Here we go with part two of this month’s FENCE TO FENCE.  In the first instalment, we had Withered Hand firing the questions at François … and now it’s the Frenchman’s turn to quiz Dan.

Before the interview kicks off you might want to have a wee peek at the video for ‘Heart Heart’, the title track of Withered Hand’s latest release – the first in our Chart Ruse series of EPs.  We’ve just put tickets on sale for a new Withered Hand show taking place in Edinburgh on March 1st – more details at at the bottom of the page.

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François: Hey Dan how are you? long time no see. I’ve heard about your new recordings, there’s a chorus that Rozi sings all the time that goes: “the mouuntaiiin”, what’s that about?

WitheredHand: Yes I asked Rozi to spend an afternoon in London adding some backing vocals when I was recording with Darren Hayman earlier in the year. She was brilliant of course. The line “No Mountaaaaaiiiin in your palm” is from my song ‘Heart, Heart’. It’s another little love song about death, that’s as much as I can say.

F: What else have you been up too?
WH: I have been busy playing shows mostly in the UK, I tend to play them in small bursts, rather than a ‘tour’. Partly for domestic reasons and partly as I am still booking shows myself and find it makes my head hurt arranging everything. I did play a couple of really fun shows in Belgium just before Christmas, which meant I could give very good chocolates as gifts when I returned.

F: I remember one of the first time I met you you had been thrown flour at on stage. Do you enjoy when things get out of control with the band?

WH: I like it when things get out of control but in a good way. The guys I play with are friends first so it’s good to let loose together sometimes and keep things fun. I tend to tour mostly solo, which never ever involves me throwing flour at myself, so it’s a nice counterbalance.

F: Do you struggle remembering people’s name? I really do , for some reason your drummer is one of the first and only person that I managed to remember the name of. His name suits him. (his name’s Alan right??!) Who at Fence do you think look like their own name the most?

WH: Yes, correct. My drummer is Alun. It does suit him. I don’t struggle to recall names as much as I used to. In this business it becomes so important to remember them. You suit your name pretty well, i’d say. Once I know somebody I always think they suit their name so I can’t possibly decide.

F: Do your wife and kids gives you advice on your music? Do you follow their word?

WH: They do. And yes I think I often do. I’m certainly more likely to listen to them than to anyone else. Plus my children are very good at remembering tunes I have been working on and reminding me which ones I have forgotten about.

F: What’s the best thing about where you live?

WH: There are lots of things I really love here. But i’d have to say the best thing is that it feels more like home now than where I grew up. I look out the window and feel pleased to be in Edinburgh, even when it’s raining.

F: Why is music important in 2012?

WH: Music is important in 2012 because it brings people together and gives a voice where sometimes there is none.

F: Would you rather tour in a foreign country that is boring but where there’s a good crowd that respond to your music, OR in a foreign country that’s really exotic and exiting to visit but where people don’t respond so much to your music?

WH: The former. I enjoy seeing new places and eating new foods but it’s definitely different touring alone. It’s occasionally lonely. If I was going to an exotic and exciting place i’d sometimes like to leave my guitar behind and take my family along instead.

F:  Cigarette or chocolate?

WH: Belgian chocolates. No Cigarettes.

F: Would you like to see me soon?

WH: Oui oui mon amis

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We’re doing two launches for Withered Hand‘s new EP.  One is in London this Friday (February 3rd), where Dan is performing solo – with some help from Darren Hayman, and support from Seamus Fogarty. All ticketholders will receive a copy of the Heart Heart EP.  The above poster is for an Edinburgh launch happening on March 1st – with Pictish Trail co-headlining, and support from the Second Hand Marching Band.  Ooh.  EP’s won’t be given away at this show – but they will be available for purchase.

If you’ve subscribed to the Chart Ruse EP series, your copy will be posted out to you at the end of this week – check your email for more details.  You’ll also be able to buy ‘em from your local independent record shop come February.

François has just released a new album on the amazing Domino Records, entitled E Volo Love - which is available from all good indie stores up and down the country.  His previous album, Plaine Inondable, was released in 2010 on Fence Records – and you can purchase a copy for just £4.99 from the Fence Records shop!  Buy ‘em quick, though – cos this offer ends on February 1st.

What is Eye O’ the Dug, then?

It’s a new two-day music event brought to you by King Creosote and myself, The Pictish Trail, from Fence Records.  Our pals at St Andrews Student’s Association are helping out on this one, too.  It’s happening over Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th April, 2012, in a few different venues around St Andrews.

Aye, but ‘Eye O’ the Dug’?  What’s that name all aboot?

On a map, the county of Fife is shaped like a Scottie dog’s head – with St Andrews being “the eye”, so to speak.  The actual term ‘Eye O’ The Dug’ was coined by musicians Lone Pigeon and King Biscuit Time, and was immortalised in a song of the same name.  And yes, the song is about St Andrews.

So why St Andrews?

Weeeell, we’ve been doing our Home Game event in Anstruther & Cellardyke for the past eight years, and we figured the Neuk could do with a bit of a breather in 2012.   We didn’t want to recreate Home Game anywhere else, so decided that it’d be good idea to put on a brand new event.  Eye O’ the Dug is going to be a bit different from our other events – but will still have that same ol’ Fence feel.

St Andrews was where Fence Records all began, and so it feels right to return there, and have a big knees up, once again.  Up until about 10 years ago, the Fence Records shop was located on South Street, stocking all the early Fence albums alongside the new releases of the day.  It was a bit of a mecca, with folk travelling all round the country to come up and buy rare Lone Pigeon 7”’s, or King Creosote CD-R’s.

When business rates went through the roof (along with housing rents) the shop had to close down, and the label relocated to the Anstruther area.  Since then, Fence has gone from strength to strength – with acts on the label touring all around the globe

How is the weekend gonna work?

We’re splitting the event into two parts. The Saturday is gonna be more like a big party.  The music will kick off from about 7pm, and go on until laaaate.  It will be this: amazing.

Sunday is going to be a more relaxed, all day kinda thing, with music going on in a few different places. We’ll start about 1pm, and go on until 11pm-ish … with a break in the middle so everyone can get something to eat.  Yum.

Isn’t St Andrews dead posh?

Haha!  It’s a historic town, and – true – there’s a lot of “old money” kicking about.  But there’s also more charity shops per square kilometer than anywhere else we know – so maybe that’ll give you some indication as to how posh it actually is.  The Students Association are providing our bars for the weekend, so rest assured you’ll be drinking the cheapest pints in town!

What is the line-up going to be?

As with all our events, the bill is going to be jam packed with Fence Collective talent, and very special guests.   We don’t want to give anything away just yet, we’ll be drip feeding the line-up out over February and March.  There’ll be a good mixture of pounding left-field electronic tweaks, precision-built beats from frowny art-boffs, quasi-mystical folk, mono-chordal grooves and balls-on-the-line bozo rock.

Hmmn. Probably won’t be any bad reggae, happy hardcore or crusty drum’n’bass, then.

To give you an idea of the kind of music we’ll have, here’s a small selection of folk we’ve had perform over the past eight years:  King Creosote, Four Tet, The Concretes, British Sea Power, Josie Long, KT Tunstall, James Yorkston, Slow Club, Marina & The Diamonds, Jon Hopkins, Pantha Du Prince, Johnny Flynn, Nathan Fake, François & The Atlas Mountains, The Unthanks, Josh T Pearson, The Phantom Band, Malcolm Middleton, Alasdair Roberts, Django Django, Stuart Braithwaite DJ (Mogwai), Burns Unit, Cate Le Bon, Frances McKee (The Vaselines), Silver Columns, Remember Remember, Withered Hand, Beth Jeans Houghton, Emma Pollock, Adem, Kid Canaveral, Steve Mason, Scritti Pollitti, Lone Pigeon, FOUND, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), er …  The Pictish Trail … !

