00:00 Okay, are you ready to go?
00:03 Yeah.
00:04 So would you like to introduce yourself?
00:05 My name is Fergus MacReady and I'm a jazz pianist.
00:08 Hey, how you doing?
00:09 My name's Benz and I'm here because my album Nova's Dad has been nominated for the Shortlist
00:14 of the Scottish Album of the Year award.
00:16 My name is Andrew Vasilik.
00:17 I'm Brita Heinbel.
00:18 Hi, I'm Becca Sacasa and I'm super excited to be shortlisted for the SAE award with my
00:23 debut record, 12 Wooden Boxes.
00:25 What's happening?
00:26 My name's Joseph.
00:27 I am Rachel.
00:28 I'm Paul and we play in a band called Cloth.
00:31 Aloysius Massakoy.
00:32 Why are you here today?
00:34 I'm here because last year I won this award, I was very lucky, so I'm here to perform at
00:41 the award and to see who the next winner is.
00:43 So give me an elevator pitch on this album and what it means to you, what it's about,
00:48 that kind of thing.
00:50 It's basically about a boy who became a man because he had a child, you know, and it was
00:55 just like all the feelings that I felt and everything that I felt during the period of
01:00 finding out I was going to be a dad to becoming a dad, you know.
01:03 And that's what the album embodies, you know, it goes through all the feelings from sadness
01:08 to anxiety to the depression to happiness to being grateful and just everything, you
01:13 know.
01:14 So yeah, I hope that's a good pitch.
01:15 So Permanent Damage, the album, it's about like, it's about a breakup.
01:21 It's like a breakup album and sort of how much you lose of yourself when you detach
01:27 from someone else and sort of like grieving for that version of yourself that you kind
01:32 of can't get back anymore.
01:33 But then becoming comfortable with that and realising you don't need them anymore and
01:37 I like this person that I am.
01:39 So the damage is kind of permanent but it doesn't always have to be a bad thing, it
01:43 can just change.
01:44 I think it was like an important album for us, it delved into a lot of stuff that I was
01:50 going through kind of post-Covid and around then and certainly feel better about now.
01:57 And I think the album was kind of part of that, helping me through some stuff.
02:00 And yeah, I'm just proud of the songs on it.
02:02 I think it's a good album.
02:03 It's our first album to come out on Rock Action, Mogwai's label as well.
02:07 So that was a pretty proud thing for us.
02:10 That record means everything to me, to be honest.
02:13 I think, especially when it's your first record, it's just all so exciting and it's such a
02:17 process and you doubt yourself so much along the way.
02:20 And this record is about 12 wooden boxes, it's about the house that I grew up in.
02:26 It's about my family, it's about my mum, it's just so many childhood memories that I connect
02:31 with that and just singing with my siblings.
02:34 An elevator pitch, I've never heard of that but I'll try my best.
02:37 It is a record that started work as a response to the work of photographer Thomas Joshua
02:44 Cooper, specifically the World's Edge exhibition that was on in the National Galleries in Edinburgh.
02:51 And that was the initial seeds.
02:54 I play the Scottish small pipes.
02:56 The album is mainly traditional material, but kind of trying to push the boundaries
03:01 of what that means and what the pipes are.
03:05 The main collaborator on the album was Colin Stetson, who is a saxophonist.
03:11 And from that grew this record.
03:15 And it's sort of like, I suppose it has elements of jazz and neo-classical, not that I would
03:22 ever consider myself anything like a jazz musician or a classical musician.
03:27 However, I kind of straddle these grey areas in between.
03:31 You had a really interesting journey in terms of, you sold out King Tut's without putting
03:36 basically any promo or any songs out, right?
03:39 So tell us a wee bit about how you done that from your perspective.
03:44 Basically I had no money and I just thought it would be hilarious if we sold out a gig
03:50 without putting any music out just to see if we could do it.
03:52 My managers, we had this master plan, just using Instagram and putting clips online.
03:58 I was working in a bar at the time and they worked in Lido and stuff like that, so we
04:01 just pooled all our money together and we were buying little posters in the city centre
04:05 with lyrics and stuff.
04:06 I feel like Glasgow is small enough that it's easy to create a bit of a buzz.
