By Harsharan Hoonjan

Sandy Powers; the cello player, the poet, the singer (amongst other talents), is an artist for sure. His musical creations on his debut E.P.  ‘Window Shots’ are something of a mind opener. Once I was sitting and listening to his songs I found myself wondering about the beauty of voice and guitar over everything else. It was as if I had been wrapped in the best musical blanket around. It sounds like music that has been carefully constructed to give ears the cosiest treat they’ve had in a long time.

Sandy from Kirkcaldy, Fife has dropped five tracks that are a reflection of the singer’s most creative efforts. I was hearing acoustic beats and I was hearing melody, rhythm and something else. I was hearing sounds akin to shadows, some echoing highs and lows and clapping tones that added another unexpected element to his songs. There was dimension after dimension to this mystical tale, and I was happily being guided by one of the best musicians I’ve heard this year.

The story is tenderly played out, there is an element of wonder as the final track ‘Untied’ closes, as  if to say the story has only just begun which indeed is a relief. The mystical element of the E.P. is the central thread which pulls all the tracks together.  This E.P. is easy to listen to yet I can imagine other listeners with a yearning for more. It certainly leaves you guessing and asking inquisitively:  ‘What was that?!’, and the words ‘Unbelievable and Wow’, spring to  mind.

‘Window Shots’ has really come through for Sandy, he should be proud of this one. I believe that in producing this E.P. the singer is breaking through some glass perhaps that of the proverbial glass ceiling.

Take a shot or a listen to ‘Window Shots’ the E.P. by Sandy Powers which is released by Bloo Coo Records and is out now!

http://music.bloocoorecords.com/album/window-shots

Check Sandy out too on facebook;

https://www.facebook.com/sandypowermusic?fref=ts

And on Soundcloud too;

https://soundcloud.com/sandy-power-music

by Vonny Moyes

It’s January, and for the good people of Glesga, that means the return of Celtic Connections; a miss-not in the musical calendar. Tucked in the midst of this festival of aural pleasure, perhaps no night was more anticipated by the indie-savvy than the Olive Grove Records Showcase in the belly of the Oran Mor, featuring a belting line-up from Randolph’s Leap, The Moth in the Mirror, Jo Mango, State Broadcasters, Woodenbox and dewy label babies, Call to Mind.

Openers Randolph’s Leap jump-start proceedings, delivering 10,000 volts of folk-pop optimism to the sizeable crowd. Their set meanders through the joys of insomnia, psychic powers, tree-lust and kitchen-sink existentialism. Frontman Adam Ross’s canny rhyming couplets and quirky vocals are underpinned by an eight-strong army dispensing graceful, feel-good arrangements, whilst wiring the rhythm section directly to your toes.

It’d be all-to-easy to lump them in with Belle and Sebastian, though there’s more depth to this happy rabble. They’ve got soul. This is a band with huge personality—the early stage time is a pity.

Gelid pop quartet Call to Mind are next up, and quickly dial the night back to the land of shoegazey introspection. Harking from the far north, it’s seems more than a little coincidental that there’s an almost Viking-like stoicism to their presence. Frontman Martin Ross evades our gaze, ensuring stage tetris sees his piano perpendicular to the curious crowd. Ross’s biting falsetto cuts through soaring melodies and icy harmonies, achingly reminiscent of icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros. The songs are immersive, twinkly and tinctured with bold crescendos and elongated refrains, akin to Explosions in the Sky.

There’s a palpable nervousness to the performance, though flashes of genuine splendor catch you so often, the first-day jitters are easily forgiven.

Jo Mango and her band are next up, and are quickly cast ethereal calm across the room; a sort of nagging déjà vu that you once tumbled down a rabbit hole into a previous show (or did you?). They musical infantry assemble, side-by-side, facing out, armed with an arsenal of weird and wonderful noise-makers, before taking us in hand, to gentle, folksy delight. The warmth and clarity of Jo’s honeyed vocals skirt impishly over glockenspiels, harmoniums, harps and harmonies. The off-the-wall songs burst with musical craftsmanship. Steeped in poignancy, they feel almost lullaby-like, so much so the set feels sadly fleeting.

Playing their first full-band gig in a year are The State Broadcasters, Glasgow’s answer to transcendent Americana; moments in, it’s clearly been worth the wait. Their sound veers deftly from hushed introspection to folky anthemic sweeps, played on keys, cello, double bass, guitar and trombone. It’s orchestral without feeling crowded or showy. Atmospheric yet poppy, without ever seeming fey. Graeme Black leads the way vocally, with haunting harmonies from harpist Gillian Fleetwood and pianist Pete MacDonald. The songs tastefully pay homage to bygone heroes, whilst remaining unmistakably fresh.