How much are tickets, and where can I get ‘em?

We’ve priced tickets especially low, in order to get you all up to party – so tickets are going to start at a mere £40 for the weekend!  What a bargain.  They’ll go up to £45 a few weeks afterwards, so be sure and buy up quickly.

Tickets will go on sale from the Fence Records website on Monday 30th January, at 12noon.  If you signed up to our Away Game lottery a few weeks ago, and were unsuccessful in getting tickets, you will have received an email from us with details on how to purchase early-bird tickets now!

Will there be a reduced ticket for students?

Yup, if you’re a student of St Andrews we will be doing a special £35 ticket, on sale mid-February.  They will be sold from a specific place, at a specific time!  There will be posters up around the town in February with more details on this – so keep yer eye out.

Where can I stay?

There are plenty of options for accommodation in St Andrews, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding a place to stay.  There’s a wide range of B&B’s, hostels and hotels for every budget.  We reckon your best bet is to visit this website:  www.stayinstandrews.com. If you’d rather stay in the Anstruther/Cellardyke area, buses to St Andrews go every hour, and a cab is about £20.

How do I get there?

There are a fair few ways to get to St A’s …

TRAIN: The nearest train station is Leuchars, which is on the east coast rail line, with services from London.  A bus service at the station will take you to St Andrews within 10 minutes.  There’s also a taxi rank, with plenty of cabs.  A cab will cost about £13 to St Andrews.

BUS: There’s a direct bus service to St Andrews from Glasgow (x24) and from Edinburgh (x59).  If you’re staying in the Anstruther area, you can take the 95 bus, or the x60 up to St Andrews.

CAR:

FROM EDINBURGH:  Cross the Forth Road Bridge (A90) after Edinburgh.  Shortly after the bridge A90 becomes M90. Proceed north along M90 to Junction 2a (Dunfermline) onto A92.  Follow the A92 (through Glenrothes) until just before Cupar. Join the A91 and follow to St Andrews.

FROM GLASGOW: Travel east along the M8 to the Forth Road Bridge, via the M9 and A8000 link road to the A90.  Follow instructions “From Edinburgh” above.

FROM STIRLING: Leave Stirling on A91. Join M90 at Junction 7.  Exit M90 at Junction 8.  Follow A91 to St Andrews.

FROM PERTH: From Perth follow M90 (South).  Exit M90 at Junction 9 onto A912.  Join A913 through Abernethy and Newburgh to Cupar. Turn left onto A91 and follow to St Andrews.

FROM DUNDEE/ABERDEEN: Cross the Tay Road Bridge on the A92 (South).  After approximately 1 mile, at roundabout turn left onto A914.  A914 becomes A919 at St Michaels.  Follow A919 to Leuchars.  At Guardbridge join A91 and follow to St Andrews.

I’ve got another question!

Okay okay.   If you’ve any more queries you can get in touch via our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/eyeothedug), or through our messageboard (click here), and we’ll endeavour to reply as soon as we can.  In the meantime, here are some videos of our past events (filmed by our pals, Forest of Black):

Rejoice – your favourite semi-regular Fence feature is BACK!   This month on Fence To Fence we’ve got Collective members François Marry (of François & The Atlas Mountains fame) and Dan Willson (aka Withered Hand) going head to head in a frantic battle of wits.

In part one, below, François answers Dan’s questions in suitably übercool French-stylee.  Fence Records released François’ last album, the fantastic Plaine Inondable, in 2010 – and you can now purchase that album for just £4.99 as part of our January sale!  François’ new album, E Volo Love, is coming out on Domino Records on January 23rd.  You can watch his latest video for ‘Les Plus Beaux’, below – and pre-order the album here.  Francois is also on tour in January, and you can check out his live dates at the bottom of the page.

Next week we’ll have PART TWO, where Dan answers François’ questions – oooh la la!

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WitheredHand: Francois, you always look to me like some kind of French movie star, do you have any grooming advice or style secrets for scruffy British guys like myself?

François: Stretching in the morning, black tea, serious thoughts till dawn.

WH: Your last album (Plaine Inondable) has been played alot in our house and I like it alot, how do you feel about that record now, looking back?

F: Much better than when I had just finished recording it. I’ve got no appreciation of an album when it’s about to be released. It’s like passing the ball to the listeners.  Plaine Inondable is very dear to me now, it’s sounds like how I felt at the time.

WH: I spent some nice time and played a show with you and Rozi about a year ago in Bristol. But I hear you no longer stay there? Are you mostly based in France these days?

F: I spend most of my time in between places. But yes mostly in France. We’ve had good gig opportunities in France recently. I’m there for work reasons…and also because the seaside is pretty swell where I come from.

WH: You signed with Domino, I hear. That’s a big step. How was that process for you?

F: It took aaagees. Understanding the contracts, seeking advice, making sure I was making the right decision, that it was going to be a good home for me… I don’t regret the decision so far.  I felt the effect of it mostly in France, people take us so seriously there now because of the Domino stamp at the back of the record.

WH: What instrument do you find yourself using most when initially writing songs?

F: Sometimes just my voice at the beginning , a few lines that come to me, when i’m walking around by myself. Otherwise when I’m sat at a piano or with a guitar, cool chords that I start playing over and over.

WH: Where were you born?
F: At the hospital.

WH: Those unusual percussion instruments you guys use in the band fascinate me, whats the story behind those?
F: We saw Bassekou Kouyate and Ali Farka Toure (Malian ngoni and guitar virstuosos) using exclusively the calebash for the rythmic section. The calebash is versatile, you hit it with your fist close it makes a kick sound , you hit with the palm it makes a hi sound. Initially it was convenient, it was like having a kick and snare drums combined in one portable instrument the size of a salad bowl. Really convenient for touring in a small car. Then we added the Dounoumbas. We once played in a small venue which held  african dance classes, there were some dounoumbas stacked at the back of the room, we tried them at sound check and ended up playing them for the entire show. After that experience we bought some for the next shows in a drum shop in Bordeaux.

WH: You are a pretty good breakdancer and have been known to leap over the monitors and bust a groove in the crowd, true or false?
F: I’m not very good at casual conversations in crowded places, therefore I resort to body language.

WH: Where in the world do you feel most at home?
F: In the water. With tea in a flask and flapjack waiting for me on the shore.

WH: Where can I buy one of your wonderful watercolour paintings?
F: I need to paint them first, man I haven’t done any good large one for ages. I need to retire from the business and join an evening class.

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TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR PART TWO!

Withered Hand will be releasing his new EP, Heart Heart, as part of the Fence Records’ Chart Ruse EP series.  You can subscribe to the entire EP series for just £18.00.  Dan will be on tour supporting King Creosote & Jon Hopkins in January & February, and will also be playing a special Fence solo show at the Shacklewell Arms in London on February 3rd – where all ticket holders will receive a copy of the new EP (subscribers get a special offer on tickets). Click here for more info.

François’ new album, E Volo Love, is release on January 23rd through Domino.  You can order his previous album, Plaine Inondable, for just £4.99 from the Fence Records shop throughout January. He’s on tour this month too – here are the dates:

Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains Live Dates:

22/01: Glasgow – Oran Mor (Celtic Connections)

25/01: London – Slaughtered Lamb (Album Release Party)

26/01: Brighton – Green Door Store (Vive la France Festival)

27/01: Bristol – Motocycle Showroom

28/01: Gateshead – The Sage Gateshead (Hall Two)

01/02: Reading – South Street

02/02: London – Shepherds Bush Empire (supporting King Creosote & Jon Hopkins)

It’s time for PART TWO of our FENCE TO FENCE feature with Seamus Fogarty and James Yorkston.  This time around it’s Seamus’ turn to fire the questions – and he deftly manages to weedle out some exclusive news on forthcoming JY releases in 2012 … OOH!

