SCOTTISH BANDS
ldlewild
THERE COMES A SPECIAL POINT IN EVERY up-and-coming band's career when they go from playing to three bored mates and a yawning dog to storming it at venues packed with pogoing mentalists. For Scottish punk-pop pups ldlewild. this magical moment came at the end of May.
‘Now. every time we play. chaos just resumes.‘ murmurs Roddy Woomble. ldlewild‘s unassuming singer who. on stage. transforms into a manic. throat-shredding berserker. rather like Munch's The Scream with a tousled fringe. ‘Word has got round that ldlewild gigs are mad. People are buying tickets and then preparing themselves to go crazy for an hour.’
At a recent sold-out date at Glasgow‘s King Tut's. ldlewild proved why they are currently rated as one of the best live bands in Britain with a set largely drawn from their full-length debut Hope Is Important. Minds were blown. the roof was raised.
Their success in the live arena proves there is really nothing like very loud. catchy
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pop tunes played in a punk rock style to get the people bouncing like sulphed-up spacehoppers. But you can take enthusiasm too far.
'Reading was quite scary. Three people got noses and ribs broken.’ says Roddy who. at 22. is the oldest in the band. ‘Bands like Symposium jump into the audience and try to cause stage invasions. which I find slightly sad. I don‘t encourage people to go crazy. but we get really into it and the audience feed off of that.‘
As the saying really ought to go. some are born to incite riots and some have a totally mental fan—base thrust upon them. Despite the sound and fury. Roddy Woomble is the not the kind of guy who
thirsts for mayhem. In fact. the name ldlewild is apt in its
juxtaposition of calm and catharsis. Out of range of a microphone. Roddy is polite. quietly spoken and nervous. At the start of the interview. conducted in a cosy Glasgow pub. he moves the tape recorder closer to him. hiding it from lunchtime boo/.ers.
because there‘s nothing else to do. Some people would probably be hostile toward me just because they might have seen my face on the cover of Melody Maker. so I don‘t go out.‘ he replies. ‘My mum’s always saying that I won't walk down the street but I‘ll go up on stage in front of 9()() people.
‘I just really enjoy it. I did photography at university and I‘m interested in painting as well. but I find being in a band is the most immediate way to get your ideas across.‘
ldlewild plan to get their ideas across in 1999 with a new record which will move further away from the short. shouty shocks of the Captain mini-album and further down the melodic road blueprinted
‘on Hope Is Important. But. fear not. ldlewild have no intentions of
losing their edge. ‘We‘re not going to start writing Bryan Adams-type songs.’ Roddy says. reassurineg. ‘We‘ll always be left-field just because of the kind
do worry a lot.‘
strangers?
‘l‘ve always had paranoia.’ he says. softly. ‘I think it‘s probably the result of moving about a lot when l was younger: I went to something like thirteen different schools. I‘m looking over my shoulder all the time. but I
So he feels uncomfortably self-conscious yet will happily scream his lungs out in front of hundreds of
‘I come from a wee town where people get beat tip
'I don't think Bryan Adams
of music we listen to. I don‘t think Bryan Adams goes home at night and listens to Bitch Magnet.‘ Let’s hope not. (Peter Ross)
goes home at night and listens to Bitch Magnet'
Roddy Woomble
ldlewild play Edinburgh Cas Rock, Sat 9 Jan and Glasgow Queen Margaret Union, Sun 10 Jan. Tickets for the (as Rock gig go on sale at 12.30pm, Sun 20 Dec at the (as Rock. A new single, 'When I Argue I See Shapes' is released on Mon 1 Feb.
bers eight. although the focus inevitably falls on main songwriter Stuart Murdoch. who also happens to be the most media—shy member. Over the next few months they will be record- ing their fourth album and the currently impossible-to-get-hold-of debut 'I'igermilk will be re-rcleased. hopefully in the first half of next year. (FS)
Beta Band
Similar to a Scottish Beck in their musical magpie tendencies. the Beta Band have breathed a welcome spirit of experimentation into a world of stodgy guitar stagnation. If you can name the style. then they've probably incorporated it into their wildly diverse songs. They are in the studio at the moment recording their first proper album (due out in April) after 1998‘s 3151’s compilation which (there's a clue in the name gathered together their first three
EPs. Singer Steve Mason is also putting out a solo EP under the typically obscure name of King Biscuit Time. (JT)
Bis
Hell-for-leather electro-pop trio from Glasgow. initially famous for being ‘the first unsigned band to appear on Top Of The Pops“ with break- through single ‘Kandy Pop‘. While Britain was arguing over whether to love or hate them. they signed to The Beastie Boys' Grand Royal label in the States and became big enough in Japan to inspire Bis watches which played their music. They have recently returned to the fray with the insidioust catchy ‘Eurodisco‘ single. Another single will precede their next album Soeial Daneing. released in March. Before that. they can be heard performing the theme for new car- toon series Power Puff (iirls. beginning in January on the Cartoon Network. (liS)
BT Scottish Ensemble
The BT Scottish Ensemble grew out of the old Scottish Baroque Ensemble. but they have made remarkable strides as an organisa- tion in recent years. both on and off the plat— form. The inspired appointment of violinist Clio Gould as leader and artistic director of this ambitious string ensemble has reaped rewards in their performances and record- ings. most recently the excellent John Tavener collection Tears Of The Angels on Linn Records. Their ground—breaking spon- sorship deal with British Telecom has allowed the Ensemble to develop in many directions. and the recent renewal of that substantial commitment will mean further imaginative touring projects. reCordings and commissions. (KM)
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17 Dec 1998-»‘7 Jan 1999 THE “ST 11