repressed enviromnent in the practice room: we don‘t really talk about what we‘re doing. wejust trust each other to get on with it. It‘s quite a catholic approach I suppose. I read somewhere that Sonic Youth don‘t sit round a table and
discuss what they‘re doing either and it kind of
works for us.
I can’t imagine anyone not loving the cover art to The Hawk is Howling.
It‘s not even a hawk. it‘s an eagle. We couldn‘t find a hawk. Aidan Mol‘fat did the artwork for it. He typed into eBay the word ‘hawk‘ and that was the first amateur painting that came tip. I‘m a big fan of amateur art. it makes you smile a bit more than most of this Scandinavian maudlin art that you see around Glasgow.
Do you fear any reprisals from ornithological anoraks who might take you to task for calling an eagle a hawk?
ll
But then can a hawk howl'.’ The title is a quote by someone in The Doors when he was describing Chicago. I think he meant to say ‘the wind is howling‘. but he said hawk instead and it stuck. Again. it‘s just a meaningless title: they‘re usually something that makes us laugh or something that a friend has said. and it‘s stuck on there at the very end. We‘ve got to call it a different name from the last album or it just gets confusing. It‘s the same with the song titles. It would be far too much of a concept for our tiny minds to deal with to come tip with a title and write a song for it.
How did it feel to be gigging around
North America during an election campaign?
I don‘t usually take notice of their election but this time around it‘s the new Big Brother. It‘s a bit of a car crash. We‘ve got loads of friends here who were sitting watching the Republican convention and were disgusted by the whole thing. They can‘t face another four years of the same.
So when you get back home you’re playing at the Corn Exchange. Are there any venues left in Scotland on the band’s ‘to-play’ list?
I like the look of the old bingo halls in places like Carstairs and little strange venues in Lanark. I‘m kind of worried about the Corn Exchange because it‘s far too big: but we‘ve got a really good sound engineer who makes a good job of it wherever we are.
You did the Albert Hall [the one in London, not the one in Stirling] a few years back how was that?
That was an amazing experience. My main memory was that it was my dad‘s birthday. About halfway through the set we shone a light onto one of the boxes where he was sitting and gave him a happy birthday. He was gobsmacked.
One of your finest moments has to be ‘Burn Girl Prom Queen’ from the 1999 ‘EP’. Why haven’t you worked with the Cowdenbeath Brass Band since?
That‘s my dad‘s favourite. though I‘m not sure what that says about him. it‘s quite a dirge. Working with people with string sections and brass bands is great. We‘d love to do that again but it‘s just so expensive. When we did Rm‘k
Action. we had all these string sections and stuff
and realised we couldn‘t play any of those songs live: which is actually quite good because it‘s pretty shite anyway. Too much money spent on it: that was the nadir of our career.
Why are you moving to Berlin?
I‘m just sick of paying through the nose for not much in the way of culture in the UK and I like the idea of going somewhere where the weird is embraced a bit more. Seems like Berlin is the New York of Europe and I really like electronic music so I‘ll have a ball. And there‘ll be some heat.
Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Tue 21 Oct; The Hawk is Howling is released by Wall of Sound on Mon 22 Sep. For our review of the album, see page 67.
The List's rock‘n'roll agony aunt solves all your musical quandries and finds the gig that's right for you. here's everything from nu rave to hip hop
Dear List,
I’ve just bought the tightest keks in Europe and a vest so day glow it could send a Geiger counter wild at 50 paces. Flag me up some how now danceable indie gigs at which to flash my hot new garb.
Beth, Maryhill.
Flaunt your new dapper threads in the company of grimy Holloway techno punks We Smoke Fags (King Tut's, 13 Oct) and while you're at it. stick around for Afrobeat-inflected Scouse post- rock twangers Hot Club de Paris (Cabaret Voltaire. 17 Oct; King Tut’s. 18 Oct) and disco- powered post-grunge duo Blood Red Shoes (King Tut's. 19 Oct). Then wring the sweat out of those svelte breeks for a final flurry: Sydney boys The Presets, who‘ll be making newwavey . techno noise at Classic Grand (5 Nov) and Liquid Room (6 Nov). and. finally. Mancunian sleazy house tarts The Whip at the Arches (14 Nov).
WIGGER MORTIS
Word up List
I hear sounds of the inner city - ‘urban flavas’, if you will - are very much of the moment, but I wouldn’t know an 81W from SW1. Do tell how I can indulge in some serious ‘rap shit’ this autumn.
Peace out etc,
Torquil, Morningside.
We’re feelin‘ you Torquil. Head to Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom for a dose of Brummie geezer chronicles from The Streets (4 Oct). Follow that up swiftly with a double hit of funky dub and hip hop Roots Manuva style (Liquid Room. 8 Oct; Arches. 9 Oct), and a blast of street-life beat poetry. care of the Hasidically hirsute Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip (Strathclyde Union. 9 Oct). Wind back up a month later with some serious goodness from the GZA (ABC, 12 Nov). he of Wu Tang infamy, some fully automatic grimey rhyming from Diuee Rascal (ABC. 15 Nov). and the dapper get-up, high-rolling rappery and arena sized ego of Kanye West at the SECC (16 Nov).
‘8 Sop—2 Oct 2008 THE LIST 21