Before all that, though, here’s that fantastic live video of ‘Rita Jack’s Lament’ – the recorded version of which will appear on Seamus’ debut God Damn You Mountain, out on Fence early next year:

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SeamusFogarty: James, I think it best to get the serious questions out of the way first so let me begin by relating to you a headline I read in the Limerick Post last year. Above a picture of you wearing a flowery shirt, and clutching a tiny cat, was written the following: “James Yorkston, Gentle Giant of Folk”. How does it make you feel when the press focuses on your physical size as opposed to your prowess as a songwriter and would you not prefer to be an angry giant, like say, the one in Jack and the Beanstalk? Do you hold small cats/kittens to appear bigger than you actually are?

JamesYorkston: Ach I wouldn’t say it’s particularly true they focus on my size, I’m not THAT big. I think worrying about what the press, or anyone really, say or think about me is pretty daft. After all, there’s only so many times I can say I’m not a Folk Singer. I think I do ok by the press, in general. 

Answering the kitten question, I have no idea which picture you’re referring to, but I do sometimes pose with tiny dogs. This is because my ego is so fragile I can only be pictured with animals who I could quite clearly wallop in a fist-fight.

SF: Sorry about that last question. The first few times I saw you playing live, you were surrounded by The Athletes, a tight group of musicians. These days you’ve a different lineup on stage every time I go to see a JY show – you even let me up there on occasion, and the Pictish Trail. Do you miss having a stable lineup and whom can we expect to see in the next incarnation of the JY band?   

JY: I don’t miss having the same band with me every show, no not at all. Although some of the people I play with nowadays I’ve played with for yonks – Emma the violin has been there since 2005, Sarah the clarinet not long after that. And Doogie, although he’s on sick leave right now, well, he’s played with me since 2001. But they just turn up whenever it’s convenient, so it’s a fluid line-up, which keeps things fresh for us all. This year I’ve also done shows with some amazing “guest” musicians – Lau, Suhail Yusuf Khan, Andrew Cronshaw, Jon Thorne, and I’ve just started doing shows with Serafina Steer. Having her on board has been great fun. It all sounds a bit higgledy-piggledy and random, these people coming and going, but I enjoy that – I enjoy the freedom. Who’s next? Well, wait and see. I am reasonably excited about who’s next.

SF: It’s been a while since we heard a new JY record but you’ve been playing some sublime new songs lately. Does this mean there’s a new album in the works?  
JY: Yep. There’s a wee bit already recorded, then we’re getting the most of it done in January. It won’t be released for ages though as Domino are putting out a 10th Anniversary Re-Issue of my debut album, Moving Up Country, which will probably have a bonus CD of the demos from that period, plus Peel Sessions and the like. Then the Olympics get in the way, so I guess… Next autumn? Who knows though. Domino may fancy releasing it in May. We’ll see. 

SF: Are you one for writing a whole raft of new songs when the time comes to make a new album or do you have a great store of them padlocked inside a big timber chest in the attic?   

JY: I just write them as they come to me. I don’t rush them, particularly, although I do enjoy the craft of sitting down and whittling a new song out of thin air. I do have a fair few unrecorded, but right now there’re not enough hours in the day to do anything with them. So many plans, so little time.

SF: I grew up in the Great Plains of the West of Ireland where we spent hours singing songs and dancing around an open fire, waiting for the potatoes to boil, before walking to school, 15 mile away. However truthful that statement, I can’t deny that almost all the music I write ends up soaked, to some degree, in the sounds of the countryside. Where did you grow up and how has it affected the music you make?   

JY: I grew up in Kingsbarns, Fife. It undoubtedly has affected the music I play as people always comment on it, but I’m unaware of it. I just get on with things, you know? I don’t think, Ah there’s a young bullock, sitting on a hillock, beside some pillock eating a pollock – it must be time to write a song for them thar city folk.

SF: You’re strolling through Anstruther to buy some award winning, um, chips, when all of a sudden you’re bursting for a piss. You check your pockets and sure enough you’ve got the requisite 30p needed to use the public toilet. You meet a 20-year-old version of yourself walking out as you’re walking in. Do you think he’s impressed with how you’ve turned out?

JY: Aye, I think he would be. I’ve got nae day job, just music, a nice wee family, a few barry guitars, a good back catalogue, I travel around, got more than 4 friends, stopped smoking – aye, he’d be happy. A bit pissed off about the hairline though, I imagine.

SF: I think you’ll agree when I say that Fence has become much more than just a record label. As one of the first people to start releasing music under the glorious Fence Umbrella, are you surprised with how far it’s come in the last 10 years? Who else was knocking around all those years ago?   

JY: Has it really come that far? I’m not sure. Kenny used to put on those wine cellar shows and they’d have maybe 30 folk in, all packed in. Nowadays the Homegame gets around 600. It’s not a huge leap, is it? But, I think that’s why it works, really, because of the sense of community. There are loads of folk who were heavily involved then who still pop-up – Kenny, Johnny, Een, Gordon, Jenny, Pat Ma’ Cloud, Andy AfroCreosote, – but new blood comes in, folk like Adro Crowley, Rozi Plain…. It’s all good, I think.

SF: You’re a published author now. You must be proud of It’s Lovely to be Here? I think you should be. Anymore books in the pipeline? Maybe a short feature film?

JY: We’ll see how much time I have. I’ve been writing more, but right now, I have to focus on the next JY opus. When that’s all done and wrapped, I’m sure I’ll get around to writing something else. The feature film ran into financial difficulties as Cupar swimming pool weren’t happy when they got flooded with raw sewage, but to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of musicals and was glad to be out of it. 

SF: You sang a song recently about how you almost made it into an episode of The Antiques Roadshow. Is this a secret ambition of yours and would you be OK if someone brought on a JY record to be evaluated instead? Where did that song come from anyways?  

JY: That was just a nonsense I’d made up on stage a few nights previously and embellished upon in the gig in-between. It’s a fun thing to do, just singing whatever comes into my head, but sometimes it doesn’t work quite so well. I doubt I’ll sing that particular song again, but usually at gigs I dredge something similar up from my foggy memory and put it to a random tune. Most of them end up on Adrian Crowley albums, so keep an ear out.

SF: Shorter Questions.

 You’re in Manchester when you suddenly run out of t-shirts. You walk into a shop and the following 3 t-shirts are available:

• One with a picture of Ken Barlow
• One with a picture of Gary Barlow
• One with a picture of Bez from The Happy Mondays

Which one do you buy?

JY: I’d get the Bez one and send it to Vince from Geese, as he has a bit of a man-crush on Bez. I met Bez once, funnily enough, at a party being held on a canal barge somewhere in Belgium. He was good fun. The beer was running out so we all had a dance-off – and I’m pleased to say my break-dancing was too much for him, so I won the coveted trophy – a small bottle of 8% Belgian Beer.

SF: Favourite Fence moment?

JY: A few Homegames ago, Kenny, Johnny and I had set up for a secret gig in one of the Craw’s Nest Hotel’s wedding suites – Paul Webb from Talk Talk had come up (he’d just produced my Year Of The Leopard album) and we’d learned a version of Spirit Of Eden between the four of us – Kenny had left clues throughout the brochure and we had champagne and beer ready for those who cracked the code. But no-one came. Not a single soul. We ended up having a quiet hour drinking average champagne in a slightly shabby hotel suite. A bit surreal. We played the songs anyhow, it was quite romantic. Johnny taped it on his Dictaphone thing.

SF: Favorite Irish Album?

JY: Bess Cronin Vs Seamus Ennis & Willie Clancy Vs Planxty

 Seamus Ennis & Planxty lose out in the first round, leaving

 Bess Cronin Vs Willie Clancy.

 And Bess Cronin wins. God bless her.

SF: On the album Moving Up Country Are you trying to put on an Irish accent at the start of I Know My Love when you introduce the song?

