MUSIC PREVIEW
V LISTEN!
I Secession was a Glasgow band which looked set to make a few waves in the late 80s; but does anyone know the whereabouts of its ex- mainman Peter Thompson? He may learn something to his advantage — we've always wanted to use that phrase - if he contacts his old solicitors, Stephen Fisher & Co of 19 Cato Street, London WIH SHR (07] 262 3240). if you're out there. Peter, give us a call so that we know if you’ve made contact. I A weeping. wailing and gnashing of teeth resounds throughout Glasgow at the fate of The Soup Dragons. torn asunder by a dispute over royalties. Frontman Sean ‘l.ovegod‘ Dickson, it seems. retains the name. while the other three will carry on under a new bannen I Mother Records will be a familiar name to many — it‘s the Dublin record label owned by U2, of course — but a London- based branch, which seems to all intents and purposes to be a brand- new label. has opened for business. They have already signed up Bjork overseas (although she remains on One Little Indian in the UK) and the intriguing new singer- songwriter Lena Fiagbe, and are seeking exciting new talent. particularly from Scotland. All demos, they promise. will be listened to. and should be sent to Richard Brown, Mother Records. 1 Sussex Place. Hammersmith. London W6. I The latest music agency to offer services such as demo-tape duplication (as well as CD and vinyl), artwork, T- shirts. photography. video shoots and publicity (showcase gigs too!) is R&A Music Services. Three Glasgow bands. including Supemature. have already availed themselves. and anyone else who’s interested should call R&A Music Services, Suite l02. Unit H, 36 Washington Street. Glasgow G3 8A2 and ask for further information. I While Motherwell girds its loins for the annual Music Festival (details next issue). the Department of Leisure Services is launching two new workshops for aspiring musos from the age of twelve upwards. The ‘Rockshop‘s, offering professional tuition in guitar, voice. percussion and songwriting, take place at 7—9pm on Tuesdays at Bellshill Cultural Centre (starting 14 September) and Thursdays at Wishaw Musicworks. Admission is £1.50.
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* 3 a ‘ ‘We’re definitely not gluttons for punishment: we want to go to bed, and we want to go to bed now!’ lleitham, Senser’s wiry, agitated rapper, is strenuously denying his band’s masochistic 24-hour commitment to the work ethic. As it happens, I don’t believe him.
Senser are taking the tried-and- tested tourathon route to the top, but rather than the workaday drudgery of constant touring translating across to the music, as happens to many a band in perpetual transit, the tensions of ceaseless activity boil over into their abrasive set.
‘You get to a stage when you’re doing a band,’ lleitham continues, ‘where you really get the feeling of an impetus in the music, and you’ve got to keep following on, so things can fulfil their potential. So you do one thing, then you shouldn’t leave it too long before you do the next and so on.’
This means ‘you do a gig, then five minutes later you do another, and so on.’ In the spring, Senser lined up a tour; before they knew it, it became about two-and-a-half tours. But interminable gigging with the likes of
Ozric Tentacles pays dividends. By way of vindication, Senser were rewarded with an instant independent Number One when they released their debut single ‘Eiect’ earlier this year. lot that its success wasn’t written in the stars anyway - it’s the most explosive, adrenalised single of the year, still brutally compacted at five minutes long.
It’s being followed up with a double- A-side, ‘The Key’ (‘a tripped-out love song’ on which singer Kirsten appears to hold one note for three years) and ‘Ko Comply’ (‘much more punky’), whose startling contrast is welcome evidence that politicised rock/rap crossover doesn’t just amount to the juvenile tantrums of Rage Against The Machine.
lleitham’s happy about the rise of such bands with a political agenda. Equally he’s happy if a band wants to ‘sing songs about emotions all the time’. In fact, he’s just happy. But tired. (Fiona Shepherd)
Senser play The Venue, Edinburgh on Wed 22 and King Tut’ , Glasgow on Thurs 23.
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Toronto-bound
In the wake of Canadian llational Opera’s great success with their Edinbugh Festival and European debut, it is of interest that Scotland and Canada continue to develop their cultural relationship this month in a student initiative from the RSAMO. Karina Gauvin, a 28-year-old soprano from Montreal, is soloist with the IISAMO Chamber Orchestra for Britten’s ‘Les Illuminations’ in a series of performances which opens in Edinburgh, moves to Glasgow for a concert in the home base of the Stevenson Hall and then tours to Canada for six further concerts. Dates in Guelph, Toronto and Hamilton are shared with the University of Toronto Chamber Choir, the orchestra alone playing at Universities in Kingston, ‘ Montreal and, finally, Toronto.
Karina Gauvin’s involvement came through her just completed special postgraduate scholarship year at the liSAMO, a place which was immediately offered by tour conductor and Academy Principal, Philip Ledger, after he heard her sing in the 1992
Canadian llational Vocal Competition, in which she, needless to say, won first prize. While studying here, she has walked off with the highly prestigious Maggie Teyte Singing Competition prize and, says RSAMO Head of Singing, Gordon Stewart, “there is not a note she utters that is without conviction, and her feeling for words and situations is subtle and strongly inspired.’ With the Canadian Scottish Philharmonic Foundation supporting such musical friendships and exchanges, the September dates may well not be the last we shall hear of this talented young singer in Scotland. (Carol Main)
The BSAMO Chamber Orchestra play the Oueen’s Ilall, Edinburgh on Sat 11 and Stevenson Ilall, Glasgow on Sun 12.
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V COUNTRY
Country mettle
Nanci Griffith, who knows a thing or two about this sweet and sensitive songwriting lark, likes her, so listen up. Craig McLean talks to Suzy Bogguss,
metalworking country star.
‘l release an album every year in September or October and then wind down towards the end of the year. then in the next few months I usually stay home and write and produce my next album, and then start touring again in May.‘
It’s a regimented approach but one that’s paid off. After five years of gritty slog back and forth across the seamier end of the American bar circuit. followed by six years with the ‘luxury' of a recording contract, Suzy Bogguss is hitting it big. Despite the name.
28 The List 10—23 September I993