Frighteningly accomplished musicians, there’s more than one Arcade Fire style switcheroo, which only adds to the eloquent performance.The Broadcasters harness that indescribable dynamism that makes great live music unmissable.

Following on was the much awaited return of indie fantasy-band, The Moth in the Mirror, making their first appearance after a lengthy two-year hiatus. Hipster apostles will be sure to identify the patchwork of Admiral Fallow/Frightened Rabbit/Arab Strap parts assembled here. Stacey Sievewright takes the helm, navigating the boys through a set of ferociously sad songs, delivering an able vocal performance, though the solemnity of the music seems to imbue itself in the band-members; it feels as if they’re holding back. The songs are troubled soliloquies delivered in equal parts hushed pleas and dogged-yet-tuneful screams, over scrabbling guitars, ghostly melodies and the fervour of a perfectly-synchronized double percussion section. They explore a capacious gap in jagged indiedom; a space where nervous energy would set them alight, but for some reason, the spark is missing, it limps along and not feeling quite the sum of it’s clearly talented parts.

Alt-folk rockers Woodenbox are last to the altar, somewhat diminished in number for the evening, but definitely not in sound. These are performers, in the truest sense. The driving beat of their opener infects the crowd, causing a ripple of tapping toes, fervent clapping and unabashed dancing. The funky folk numbers are delivered in surgically precise clacks and thrums, yet there’s a tangible wildness to them; a sense of something brewing underneath.

As frontman Ali Downer laments their final song, a full-blown stage invasion is encouraged and immediately ensues, with the Olive Grove family interwoven with punters, holding hands and pulling more shapes than Pan’s People on acid, it’s clear the night has been a triumph. They may be small, but the folks at Olive Grove have expertly divined the likability that elevates their signings above the usual indie-scene fare. There’s something special happening here.

– end –

By Neil Kerr

Another recent trip to what could be called my second home Dunfermline, and a visit to the fantastic live music venue that is PJ Molloys, led to an encounter with fast rising starlets Broken Boy. I have seen Broken Boy once before and, as always, I wanted to see them again before I decided whether to write a wee review. The first time I saw them I have to say I had my doubts, however following this second viewing my thoughts were rapidly changed to “what’s not to write about”, so lets start at the beginning.

I arrived at PJ Molloys early and was warmly welcomed by band manager Iain More, who introduced me to the three band members, two brothers Cameron and Stewart Black. Cameron playing bass and bringing banging lead vocals and Stewart slamming out some fantastic lead guitar and last but by no means least I met precision drummer James Hardy. After the intro I was privileged enough to watch the boys’ sound check which showed great professionalism for a band that is a mere sixteen months old and the sound that they demonstrated during the check left me hungry for more, if that was just a sound check, then their headline slot that night was set to be something rather special.

Before the gig began I had the chance to have a chat with the boys in PJs green room where again the lads made me welcome in their space and filled me in on how they all met telling me that the brothers have been writing music together for about two years now and decided it was time to get another musician involved. So, they put an advert on gumtree for a drummer, to which a bored student, who liked the bands that the boys had listed in the ad as their inspirations replied, the brothers liked his work and so the group was completed with the addition of drummer James.

As for their name, well that’s another odd but quirky story. How do you come up with a band name? No easy task if you ask me. What happened was Stewart had a list of names he liked for the band and one day while bored on a bus journey he added the names to his “dream Line up of bands” one at a time to see which looked and sounded best and he thought “Broken Boy looked more realistic in that sort of line up.” So he took his idea to band practice and put it to the others who clearly liked it and so Broken Boy was born.

Now a complete band and ready to take on the world, Broken Boy soon got to work on an EP naming the release “Haven’t Seen The Sun In Weeks”, the guys described this to Voice of Scotland as “the first bunch of songs we wrote together, the band was still pretty fresh then too, we had only played maybe three gigs together and then released an EP.” A brave move and a clever move too getting some of their music out there for people to hear before going to a gig, I think we all check a band out before going to see them these days. Having released the EP in April 2013 the trio have been working hard to progress musically and are now a tight knit outfit all getting along together and “bouncing off each other well when it comes to making music.”