JY: Am I? I haven’t heard that for years. We recorded it all live, I think. It’s probably a slightly slurred BBC Scots accent you’re hearing.

SF: How would you rate King Creosote’s Irish accent?

JY: It’s ok. Not as good as mine. When we first met Adro Crowley, when Adro joined Kenny and me unannounced on tour, Kenny and I decided to deploy Irish accents for as long as possible, to see if we could bluff Adro into thinking we were Irish. Adro told me later that he’d initially thought I was from Cork, then Wales, then India, whereas he’d suspected that Kenny was a bit slow upstairs.

SF: Would you play in a super group with Ken Barlow (as chief songwriter), Gary Barlow and Bez from The Happy Mondays if they asked?

JY: I doubt it. I imagine I’d ask what the fee was before declining though, being a man of principal.

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Seamus Fogarty’s debut album, God Damn You Mountain, will be released on Fence Records in the spring of 2012.  You can catch him on tour before then … he’s got a gig in Cardiff, supporting Carwyn Ellis from Colorama, on Sunday 11th December, at the Full Moon Bar.

James Yorkston has got some live shows coming up too – including a Xmas Jamboree with The Pictish Trail and Lisa O’Neill in Glasgow on the 17th December (buy tickets here), and a gig at the Union Chapel in London (also with The Pictish Trail) on the 21st December. 

Hello there Fencers! Following the overwhelming success (and subsequent 12 part TV mini-series, and Hollywood feature length adaptation) of our warts’n'all interviews between H.M.S. Ginafore and Kid Canaveral, we’ve lined up another FENCE TO FENCE encounter – this time between one of our most loved Fence Collectee’s, James Yorkston, and our most recent addition to the Fence roster, Seamus Fogarty.

Before the interview starts, you might want to have a peek at this video of Seamus performing a live version of the album track ‘Rita Jack’s Lament’, with visuals that he triggers onstage.  Get mesmerised by the visuals, or mibbe have the music playing in the background while you read this? Oooh!

Rita Jack’s Lament from Seamus Fogarty on Vimeo.

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Right, here’s that interview in full …

JamesYorkston: Seamus. First time I met you Seamus, was over in Kilkenny, wasn’t it? I was doing a short run of European dates, if memory serves, and the Kilkenny show came at the end of 3 or 4 provincial shows in Ireland. I was pretty knackered, driving myself around, probably drinking a little too much in the evenings. The night before I’d been in Sligo and we’d had a fun old time there – a local beauty contest was occurring, and I ended up staying at the same hotel as most of the entrants and their pals. The discothèque had been a little rowdy, for sure. Anyhow, when I eventually turned up in Kilkenny, I missed the sound check and sauntered up the stairs to the venue, a bit frazzled, where you’d just started playing. I remember getting a pint of some fissy yellow lager and watching you and your brother John singing away and thinking Jings, these guys are actually pretty good. Support guys aren’t always good, see. I got into a Great Music Fug and was feeling pretty happy, until someone started talking to me and I had to keep shushing him. Nice guy, just a bit red-nosed and persistent when I wanted to watch the band. What are your memories of that gig?

SeamusFogarty: Yip, I think it was towards the end of February 2009.  I had gotten a train down from Dublin that evening and caught the the second half of Ireland playing Bulgaria in the venue.  I forget the score.  

We started, I broke a string almost immediately and I think you sloped into the bar sometime after that.  There was a lovely crowd, I really enjoyed our set and you did a top set of tunes after…you might have sang a song about buying a pair of socks, or a cat that got lost in a bush.  

JY: And then your brother came on stage with me and played his accordion for a few songs. It was a little surreal for me as he’s the spitting image of a guy from my village – Steven Chapman – so every time I looked over, I got a bit of a fright. Not a bad fright – like in a horror film – more a small shock. Quite a player, your brother. Is your family musical? Or just you two fellows?

SF: Nah, we’re all fairly musical.  When I was 10, we performed as the Fogarty Family, won £400 and then called it a day, thankfully.  Myself and John always took it a bit more seriously though.  I love playing with him, so understated and natural, mean trad player too.  He’s no Steven Chapman though.

JY: Afterwards, we all sat around and had a drink, right? That’s how I remember it. Your brother’s lovely wife had just had a kid? Or was just about to? To be honest, that part of the night is a little hazy to me. What happened? How did I get home?

SF: Yes, their young fella would have been around 8 months old…a fine songwriter in his own right if you enjoy songs about cheese and people with curly hair.  After the gig, we enjoyed a few more pints of fizzy yellow lager, tackling successfully the few bottles of red wine on your rider once the bar shut, a good drink by anyone’s standard.  We were enthralled by exotic tales of how you were invited over to Sligo to judge a beauty contest and we talked a bit about music.       You advised me that I needed to work on my American accent and offered me the loan of your boxset of ‘Dallas, The Complete Series’ on VHS, warning me that it was very precious to you.  Sometime around 2 a.m. you shuffled out of the bar to your luxury hotel across the road and we shuffled out shortly afterwards, back to our tent.

JY: Next day, I went to the shop owned by the promoter and bought a Seamus Ennis CD. Who are your 5 favourite Irish pipers?

SF: Ah yes, Rollercoaster Records, possibly the finest record shop in Ireland.  

I have a Paddy Keenan album and its my go-to album anytime I get to within 500 yards of a Ryanair check-in desk – the horror.

Liam O Flynn, although I’ve only ever heard him flanked by the rest of Planxty.

Eoin Dillon, piper in Kila but better to hear him  in Bowes Pub of a Sunday night in Dublin, alongside Graham Watson and Frank Tate, sublime…nice pint too. 

Flaithri Neff, I worked with Flaithri and he’s a damn fine piper .

And Daniel O’Donnell makes five

JY: Then, when I got in the car to drive to the airport, I was surprised to discover your CD in my pocket. I put it on and listened to it 4 or 5 times in a row until I arrived. That song “I had a number one, many years ago, but someone stole my song, I heard it on the radio” was going round and round my head.  Your CD came in a brown paper bag – a really great cover, reminded me of alcoholics in American films, sipping their bubbling juices incognito. Were you selling them? The CDs, I mean? You had a job then right? So, were you hoping to be a full-time musician in real life?

SF: I think I managed to shift 16 CDs the previous night.  That gig marked my first real foray into the world of DIY.  I had come across a guy online who was using brown lunch bags, of the variety that one might receive a muffin in, to package CDs.  Later that evening, after removing a another expensive bottle of Merlot from its brown paper bag, I was delighted to discover that this self same bag formed a perfectly snug home for a CD.  20 bottles of wine later, my first run of EPs was ready to go.  I was up to my neck teaching in Limerick at the time and I really only had 5 or 6 good songs at that stage so it didn’t really seem feasible to consider a career as a full-time musician…it’s probably still not but now is as good a time as any.

JY: Now, back home, I still had your CD and I emailed you a few times, telling you it was pretty good and all that sort of stuff. We talked about trying to find you a label and you sent me loads of the amazing music you’d been doing – and then, the Homegame appeared and you asked if I could get you a spot. But, it was already full – helpful Johnny was keen to help, but couldn’t find a space – but then he did! Like in the movies! I sent you this email:

From: james yorkston <handsomejack@shaveyerma.co.uk>
Subject: Homegame
To: beardy_seamus@bawbag.ie
Date: Wednesday, 15 April, 2009, 12:12 PM

Hi Seamus,

Johnny from Fence has said he’ll find you a slot or two on the Sunday, if you’re interested? May be a secret show, maybe at the after show.

It’d be accommodation for you and your brother – but may be a couch (each, I think) He’s not sure where you’ll stay or play, but will find somewhere.

Any good?

Cheers,

James

And you actually came over, which took me by surprise. To come over like that, you must have been more than aware of Fence back then? What did you think they / it was? What were you expecting? And what did you make of it all? I don’t think I even saw you that weekend, did I?