04:11 And it worked.
04:12 And we sold it out, which was f***ing terrifying because then we had to play the gig and nobody
04:16 had heard any of the music.
04:17 But it worked out.
04:18 I'm here, nominated for the Album Award.
04:19 Must have done something right.
04:20 So yeah, a bit of a weird start.
04:24 Coming up from last year then, what has come from the opportunities that this award has
04:28 brought you?
04:29 I think more than anything it's the chance to play a lot of gigs actually.
04:34 And to just play a lot, I think that's the main thing for me.
04:37 I think jazz and the music that we play in the trio is such a thing that develops in
04:43 the live scenarios.
04:44 And the more you can play live, the better I think.
04:46 And having that opportunity to really play live a lot and sort of explore a lot on these
04:50 gigs and stuff, I think it's been really good for us.
04:52 So yeah, I'd say that's the main thing.
04:53 So what is it like playing the Batterlands?
04:55 It's such an iconic venue.
04:56 It's one of the best places to play in the world, hands down.
05:00 Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
05:02 It's one of those.
05:03 I think just the springy floors, the crowd, I think from the cultural aspect of it where
05:11 people go, they see a gig and then they go out after.
05:17 That's just, when you have a culture that does that, it just makes the shows better
05:22 because people are deciding to go to the show because they want to be there and it's part
05:26 of a cultural heritage.
05:30 It's great because you can feel the atmosphere, you can feel the vibe and everybody's just
05:33 like there.
05:34 And it makes you want to give more because they're giving you a lot back.
05:38 So yeah, it's amazing.
05:39 Fergus, tell me a bit more.
05:40 So if you're a jazz fan in Glasgow, where should you go?
05:44 Who should you listen to?
05:45 Well I think, again, it can be quite random, quite disparate where to go.
05:50 The Lay Low concerts at Rumshack is a really good one to check out.
05:55 Or Jazz at the Glad's Cafe is a really nice concert series as well.
05:57 But honestly I think just following the musicians, trying to get to know who, because everyone
06:02 plays with each other as well, so you check out one band and check out who plays in that
06:05 band and then check out who plays in that band.
06:07 Within five or six bands of research you'll know everyone basically.
06:10 So once you kind of know everyone and you're following them and seeing what's happening,
06:14 you'll kind of get a vibe for where the concerts are being.
06:17 Glasgow is Glasgow, isn't it?
06:19 It's a crazy place, do you know what I mean?
06:21 And everything that's happened in the last two years has been in Glasgow.
06:24 The mother of my child is from Glasgow, my daughter was born in Glasgow.
06:27 I live in Glasgow, so it's really now cemented itself as a big place for me, do you know
06:33 what I mean?
06:34 So how would you describe your music in a sense that it is inherently Scottish?
06:41 Well I think I'm obviously a jazz musician by trade, that's what I'm the most into, but
06:46 I've always loved Scottish traditional music so much as well.
06:49 I grew up with that, my mum was a big fan and I played pipes when I was younger so it's
06:53 kind of ingrained in my head and I kind of view it as, it's not like, I try to make it
06:58 as least amount possible of just smashing the two genres together because that doesn't
07:02 sound that natural I think when people do that.
07:04 It's just trying to write what kind of is coming from my head and that does tend to
07:08 be kind of that mix of the two things that I spend like 50 to 50% of my time listening
07:14 to I think so, yeah.
07:15 Would you have helped us to get a drink or eat in Glasgow?
07:17 I'd drink probably Max's bar and then you can go to La Cheetah after it, get a little
07:22 bit of boozy, yeah probably that.
07:24 Where do I like to eat and drink in Glasgow?
07:27 I love all the curry houses in Finistoun, like the Mother India, the Den, like the one
07:32 near the art gallery, I've probably been in there like triple digits.
07:36 Cottonrake Bakery, I'm very much a cafe person so I'm obsessed with cafes, usually in the
07:43 West End or the South Side, I'll probably have been there and I've had lots of coffee
07:47 there.
07:48 Eat and/or drink?
07:49 I was in Gloriosa's not so long ago on Argyle Street, is that right?
07:57 Not too far from Finistoun I believe, probably got that all wrong.