Cameron and Stewart are the writers in the band generally although drummer James always gets his chance to change things for the better. Drawing inspiration from artists like Arctic monkeys, strokes and Kings Of Leon and life in general while writing about their feelings, girls, and fictional dramatisations of real life events which really comes through in their performance, you can feel their attachment to the lyrics and sense they are a real part of the bands’ lives.  Progressive is the word for these boys, they told me the track which best portrays their desired sound is their most recent release “She Said” although the one released previously to that Kilogram was quoted too, I personally suspect their best work will always be their next one.

Broken Boy released their single “Kilogram” in December 2013 and another single “She Said” on 27th of January 2014, and when asked if there is an album on the horizon they told Voice of Scotland “We are taking it a bit at a time, as it comes, we have a plan to have an albums worth of material soon in case we are really extremely lucky and someone pays for us to go into a recording studio.” I think an album from these lads would be a belter and a sound investment for that “someone” so here’s hoping they get that material in a studio soon.

As for live stuff Broken Boy are constantly writing and playing gigs and love playing in  PJ Molloys in Dunfermline and Non Zeros in Dundee. The lads even managed to play three gigs in two days recently which a great achievement. They hope to keep releasing new material and doing as many gigs as they can in 2014. Progressing their music and fan base is their main goal and from what I have seen so far, their focus and determination is sure to lead them to achieving that goal.

After our chat and a couple of great support slots from Megan D and Our Future Glory, Broken Boy took the PJ Molloys stage and showed us how it’s done, this band rock from the first note to the last beat of a drum. Their stage presence is remarkable and audience interaction has came on in leaps and bounds from when I last  saw them live on the very same stage, the last time I had to ask someone who they were because they never told us, a personal dislike of mine. This time however was much different we were immediately made very aware that something very special from Fife going by the name of Broken Boy was exciting our ears.

By the end of their first track the floor in front of the stage was packed with cheering dancing music lovers who were clearly lapping up the great tunes. By the end of their third track “Sweetheart” it was apparent to me that these lads are true to their word and will progress like wildfire, what a difference in them in the 2 months since I last saw them, it blew me away, they owned the PJs stage, constantly interacting with the crowd gathered to see them and responding well to the whistles and cheers of encouragement.

The Camaraderie of the band was clear during the performance too, the joy at the reaction of their audience driving their showmanship and stage presence to a new level with each track they played. Front man and bassist Cameron never faltered with his energetic moves and flawless vocal, the sweat on his brow a constant reminder of the hard work he was doing up there to please his fans. By the time they reached their penultimate track “Kilogram” the fans were worked into a frenzy chanting along with the song and bouncing around the floor in front of the stage while the lead guitar belted out the unmistakably unique Broken Boy riffs the sound completed by the bands perfectly placed gumtree drummer whose input was remarkable his every beat perfectly timed.

The boys completed their set with “She Said” which I will tell you more about in a moment, the gathered revellers loved it, they loved the whole set from the first beat to the last. The band left the stage rock and roll style, dropping their still echoing guitars causing a buzz through the pa an echo of the blazing set they had just ended, to chants of “we want more, we want more, we want more.” from the crowd. What a set, like I said before it blew me away this band will progress like wildfire so keep an eye out for them at a gig near you, not to be missed is an understatement.

Now the new single, released on the 27th of January 2014 entitled “She Said” really does encapsulate all that Broken Boy is, from the haunting opening bass line and vocal this track holds your attention. The haunting however is nothing other than an intro as just a few bars in the drums jump out at the listener brining on another of those unmistakable Broken Boy guitar riffs. The song is upbeat and positive even though it is, from what I can tell, all about the forbidden fruit of a love that was not to be. The band sure know what they are about and that is plainly obvious to me having had a chat with them. All they told me comes through clearly, not just in this excellent new single, but in all their musical achievements. If you like great music then buy some Broken Boy, You won’t be disappointed!

you can buy Broken Boys’ Music online from itunes, amazon, spotify and other good online music retailers.

Find them on facebook for all things Broken Boy here

https://www.facebook.com/BrokenBoyMusic?fref=ts

And check their soundcloud out too

https://soundcloud.com/brokenboymusic

By Harsharan Hoonjan

 On entering the grand hall that was the O2 Academy for Futures Fest 2013 (on 21^st December 2013), I was impressed by the size of the venue and the decor. Swathes of floating ivory fabric and a silver disco ball definitely set the ceiling apart!  I met with the band before the gig and after being welcomed with hugs from Nicola of Taylor Red, I instantly felt like part of the furniture. This would be a lovely way to end before Christmas. O2 Futures Fest was without a doubt an excellent platform for them and all the bands. It was also revealed that Taylor Red, were set to play five hours later than originally scheduled, I was prepared to wait, well it was Christmas and I had travelled to see them.  Throughout the evening the crowds amalgamated and then dispersed from the floor and into the other attractive spectator spots of which there were many.