SF: Well, as it happens, I had sorted a slot at Hedge in Manchester (cheers Jojo) on the thursday before Homegame was due to kick off.  My good friend and  drummer extraordinaire, Tony Higgins, had mentioned that he was playing at some small festival in Fife with a band from Galway called So Cow so I was kind of familiar with it.   At the time my favorite record label was Drag City Records in America and Fence seemed a bit like its stranger rural UK counterpart, home to various musical oddballs making great music that was never in any danger off troubling the upper echelons of the top 40 (until now that is).  So, the idea of playing their annual festival was amazing.  Also, I thought Manchester was only an hour away from Edinburgh, which was basically next to Anstruther on the map, the map being very small. 

Nine hours after leaving Manchester on the Saturday morning I reached Anstruther and actually met you walking towards the school where you were playing, and a right motley crew with you.  I stayed on a really comfortable floor in a house near the school, for the next two nights.  I think maybe 10 people turned up accidentally to see us the next day in Anstruther Town Hall.   I spent the rest of the day watching all sorts of bizarre and brilliant music, Ichi, The Hand, Viking Moses, King Creosote (maybe that was the night before, its hazy).  By the time I wobbled up to the Craws Nest that night, I was pretty unsteady on the legs and I remember thinking it’d be a good idea to join in the Ceili, with disastrous consequences for everyone, and I remember Kenny not being too impressed.

JY: And then, Kenny & Johnny must have seen you play, right? As they started to get really interested in you.

SF: It was Kenny saw me the year after, obviously not realising that I was the same man that almost single handedly sabotaged the Ceili the year before.  I had emailed Johnny about playing this Homegame (2010) and it wasn’t looking good   but I eventually managed to squeeze a Sunday night slot in the Ship Tavern out of him.  This time I had a full band in tow and we were ready for whatever was thrown at us, until we arrived at the Ship.  Gordon Anderson was at the controls and Panda Su was in full command of a very rowdy audience but when we got on stage they seemed to be under the impression that we were there to play The Wild Rover 10 times in a row.  We started into the first tune but Gordon had enough and legged it…I think sometime after Kenny arrived to take over on the desk and afterwards I managed to give him a couple of these new EPs that I had recorded and brought over.  He appreciated the minimal sleeve design and around three months later I got an email off him saying he’d just listened to my EP five times in a row…my first reaction was that he must have been ill or something, but he passed it on to Johnny and they started talking about releasing it and it was all very exciting.  

JY: Your brother is some guy to chum you over here just to stay on some couch. Did he enjoy it? Did anyone approach him and call him Steven?

SF: Well my brother wasn’t there the first year I played at Homegame.  Tony played drums with me and it was great…the only time I’ve ever done a show where it was just me and a drummer and I’d love to do it again.  The year after there was no holding back my brother….he could easily be doing what I’m doing but he took the more responsible route and now he has his own business and a beautiful family.  So I think these shows I was getting kind of allowed him to enjoy the best of both worlds.  No one called him Steven, and I wasn’t called Amos.

JY: We’d been talking about finding a house somewhere and recording a record – I’d come over as “producer” whatever that means, but these recordings you were sending through – you didn’t need me there at all. You had it all totally in-hand. Who were those guys you were playing with? Did you have a band?

SF: They would have been John, Graham Watson and Tony Higgins, all three of them supremely talented musicians who I still play with whenever I can.

The thing is that just before we began talking about doing a record together, I had taken up residence in a little cottage outside limerick, a bit like Red Riding Hood I suppose, without the bears, and the porridge.  This place sounded amazing, timber all over, you were looking for demos so I started recording and putting songs together myself.  The rest of the band were scattered about the country and the few occasions we did get together to record were marred by an over-reliance on alcohol, Graham’s fondness for kebabs and Emma’s fear of hunger (by this stage I had thieved your violinist, keeping her as my girlfriend)

I think I  started to go a bit crazy at this point too, talking at length to pigeons and the other wildlife and discarded domestic animals that roamed freely about the village.   

I think we would have made a great album but I’m really proud of this one too.

JY: And are these guys on the new record? The Fence record, I mean?

SF: No, its a DIY affair from start to finish with a few contributions from Emma Smith, Dorota Konczewska and my good friend Tom Griffiths who mixed a few of the tracks for me, very nicely.   I have a bunch of live recordings that we did in my cottage last year with a double bass player but its a completely different beast to this album – the songs have choruses and one might even be tempted to hum along to them, good driving music but more Route 66 than M77, more Magnum PI than Inspector Morse  

These days I play with Emma and Vince from Geese a lot…what they do with music is amazing and a lot of the time I feel like I should just let them off on their own.

JY: Recently when I saw you, we were drinking in Islington, with your brother and his lovely wife. How are you finding London? You’ve moved over there now, right?

SF: I don’t really know what to make of the place yet.  I have many good friends here. I hope I don’t lose my accent, I’d hate to acquire one of those weird cockney-irish accents.  I’m coming from spending 5 years in Limerick and that’s a place with a real edge too….not as much rioting but that could be down to the number of shops that have closed there in the last few years.  Ask me next year.

JY: Last time I saw you, you played with me at Greenman, stayed up drinking until 7am and then drove me and the band to Beautiful Days festival and back – 7hrs driving. You looked pretty shattered by the end of it, but kept full control of the vehicle at all times. I was impressed. Amongst others, we played the following acts on the iPod. Please list them in your order of preference.

* Jonathan Richman

* Linton Kwesi Johnson

* Lalo Schiffrin

* Ivor Cutler

* Michael Hurley

SF: Emma and Sarah had warned me that you liked to own the radio on long drives which generally meant enduring many hours of lonely old women singing songs about Barabbas on some remote Island in the Shetlands.  I was pleasantly surprised when this wasn’t at all the case.  I was aware of Ivor Cutler, he’s kind of untouchable so I will put him first, joined with Lalo Schiffrin because it was really refreshing and prevented me falling asleep a few times.  Followed by Jonathan Richman….Lesbian Bar is a uniquely beautiful song….followed closely by Linton Kwesi Johnson, for no reason in particular, I thought he was really good too.  And I’ll put Micheal Hurley last because I don’t remember listening to him.

1. Ivor Cutler & Lalo Schiffrin

3. Jonathan Richman

4. Linton Kwesi Johnson

5. Micheal Hurley

JY: So, tell me a bit about the record? I guess this is your “debut” album. Is it everything you hoped? Any regrets?

SF: The thoughts of actually making an album really spurred me on and I wrote and recorded a lot of new songs.  I think they were more personal and honest than anything I’d written up to that and the way they were recorded and produced very much reflects that.  I had lots of ideas and the best of them I’d record straight into the laptop.  I’d take these upstairs and I might work until 3 or 4 in the morning recording them ‘properly’, maybe adding some banjo or scratchy violin and odd bits of percussion, pops and pings and things like that. There’s some electronics in there and strange samples of various folk that I’ve recorded over the years.  I think it sounds Irish too, in a bizarre kind of way, and I’m happy with that.  

Lyrically, its very much my view of the world around me, swinging back and forth between the absurd and the serious, which is probably a bit like I am in real life.  

Regrets?  None…I’m proud of these songs and in Fence I think they’ve found a really great home

JY: What are your plans now?

SF: I want to get the album out and tour it as much as I can and hopefully do more festivals next year – that’ll be the next challenge.  If I sell enough records the first thing I’ll do is buy King Creosote a few new jumpers.   What else?  I’ve more songs I want to record and I’m trying to write a few more to put along with them so I’ll have something else to release sometime next year.  Also, I’ve been working a bit with an amazing director back in Ireland called Myles O’Reilly and I’d definitely like to  collaborate with him in the future.  And I’ve got a couple of gigs coming up with Colorama before the end of the year which I’m really looking forward to.  

