We're starting 2014 with loads of activity, including a totally LOUD effort at the
Wee Red Bar on 1 Feb with 2 fine Glaswegian bands,
sonic hearts foundation and
Inuit. It's been a wee while since either played in Edinburgh, so we asked them to introduce themselves for you…
Tell us about Inuit?
We are Chris, Darren and Andy and we're from all over Scotland but based in Glasgow. We had originally planned for Inuit to be a side project but we started working on this band properly around late 2012 and signed with Good Grief Records around that time who helped us put out our first EP in March 2013, which is up for free download from our Bandcamp because we're nice guys.
How would you describe your sound?
We would describe the band as "atmospheric post rock". Originally we had planned to go down a more ambient vibe but the songs we came up with didn't really fit with that label and that's the closest we've come to defining it. We're influenced by bands like Hammock, This Will Destroy You, Sigur Ros and Joy Division to name a few and we use a lot of electronic backing and drum loops. We also don't have a bass player.
When did you last play Edinburgh?
The last time we played Edinburgh was in early 2013 with our label mates Bianca at Jekyll & Hyde. I think it was only our second or third ever gig and we had a lot of fun playing it. We've always loved playing in Edinburgh from the previous bands we've been in so we're looking forward to making the trip again.
Talk about pedals for a bit?
We really like pedals. Chris' current chain is Boss TU-3 > MXR Dynacomp > Fredrick Effects Green Russian (A lovely hand wired Soviet Big Muff clone) > EHX Big Muff Pi with Wicker > EHX Nano Clone > Boss DD-20 > Mooer Shimverb > EHX Cathedral and Darren's is Fender PT-100 > EHX Big Muff Pi with Wicker > EHX LPB-1 > EHX Micro Pog > Boss DD-20 > Strymon Blue Sky which sounds like a chorus of angels tears > EHX Freeze and we're always swapping other pedals in and out. Andy uses a kick pedal and we don't belive in hi-hats.
What are your plans for 2014?
There's a lot planned so far. We'll be going on tour at some point all over Scotland with our friends in Bianca, we're gearing up towards recording our next record and we've just been announced as support for The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die in Glasgow around April which is pretty huge for us since we're all fans of that band so hopefully more good stuff like that will come up. There's also a movie coming out at some point this year with one of our songs on the soundtrack which will be cool to see. Other than that it's going to be all about playing shows and seeing what happens.
Tell us about SHF?
We are a four piece band hailing from Glasgow. We’ve been gigging for a bit now and just recently released our debut EP ‘Into Forever’. We’ve all known each other for years, Thomas and Brian are brothers and we’ve and been thrilled as Boab our bass player has rejoined the band! He was a founding member but went off travelling, since getting back home circumstances have transpired that have brought us back together as a solid unit!
How would you describe your sound?
Our sound has been described by others using a variety of terms such as shogaze, psychedelic and electronic but I think the best way to describe it would be with the umbrella term ‘Alternative Indie’. We have a fair arsenal of songs now and overall we’ve always made a conscious effort to push forward and avoid repeating ourselves too much. Its meant that we’ve managed to explore a good few different sounds and styles so far in our songs but at the same time made that diversity a key unifying factor of our ‘sound’. The thing with us is we get bored very easily so are constantly aiming to try new things, not to an extreme or anything but just in terms of song structures, lyrics, guitar sounds and that sort of thing. One of our biggest fears from day one was being another one of those bands who songs all sound the same! Hopefully we’ve managed to sidestep that pitfall. In fact in regards to our EP track listing, we did have various options for what songs we could have put together but we chose the four we did purposely because they are all so different and each represent the different elements of our sound.
When did you last play Edinburgh?
Last time we played was at an Oxjam festival event a couple of months back. It happened to be Boab's first gig back in the band so it will be good to get back through for this gig at The Wee Red Bar. We’ve played there once before and its a pretty cool venue with a great sound. Also really looking forward to checking out Wozniak and Inuit, it's always good to get together with like minded bands!
Talk about pedals for a bit?
Ah pedals! Where to begin! Haha. We are pretty obsessed with pedals to be honest. There’s not really any way we could do what we do without them. Reverb and delay are our foundations. We started incorporating a drum machine into some of our new songs and this has meant that all four members of the band now now have our own reverb pedal! Brian is the real powerhouse in the band when it comes to effects, his pedalboard is a bit of a beast and always gets a lot of attention at gigs. We love the fact that there is endless possibilities with what can be done with pedals, you can get some really interesting sounds and use them to really compliment songs in a variety of ways. Boss and Electro Harmonix are the two big ones but Brian also has a few pedals by people like TC Electronic and Carl Martin As well as reverb and delay we tend to use things like the Super Shifter, Freeze pedal, Synth pedal and we even started experimenting with a sequencer pedal at our last rehearsal!
What are your plans for 2014?
We got some really good press around our EP release and the plan is to use 2014 to push on and build upon that. We plan to release a series of singles this year. The first of these will be a new track ‘Afterlife’ which is recorded and currently being mixed. We plan to release that in the coming months. The idea is that our EP was a sort of snapshot of our sound as a whole and our new upcoming singles will be more of an insight into what we have to offer. Hopefully we should be getting out on the road as well in 2014 to promo these singles. Our next Glasgow gig will be supporting Chris Karloff’s band (formerly of Kasabian) Black Onassis in Nice N Sleazy’s on 1st March, so hopefully 2014 should hold more of the same.