A total of nine bands were set to play and I would be lucky enough to see seven, before Taylor Red.   Sergio Sergio was one of the other bands that piqued my interest; this was the band Taylor Red highlighted in their interview with me.  The band had immense stage presence; I particularly liked their track, ‘I Am The Moon’, a great song to get a feel for their instrumentation, their vocal range and their overall fierce gritty style. Brilliant set!

Five hours and countless great performances later, I was ready to see this Glasgow pop sensation in action.  Filled with a midnight blue hue, the stage was prepped for some red hot action when Bradley Smith, Chris Taylor Gavin Paterson and temporary drummer Hugh Cox adorned it. They took up their instruments and warmed us up; they sounded incredible which excited the crowd. However we were still anticipating one member’s arrival…

Several minutes in, she glided on like a screen siren in her chic red and black ensemble; it was none other than lead vocalist Nicola Taylor.  The line-up was now complete, the crowd beside the stage were screaming – inside I was cheering (a little!).

They were the most sophisticated band I had seen all evening, seconds in, the crowd, camera crew, photographers, locked onto Nicola and the rest of Taylor Red. The lead vocalist managed to project throughout the whole auditorium while filling the place with soul melting powerful tones.  Eyes on the stage, we were drawn in, track by track the band enveloped us with feelings of passion, perseverance, excitement and love.

Starting with ‘End Up Like This’, an amazing choice,  the song complemented Nicola’s impressive vocal range with the talents from the rest of the band from the outset..  This set the band up for an epic performance; I couldn’t wait to hear the rest!

The five piece continued to dazzle with ‘Let Go’ which is one of my favourites, the strong breaks and the pulse beats, empowered by ‘that voice’ creates drama and intrigue every time I hear it, it sounded better than I had ever hoped.  They were certainly worth the wait!

The song, ‘Fool With a Broken Heart’, was just sensational live, the rhythm, the harmonies, the track was just beautiful and heartfelt; softened out with superb work from bass, guitar, keys and drums. The song had Nicola MCing as well; showcasing her fast paced, sharp, rap style skills.

One of the two surprise covers was ‘Treasure’ from Bruno Mars. The performance by the band contained more depth whilst holding onto the original version’s dynamic, up tempo, melodic, soulful quality. It really revved everyone up, we were on tenterhooks! What was this band doing to us? Fantastic stuff!

Wake up Alone, was next, a sweet, pull at your heartstrings number. It’s empowering in its style, tender in its portrayal and gripping.  By this point several fans were commenting, one such comment, I received during the song was: ‘this is freaking awesome’.  Other members of the crowd said this was/the band are ‘just amazing, amazing!’

The second of the surprise covers mentioned in the interview was just that – surprising! Whilst the music video by Miley Cyrus created both controversy and P.R. dynamite, ‘Wrecking Ball’ was another track covered by the band. Suffice to say they did an outstanding job. Nicola Taylor’s intense vocals, backed with superb band synchronicity kept the song, powerful and edgy.

‘Chameleon,’ was their final track of the evening, a terrific encore to the set. A fabulous hearty song, funky energy, quirky and like most of the bands songs, full or rhythm and spirit.  If rhythm really is a dancer then this band will have you doing just that, over and over again.

What a performance! What a voice! What a band!

Taylor Red are certainly not afraid to flex themselves in various directions, whilst bursting out amazing melodies.  The band is warm, friendly and passionate about what they create and how they portray that musically. I enjoyed the different covers because it shows variety in the band’s approach to developing their style. It also shows confidence and commitment to keeping up with the latest distinctive voices, within popular culture. As a group who are going down the mainstream pop route, I believe this is an intelligent move.

I really wanted to see this band live and I did, I was impressed from the outset and they heightened my original expectations. It’s also a lovely feeling to know that yes, the band have now achieved well over 1,000 fans on Facebook.  Taylor Red I believe more people this year will realise you really are one red hot band! Definitely worth the five hour wait!

I look forward to hearing their name throughout 2014. If Futures Fest 2013 was anything to go by it is safe to say the Future is red, Taylor Red.