JY: Ten Questions:

Some say you sound like Neil Young. Are you a fan of his?

SF: Yes, but I’m no die hard…I listened to Harvest a bit when I was younger and I bought his last album that’s just him and electric guitar, some cracking tunes but a few dodgy ones too.            

JY: Some say Withered Hand sounds like Neil Young. Are you a fan of his?

SF: Yes, I think he’s great.  I bought his album last year and its full of cracking tunes, has the live thing down too.

JY: You and Withered Hand sound really quite different. Are you not a fan of his?

SF: No, I don’t like him

JY: Which acts have you most enjoyed at Homegame?

SF: Highlights would be a powerful JY set at this year’s Homegame, Geese set too was magnifico – of course I’m biased but I think a lot of folk would agree.  

Last year I spent a lot of Homegame rehearsing so I didn’t see so much but I thought the Pictish Trail 30 second songs set last year was a blast – “Sweating Battery Acid” should be the opening song of the London Olympics, sung by Charlotte Church.  

The year before it was Alasdair Roberts, The Hand and King Creosote’s closing set – my first Homegame and I was hooked.  And my ceili dancing at the Craw’s Nest later on that night

JY: What instruments can you play to stage-level proficiency?

SF: Electric Tambourine.  Bagpipes.

JY: Did you ever consider a career in law at all?

SF: No

JY: Or rugby?

SF: No, where I grew up rugby was only for lawyers 

JY: What do you hope will happen with your career on Fence Records?

SF: Phew, thats a tricky one.  My dream has always been to appear on ITV’s This Morning with Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. I would also be happy to appear on Lorraine but I might need Johnny to do some ground work there first. 

Really though, I’ll be happy if I can just stay involved and don’t get found out.  I always get really nervous whenever I play in Anstruther but I love going up there.  Its a great reason to keep making music.

JY: Would you play in a super group with Iggy Pop and Tina Turner if they asked?

SF: Yes I would, even though Iggy Pop seems to have turned into a bit of a sap.

JY: What if it were only a supper group – would you still go along?

SF: If it was just me and Tina Turner, yes, definitely

JY: Thanks Seamus, a’ the best.

SF: Thanks for everything James, pleasure to have met you. 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Seamus Fogarty’s debut album, God Damn You Mountain, will be released on Fence Records in the spring of 2012.  You can catch him on tour before then … he’s got a date coming up in Cardiff, i believe, with Carwyn from Colorama.

James Yorkston has got some live shows coming up too – including a Xmas Jamboree with The Pictish Trail and Lisa O’Neill in Glasgow on the 17th December (buy tickets here), and a gig at the Union Chapel in London (also with The Pictish Trail) on the 21st December. 

on october 27th the kc band will have its annual rehearsal. not only do we
have the kc kc tour and fence’s hott loggz coming up fast, we’ve a new
band member to train up. derek o’neill, gav’s right hand man for onthefly
live sets, has played keyboards all over the new kc studio lp “that might
well be it, darling” (due spring 2012) and is now joining us for the
autumn tour. he’ll need a fence name pronto.

from the lemon tree on the 31st to hott loggz on the 5th, the kc band line
up will be:-

onthefly on drums, capt. geeko on djembe, uncle beesly on bass, scruff on
electric, gummi bako on acoustic, kc on acoustic, and deek on keys.

we’ll be rehearsing a selection of songs from the new lp as well as a
batch of older kc songs in an attempt to bring you an all new set for the
tour, and an all new second set for hott loggz. oct. 27th could well be a
long day.

alas, there’s no time to rehearse with kid canaveral for our collaborative
tour set, so expect a fair amount of blistering two or three chord wonders
and an rem cover

So, I give up on the idea of releasing the album and instead invite the band over to the UK to play a Fence Records’ Hallowe’en show – which we hold in a small church hall, in Anstruther, Fife. It’s a two-day bash, and on the first night Keith turns up wearing a pair of those oversized “fit-over” sunglasses that you get in chemist shops. He walks around with a limp, and appears to have cuts and bruises all over him. It’s all quite bizarre. And it’s all an act. With the aid of some joke-shop blood he’s pretending that he’s fallen over by the rocks, and has badly damaged his knee. Oh, there’s a bit of seaweed in his shoe, too. However, later that night he’s spinning on his back, break-dance styleee, in the middle of Legends night-club. Incredible.

The Shivers join me on a song at our Hallowe’en event

As The Shivers make their way to the stage the next day everyone in the audience is a bit unnerved. For some reason, despite last night’s dance work-out, Keith’s still pretending to have a bit of a limp – ha! But when the pair of them start playing, they completely silence the room. And it’s brilliant. Keith’s somehow managing to play drums and guitar at the same time, while Jo keeps the flow of the set together with her own, more mellow songs. Unsurprisingly, they manage to sell all of their albums straight after they finish.

Not quite everyone’s convinced, though. A few of my pals are at the back, and they seem a bit freaked out.

“What was all that business with the limp?”.

“Err, I’m not sure.”

And, to be honest, I don’t care. I think one of the main reasons i’m so into this band is that they are quite different from the regular Fence fare. Or, at least, they are different from what folk expect from your typical Fence act, ie. they don’t play acoustic guitars, they don’t smell of damp, they’ve got all their own teeth etc. So what if they’re a bit weird? I’m weird. Kenny’s weird. Hardsparrow’s definitely weird. For me, it’s all about good songs – and The Shivers have got them by the bucketload.

‘Used To Be’, taken from the new Shivers album – More

The band return to the UK about 6 months later, accompanied by a drummer, to record their sixth album, More, spending a week tucked away in our friend’s Manchester studio, Analogue Catalogue. We’re still no closer to releasing anything of theirs on Fence at this point, but i wanted to help them out while they were over – so i put together a week long UK tour accompanied by Fence alumni Love.Stop.Repeat, and Matthew & The Atlas. They came along to see me at a Silver Columns show i was doing, and we hung out, got drunk, and danced. It was all very nice. They both said that they’d like the next album to come out on Fence, but were still unsure as to the legal situation with the recordings they’d done with this other producer in America. I had a feeling that maybe this was the end of the line, and that i wouldn’t hear from them again – a feeling that was compounded somewhat by reading online that Keith had called time on The Shivers playing live.

However, in January of this year, i got an email out of the blue from some guy called “Joe Rogers”. saying The Shivers new album, More, was complete – mixed, mastered, DONE. “Joe” says he runs a label called Silence Breaks, that he’s just signed the band in America, is looking for a UK licensing deal, and would Fence be interested?

Now, i’m assuming that “Joe Rogers” is another alter-ego of Keiths. I mean, “Joe Rogers”? Seriously? That sounds like the most made-up on the spot name i’ve ever heard! But, of course, i’m interested in the album – so he sends me a link, and i listen to More.

And, guess what? I fall in love with it straight away. It’s probably their best album, too. And the more i listen to it, the more i realise it’s kind of a love album for New York. A cursory glance at the black’n'white front cover photograph, coupled with the first few bars of piano on opening instrumental ‘My Mouth Is For My Love’, and you’re transported to Woody Allen’s Manhattan. ‘Irrational Love’ drives us around New Jersey, with it’s E Street hustle, before ‘Kisses’ takes us back into Harlem Shuffle territory. The propelling synth and wailing guitars on ‘Used To Be’ make it the best song The Strokes have never written, and the segue of ‘Love Is In The Air”s soulful sway into the noisenik organ-drone of ‘Two Solitudes’ conjures up NY-wannabe Jonathan Richman and (yup) NY’s-forgotten heroes, Suicide. With the Leonard Cohen of Chelsea Hotel, and the Bob Dylan of Greenwich Village making appearances on ‘Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars’ and ‘More’, respectively, this is undoubtedly classic New York – albeit soaked in Keith’s personality and sympathetically cradled by Jo’s arrangements.