08:00 I really like the old toll bar for kind of like aesthetically it's like really dark and
08:06 dark wood and it feels like you're in an old wooden ship and the cocktails are great and
08:10 you can easily spend like 50 quid like in a few hours.
08:13 Yeah, that's the only down thing about the old toll.
08:16 Come on, we already know this innit?
08:18 I used to be, I'm such a South Sider in Glasgow, I've always been that kind of way and I used
08:22 to live on Skirving Street and I think that, I don't know if you know Piatto on Skirving
08:27 Street, that little pasta place, such an underrated little gem, it's just ridiculous.
08:32 When I lived there I lived like genuinely it was just across the street so the temptation
08:36 to go there every day was really, it's hard to resist that but I love going there and
08:43 I love, I mean there's just the musician haunts for a drink like Block, lots of people go
08:47 to Block or Slouch, a lot of people go there or the Ben Nevis when the folk session's on,
08:52 I love that for a drink as well.
08:54 For food it's got to be Sugo, for drink, I'm a fan of Maxi's, I can't lie, do you know
08:59 what I mean, just because you can like slide downstairs, little two-step and a cheater
09:03 in that, do you know what I mean, life's good that way.
09:05 So yeah, I guess probably it will be Sugo and Maxi's, yeah.
09:08 The Lauriston's good, no that's in the West End, but it's just been sold right?
09:11 Aye, Southside, it's a beautiful, beautiful bar, very 60s, amazing pint of Guinness.
09:17 I love the Glad Cafe as well, as a venue and restaurant and bar as well.
09:22 Potsdale, yeah, quite like the, you know, the old school vibes.
09:30 So if you tell us what's your favourite venue in Glasgow to play?
09:33 Oh man, I'm awful at favourites, too many but the Mac Church is very beautiful.
09:42 It's got to be SWG Free Warehouse, Poetry Club is also good too, small, intimate, sweaty,
09:47 you know what I mean.
09:49 I love the Macintosh Church actually, the Queen's Cross one, that's really, really great
09:54 actually, I love playing in there, I've played there three times I think and every time it's
09:58 like really great, super great vibe in the room, they've got a really nice piano which
10:02 makes a big difference.
10:03 I don't know, it's sort of like a real concert venue but there's no pretension or stuffiness
10:07 about it but it is beautiful, you know, it's like a really good mix of attributes I think.
10:12 I think it's got to be Macintosh Church, it's quite nice acoustic.
10:17 Yeah big up SWG Free man, King Tut's too, oh flip.
10:22 I mean I've been lucky enough to play the Barlands, that's a really holy venue for musicians,
10:32 yeah, I'll leave it at those two.
10:37 Can I just name every single one of them, do you know what I mean?
10:39 Like Stereo is good, nah, nah, nah, I'll leave it as that because we'll be here for a long
10:44 time you know, but yeah.
10:46 Last question, where is your favourite place in Glasgow, what's your favourite scheme in
10:49 Glasgow?
10:50 Scheme?
10:51 Gaffam, Jit, I'm from Jit so Gaffam at Young Team, Gaffam that's where I'm from, where
10:56 are you from, you from Glasgow?
10:57 Bushy mate.
10:58 Nah, I'm not that, nah I'm definitely Gaffam, like through and through, Gaffam I'm proud.
11:03 Wow we're going deep.
11:09 Oh it's got to be Govan Hill man, that's where it's at, that's where life is, when I first
11:14 moved to Glasgow I stayed in Pollock Shields innit, and I was always in G Hill, that's
11:20 culture right there.
11:23 Anderson, is that a huge fan?
11:26 Anderson yeah, that's a deep bill yeah, it's between the City Centre and the Festival,
11:31 what do you love about Anderson so much?
11:34 When I was first playing music in Glasgow I played a lot of shows in Bardrell, so that
11:42 was in my early days, cutting my teeth and all that.
11:46 The Southside.
11:47 I think the Southside as an entity is where we spend a lot of time, like Govan Hill or
11:53 Shawlands really nice, and we went to uni, the West End's good but I feel like I'd rather
11:59 hang about in Shawlands now, or maybe Govan Hill.
12:02 A lot more going on.
Comments