Have you heard their latest song, ‘Soul Smile’ yet? Listen to it here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/19593080?utm_campaign=a_public_songs&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=page_object_news_item

Please visit their page for continuous event information, new songs, covers and more.

Don’t let them slip off your radar! Like them here:

www.facebook.com/taylorredmusic

Additional links:

https://soundcloud.com/taylor-red-music

https://soundcloud.com/nicola-taylor-1

By Neil Kerr

There’s something special about The Mona Lisa’s, something different yet alluring. This Ballingry band is another one of Fifes’ finest new additions bringing us their “pretty rock and roll indie” music. Having only been a band for a mere eight months the sound created by this traditional five piece outfit is more accomplished than some bands with many years experience which impressed me the very first time I saw them a while back in Cabaret Volataire in Edinburgh, where they played a great set to an audience of young students who loved them and went wild to their sound. The guys, who knew I was going to that gig made a point of finding me when they came off the stage, which was a challenge as they had no idea what I looked like, however they found me and had a chat and I have to say, what a great bunch of blokes they are each and every one of them are fantastic guys and a pleasure to speak with.

That was just the first time I saw this great new band and I was Impressed, so impressed I decided to put their Debut demo “Wasted Time” in for our first ever Single Of The Week, and guess what….. They won it. So you guys clearly like them too.

Since then I have saw this band three more times and each time I have been quietly impressed by their enthusiasm, their drummer the excitable Cameron Gaudin Junior, starts “air drumming” about an hour before they go on stage, a quirk which I personally love and he is always first on stage when it is their time to be there. The rest of the band are equally enthusiastic if a touch more modest about it, a chat with these guys reveals their quiet enthusiasm and their want to please every audience that they play for.

One thing clearly apparent is The Mona Lisa’s aim to please, and please is what they do with their foot stopmin rock guitar riffs and their energetic frontman Kevin Murphy Junior, who proves almost impossible to photograph because of the rate he moves around the stage as he belts out his brilliant vocal, clearly consumed by the intent to give his all to the gathered music lovers. And the intent to please doesn’t end there either as the other three members of the band all do their bit with an equally addictive enthusiasm even though it may not be quite so apparent when watching their ice cool bassist Arron Graham, although for the keen eyed amongst you, his passion for what he does will be all too clear.

At another gig I caught the band Supporting Nick Mercer in a favorite haunt of mine, PJ Molloys in Dunfermline. Now this gig was just The Mona Lisa’s and Nick mercer, which in my opinion was a real mismatch of sounds, and brought in the wrong type of audience for the Mona Lisa’s genre, however the boys, as always, gave their all to the revellers that night belting out a brilliant set of their own music including, “Wasted Time”, “This time I’m no Fool”, “Devil In Disguise”, “I’m Not Done” which they have now released as their second demo offering, “Early Days”, “Pressure” and “Right All The Time”. These tracks are all unique in their own and allow the band to demonstrate their individuality as well as the two other guitarists, Blair Dow and Ally Galloway’s backing vocals and inspiring guitar skills demonstrating some great teamwork. In my opinion The Mona Lisa’s stole the show that night with their ability to own the stage and give everything they have for each and every song they perform.

After their set I spoke to some of the folk who never approached the stage but watched the performance from the bar area on a large screen and comments like ” Aye a braw sound like”, “We loved their energy” and “Shame they weren’t on longer” were amongst many good things said about The Mona Lisa’s from folk who said they had really came to see Nick mercer. A credit to the bands commitment to their work.

I have to say one bad thing about this band….. I just can’t get enough of them, so much so I am going to catch them again soon, next week in fact, where they will be part of an irresistable line up of acts all featured on these pages and I look forward to it too… Is that a bad thing? You decide once you have seen them, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Keep up the great work lads, and keep The Mona Lisa’s more than just “a cold and lonely lovely work of art.”

Check The Mona Lisa’s out for yourself with these links.

https://www.facebook.com/themonalisasband?fref=ts

https://soundcloud.com/themonalisas-1

By Harsharan Hoonjan

After his gig, I managed to catch up with Alan Clarke of East Coast Defector who had just come off from a superb performance as the night’s main act at 13^th Note Glasgow.

Hi Alan, thanks for chatting with me for Voice of Scotland!

Tell us a bit about the band, where you are from and how you formed?

Well I’m from a place called Inverkeithing in Fife and I moved to Glasgow many years ago and that’s where the name East Coast Defector comes from because I’m defected from the East Coast!