Yep. I really love this album.

And, it turns out, “Joe Rogers” is … well, Joe Rogers. He’s real. I’ve Skyped him and everything. And we’re putting the album, More, out on Fence this month. Not only that, but we’re bringing the band over to the UK for a two-week tour at the end of October / beginning of November.

It’s been an odd journey with The Shivers so far … and i’m expecting it to get more odd as we service the album. But, with songs this good, the journey is totally worth it.

Maybe see you in the merchandise queue?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The latest album by The Shivers is being released on Fence Records on September 26th.  You can now buy the album from us, here:

>> ORDER ‘MORE’ FROM THE FENCE RECORDS WEBSHOP

… or you can purchase in person from your local record shop.  We suggest:

Monorail, Glasgow
Love Music, Glasgow
Avalanche Records, Edinburgh
One Up, Aberdeen
Norman Records, Leeds
Music’s Not Dead, Bexhill On Sea

If your local music shop hasn’t ordered from us, give them a kick up the bum, and point them in our direction.

Part two in our Shivvery saga finds us deep in the heartburn of Texas

Pay attention, here – cos the pre-amble i’ve given about my own experiences at SxSW has been leading up to this bit. As i’m sure you’ve guessed by now, travelling all the way to Texas didn’t exactly have a seismic impact on the career of The Pictish Trail. But, if i hadn’t gone, i wouldn’t have met The Shivers. So, for that, SxSW was absolutely worth it.

It turns out The Shivers haven’t got an official showcase, but they are playing a show in a second hand bookstore – coincidentally the same venue that Rozi played yesterday. So we all turn up and watch. There’s maybe 25 or so people there – not too bad, given this is a really small shop.

Watching The Shivers in a bookshop

Two people step in front of the crowd. These are The Shivers. Keith Zarriello – a New Yorker, quite short, with a fidgety look on his face and some kind of ill-advised gel product in his hair; and Jo Schornikow – a tall ex-pat Australian (from Melbourne, I believe), long hair with a straight fringe, and a friendly smile. Keith is playing a yellow telecaster, and Jo has some sort of old looking keyboard/organ.

I think I had been expecting a full band – drums, bass etc – but by the end of the first couple of songs it was pretty clear they didn’t need all that. The songs are so immediate, the dynamic between them so compelling, that as soon as they start playing together you just get it. They perform a few numbers from In The Morning and some other stuff equally as catchy, with the audience transfixed. Or, at least, i assume the audience are transfixed – i’m not really paying attention to anything else in the room other than the two people stood in front.

Now, you’re probably thinking ‘JOHNNY, WAKE THE F*CK UP – IT’S JUST A BAND’. Well OK, Scroobius … but look, I’m excited. The beauty of great music is that it stirs in you a passion that can’t be contained. They are called The Shivers for a reason – as soon as you hear ‘em you get chills.

(I don’t care if that sounds corny. It’s true.)

Live performance of ‘Stare’

It’s the harmonies that hit you first. Keith’s voice couldn’t be more different from Jo’s; his is a hardened Springsteen-esque burr, the texture of gravel but drenched in soul. I’ve never seen the guy smoke, but i swear to god he must literally EAT tobacco, his voice is that raspy. Her voice, however, is much softer – that lilts with her accent, whilst it gently coos at you. It’s the sound of milk and honey, to Keith’s coffee and cigarettes.

Similarly, their playing styles complement each other in their differences. Jo plays the keyboard like she’s in some psychedelic gospel group. Keith’s staccato guitar playing has flashes of rockabilly, and soul. And, as if the songs weren’t enough, the banter in between is just as captivating; Keith usually going off into some nervous, neurotic tirade about finding it hard to find the right girl, only to be tempered by Jo’s calming-yet-authoritative character: “Quiet, Keith, stop missing abauht”.

The song ‘African Passport’ from the album In The Morning

As soon as they finish there’s a swarm of people around them wanting to buy records. With a back catalogue of 4 albums, there’s plenty to sell – but when we get to the front of the queue there’s barely anything left. They must have shifted about 30 copies in the space of 2 minutes.

They recognise Viking Moses, though, and come over to chat, assuring us that they’ve got some extra albums in the car. We each buy a copy of something, and agree to catch their other show later that afternoon. This other show is in a car park outside what seems to be a dis-used auto-repair shop. Again, their performance is great, and summons a healthy queue at the merchandise desk. I’m sensing a theme, here.

By the third day of SxSW, we’ve all had enough music, so we decide to drive 5 miles out of town to a river that’s been dammed off, and turned into a public swimming pool. Keith and Jo join us, and we all have a great time in the Texan sunshine. Bliss. I think this was probably my favourite day of the entire “conference”.

Sunday comes along, and we say our goodbyes, heading back on the road. The rest of the tour is soundtracked by The Shivers, and we’re all completely obsessed.

Over the next few months I keep in touch with the band, and we make tentative plans to release In The Morning in the UK, on Fence. I return to America during the summer for a wee holiday, and pop over to New York City for the day to discuss release details. Unfortunately there’s a problem. The band have recorded a fifth album with a producer/label guy out in San Francisco – and he’s had them sign a contract preventing them from releasing any other music within a 12 month period. Hmmm.

Meeting The Shivers In New York

I can’t quite tell what’s going on at this point. There’s all sorts of weirdness happening. For example, when I go around to his apartment Keith performs a rap in front of me. Like, proper rap. When we go out to eat, Jo has an argument with Keith about what food we should have, and then suddenly disappears. When I return to the UK, and call up Keith to ask about how the negotiations with this producer guy are going, he answers the phone pretending he is someone else … and then, when he realises it’s me, becomes himself again.

Thing is, i’m hooked. And there’s no going back, now.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>> READ THE THIRD AND FINAL PART OF THIS BLOG HERE!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The latest album by The Shivers was released on Fence Records on September 26th.  You can buy the album from us, here :

>> ORDER ‘MORE’ FROM THE FENCE RECORDS WEBSHOP

… or you can purchase in person from your local record shop.  We suggest:

Monorail, Glasgow
Love Music, Glasgow
Avalanche Records, Edinburgh
One Up, Aberdeen
Norman Records, Leeds
Music’s Not Dead, Bexhill On Sea

If your local music shop hasn’t ordered from us, give them a kick up the bum, and point them in our direction.

I played a lovely show earlier this year, at the Edinburgh Book Festival.

I’d been asked to do a reading to promote my book – which of course I said Yes to – and then the book fest folk asked if I’d fancy doing a musical show in the evening also. A free event. I had a few worries – I’ve played at free events at the Edinburgh Festival before in my youth, including a few in the infamous Bear Pit of the Teviot building a few years back.

But, this year the book fest folk said I could choose the line-up – and then they said they’d pay the line-up – and then they said, they’d get hotels and flights for the line-up, if needs be. This sounded pretty good to me. So, I asked Johnny Lynch AKA Pictish Trail. I figured it’s always good to have Johnny at a show. He lightens the mood somewhat. No one ever seems to frown at Johnny’s shows. I had a few frowners, see, back in the days when I was FAB.

And then I asked Lisa O’Neill. I’d invited Lisa over from Dublin to play at the Homegame in 2010, but then my 2010 got slightly sidetracked and I ended up missing Homegame completely, including Lisa. I was somewhere far less glamorous, but that’s another story for another day. I only eventually met up with Lisa the afternoon of the Edinburgh Book Festival show, we were put up in a very swanky hotel, got the guitars out and started playing each other songs. It was tremendous fun, although the room service did come to (gulp) £72, somehow. I blame the record company representative who was chaperoning us.

That evening at the sound check, it was suggested by someone or other that – hey – we shouldn’t bother with sets, we should just sit on stage, the three of us, and swap songs and stories, playing along with each other when we knew a song, or a bit of a song, keeping schtum when we didn’t. That was the path we took and it worked amazingly well; we had great fun indeed and once off stage, vowed to do it again.

