. “I think the best chemistry we’ve had with an audience is when we haven’t held back. If [fellow band member] Dave wants to profess his love for the crowd while fighting back the tears, then so be it.” DARC Playing The T Break Tent at T in the Park Interest in Edinburgh electro outfit DARC has been rising for some time, so it’s no surprise that they’ve impressed this year’s T Break panel to make the Balado line-up. “We can’t wait to jump on a big stage with a big system and let rip,” producer David Thomas offers, with obvious excitement. Seemingly, playing to a typically boisterous T in the Park crowd is unlikely to faze these lads. “We’ll give them something to be boisterous about. We honestly can’t wait to have a bouncing festival crowd. The energy will be insane so we’re planning on giving everything we’ve got for the audience to have an amazing time. We just want to make people go mad and dance and jump about or whatever, so we’re happy for them to go as crazy as they like.”
THE SKINNY