The guys in the band, the bass player Andy is my cousin. I went to school with Kevin so I’ve known him for a very long time and Albie the drummer works with Kevin.  Basically I had a bunch of Demo’s that I’ve had for a long time and just decided one day that we need to do something with it. The germ of the idea for our current band was when myself & Kevin chatted at an Eastwood gig about a Davie Scott and Norman Blake show at the very same venue….Carnegie Hall , Dunfermline, from there we started having practices and putting songs together.

This is where we are now.

Fantastic, I have to say, I really like your ‘Video Store’ song, it’s about a mum and dad meeting up?

It’s like one of these things you never see anymore, the video store and I just thought it was quite cute, the mum works in the record store we don’t have record stores anymore either. It’s a bit of a daft idea really!

‘Love in the Wrong Direction’ is a beautiful song, what was the inspiration behind that?

It’s funny that song, I was on holiday actually, with my family. We were over on holiday in America, there is a radio channel there called ‘Sirius XM’, one of the programmes was early 80’s electro pop, one of the other songs is The Hoff. I did a gig on my own at the Bean Scene, did a little thing with the Hoff on my little synthesizer and one of the girls that are here tonight, Claire, said oh you should do more of that electro stuff.

I was in holiday in America and I was listening to Depeche Mode and you know all the early 80’s stuff, it really sort of chimed with me. I thought I need to write a song like that, it kind of came from there. The lyrics Love in the Wrong Direction is maybe about somebody that I know who kind of was single and has very high standards and basically nobody is good enough for him.  It’s him at the top of a mountain, no compromising for him; it’s a bloke but could be anybody. It’s basically about somebody who has high standards and they can never find the right person. They are always looking in the wrong direction. It’s really cheesy but you know!

Talk to us about your last gig

This is actually our first gig as a band however Kevin, Andrew and I did a gig in Dunfermline about two months ago with the drum machine and us just playing the guitars. Albie has been rehearsing with us for just a couple of months, before that is was very informal. I’ve done solo gigs, I did one here a couple of months ago. The gig at the Bean Scene I roped in a lot of friends, Shouren (Alan’s friend) had to sing a song at the gig. When my voice went yesterday I basically had to phone Shouren and Rachel and said listen guys you have to help me sing these songs because I can’t sing them by myself! It’s all good fun.

 You certainly looked like you were having good fun!

Oh yea Shouren and I work together, I’ve known him for a number of years.

Has anything unusual ever happened at your gigs or during recording?

We always have a technical hitch! The gig at Dunfermline, the keyboard stopped working, the amp stopped working.  It’s quite funny, we’ve been rehearsing a lot for this and it all seemed to be going very well and then my voice went. It was a nightmare.

‘Oh sorry to hear that Alan’

*moving  swiftly on*

How long have you been singing and what are your long term goals for the band?

I’ve been in bands since I was in high school, when I went to Uni I played in a Jimi Hendrix cover band, I’ve played bass guitar in another band as well.

Been playing gigs in Glasgow as well but I have got a young family so gigs and that take a bit of a back seat but we have started to do it again,  so this is really our first proper band gig. I think the hope is to try and record something properly, a nice little record,  maybe look at trying to get a few more gigs, maybe play a gig in Edinburgh you know. I’d like to play at some festivals too.

We’re doing this for kicks and it’s just a bit of fun. We’re not gonna go on the X Factor, we’re not gonna change the world! We’ll play a gig once in a while for some of our friends and that’s pretty good!

Do you have any tips/advice for bands or musicians starting up?

If you’ve got an idea, just go for it, a lot of people are quite worried about will they be able to do this. It’s a bit weird, I had a minor midlife crisis recently and I realised you’ve only got one life. That is part of the reason why I said I really enjoyed doing music but I never really got off my backside and done it you know.

I finally thought you know something, I better get my arse into gear, then basically went on and organized the band and gigs so far. If you think you’ve got a bit of musical talent get on and do it. Write about what you like and what you know, don’t follow a trend or what is going on in the charts, write about what you find fun. Hopefully other people will enjoy that too.

That’s how Alan does it!

Thanks very much for that Alan!

East Coast Defector have a gig happening at The Wee Red Bar in Edinburgh, on the 15th of February. Doors  are open from 7pm.  Get along for a great night.

I look forward to seeing what happens next for East Coast Defector as well!

For more information including event updates and tunes please visit:

https://soundcloud.com/eastcoastdefector

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eastcoastdefector/175348939171968?fref=ts