And this, dear friends, is the point I’m coming to. On December 17th, we shall be doing it all again, Lisa, Johnny and I, at the Wellington Church Hall in Glasgow. I think we’re going to do two one hour sets, with a wee wee break in the middle.

This year has had many great shows for me, I’ve been very lucky, with Greenman, End of The Road, that Fence thing in Cellardyke Town Hall, Soundlabs, etc. I feel even luckier that I’m going to get the chance to repeat one of them. Will it be the same as the Book Festival Show? No, I doubt it. It’ll be better. Johnny will be drunker. I’ll be happier. Lisa will have done her Christmas shopping earlier in the day. It’s a win win win situation.

I hope to see you all there x

JY – 22/09/2011

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TRACER TRAILS & FENCE RECORDS PRESENT:

James Yorkston’s Christmas Jamboree

featuring special guests
The Pictish Trail
and Lisa O’Neill

at Wellington Church Hall
University Avenue, Glasgow

8pm-11pm / BYOB / all-ages
Tickets £9 from www.fencerecords.com,

>> BUY TICKETS FROM HERE

Also available from www.wegottickets.com or Monorail Music

The Shivers – Keith and Jo

An account of touring around America, and meeting the greatest band ever.

Hi.  I’m The Pictish Trail.

Let me take you on a journey back to the month of March in the year 2009.  Imagine, if you will, a wide-eyed, pretty-mouthed young folk singer – with a guitar in one hand, a pint in the other, a head full of hope, and a belly full of fried breakfast.   Very much the same attractive fellow I am today, though perhaps sliiightly plumper back then.

With the release of Secret Soundz Vol.1, my debut album ‘proper’, I had contracted a heavy bout of tour FEVER, which had seen me cavort my way around the British isles on two back-to-back tours (the start of a gigging febrility that didn’t dissipate until the end of March 2011).  By March of 2009, though, i was headed for the U.S.A. – land of the free, home of the brave, dwelling place of the glutton.  And I was hungry, both with excitement … and, er, with just general hunger.  (Having spent most of my teenage years living in America, I had developed an appetite for oversized portions).

The Pictish Trail and Miss Rozi Plain

At the start of 2009 I went on a short tour around the East Coast, supporting Viking Moses & Golden Ghost, with Kate Canaveral in tow; now, just a few months later, i was back over for a second US tour, which was to last 6 weeks – incorporating a trip to the legendary South By Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.  Fellow Fence Records artiste Rozi Plain accompanied me for this month-and-a-half trip, and we crammed all our equipment, clothes and merchandise into a mini-van with 4 other people.  It was a tight squeeze, spending a good 10-12 hours each day in said mini-van travelling from state to state.  Viking Moses did all the driving, Golden Ghost did all the meditating, Ed & Jay did all the filming (they were doing a documentary about Viking Moses, which has recently been released under the name Werewolves In America), Rozi did all the excitable squealing, and I did all the DJ’ing/sleeping in the front passenger seat.  Bliss.

R-L: The Pictish Trail, Rozi Plain, Viking Moses, Golden Ghost, Jay, Ed

About a week or so into the tour we were playing Denton, in North Texas, the venue being the living room of some guy’s house.  Now, this scenario was not uncommon. If you’re not a well-established act the only way you’re going to get a full tour is by playing shows that have been put on by fans.  And the DIY touring circuit of America tends not to involve many actual music venues.  It doesn’t even involve all that many bars, either – mainly because the drinking age in America is 21 – so DIY shows mostly happen in student basements / gardens / living rooms / small bookstores / cafés etc.  Viking Moses worked his ass off, and managed to book an entire 6 week tour, a gig every single day with only 3 days off or something, using his contact list of promoters.  He did all this within the space of a month – the month before we were due to start touring.  The guy is an absolute HERO.

So, anyway, we’re in Denton, Texas – and the promoter (whose name, i think, was Pat?) is telling us about some of the other acts he’s had play at his house recently.   He’s SUPER excited about a band called THE SHIVERS, who played yesterday.  He scurries off to the corner of the room and puts their new CD on.   We drink beers, and nod appreciatively.    Viking Moses is getting very excited about them – he’s played shows with them a bunch of times, he says.  I’m feeling a bit knackered, not really listening to the music, and we’ve got a lot of time to kill before the show starts, so i take a walk outside with my beer.

An hour or so later i come back into the house, and i think the CD has started again cos i recognised the first song.  It’s a song called ‘Just Didn’t Need To Know’.  It sounds like The Velvet Undergound a wee bit … maybe a bit more raw.  The guys voice is really gravelly, and distorted, but in a good way.  It’s sounds good, is what i’m saying. It’s a bit like Suicide in places. I’m properly listening, now, and really enjoying it.  Rozi comes in and we’re bobbing along to the songs.  “Who is this, again?” I ask, as Pat (let’s just call him Pat, okay?  i think it was Pat) walks in from the kitchen.

“It’s The Shivers, man”.

The whole album plays through, and we stick it on again. Ha, there’s even a Suicide cover on there!  By this point we’re all a bit familiar with different parts of various songs, and hum along wee melodies we recognise.  It’s an addictive album.  Then Pat (actually, maybe it’s Ted? No, i’ll stick with Pat) drops a bombshell: “It’s amazing, huh?  Can’t believe they recorded it all on 4-track”.

“Wh-what?!” we chirrup, deliciously.

I grab the CD case, and – sure enough – the liner-notes on the back reveal that it was all recorded on cassette tape, to 4-track.  Now the slightly distorted, almost hissy quality makes sense – and sounds even more impressive, given this context.  The sheer simplicity is its beauty.  Vocals, guitar, organ, drum machine.  That’s it.  Lead vocals drop out clumsily, to make way for the occasional guitar solo.  It’s genius.

In The Morning by THE SHIVERS

We spend all of the next day listening to the album, In The Morning, on the way towards Austin, and SxSW – psyching ourselves up for what is surely GUARANTEED to be a weekend of rock and roll excess, with beers, breakfast burritos and major label chequebooks flying everywhere.

Now, Austin isn’t a massive place, but in the baking sunshine, carrying a guitar and rucksack everywhere, it feels endless.  There are bands absolutely all over the place, to the point of irritation.  You can’t go to a toilet without some 8-piece thrash-folk act singing down you earholes.  Of the four acts travelling in our mini-van, i’m the only one playing an official SxSW showcase – but we’re each playing a handful of shows at parties and unofficial events.  There’s one event going on, in the outskirts of town, called FuckByFuckYou.  None of us are playing that one – but we wholeheartedly commend their audacity.

Rozi and myself performing at SxSW 2009

After a few ill-attended shows, it dawns on us that only the ‘buzz bands’ of the moment, those that are signed to majors or massive indies, are getting packed, screaming crowds.  My own showcase is comprised of about 40 people, 80% of whom i’ve played to a million times in London, 12% are other friends, 5% are folk who are tired and just want a nice sit down, and 3% people expecting to see The Kissaway Trail (“Pictish who?!”).

So we just try and enjoy the weekend for what it is – booze, bands and more booze.  One of my highlights is bumping into friends from other bands, and comparing sunburn with them.

It’s then we notice that The Shivers are playing …

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TUNE IN FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT!

>> HOW I GOT THE SHIVERS: PART TWA

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The latest album by The Shivers was released on Fence Records on September 26th.  You can buy the album from us, here:

>> ORDER ‘MORE’ FROM THE FENCE RECORDS WEBSHOP

… or you can purchase in person from your local record shop.  We suggest:

Monorail, Glasgow
Love Music, Glasgow
Avalanche Records, Edinburgh
One Up, Aberdeen
Norman Records, Leeds
Music’s Not Dead, Bexhill On Sea

If your local music shop hasn’t ordered from us, give them a kick up the bum, and point them in our direction