We're Only Here For The Banter - Adam Holmes & The Embers

Adam Holmes is a Scottish singer/songwriter who, backed by his band The Embers, are in the process of creating contemporary folk music with a fresh slice of pop. With a new EP, 'The Long Way Home' out on 28th July, Adam took some time out to have a chat with us here at Scottish Fiction.

Hello. How the devil are you?

Very well thank you.

Tell us a little about your music and your influences.

I’m a Scottish, singer-songwriter. I would say my songs have a definite folk influence but they vary in musical style across the board. I am influenced by too many to mention. I always think that travelling, gigging, meeting
people and having new experiences is the best way to stay inspired and productive.

Scotland has a thriving music scene. How do you find being a part of that?

It’s a great thing. There’s always lots of amazing stuff going on if you know where to look and there’s a lot of committed people (including youself!)* who are doing great work publicising and promoting Scottish music and bands. I love loads of what’s going on at the moment. It’s helpful in terms of putting gigs on as you can easily find other acts/bands of a similar ilk to work with.

*You're too kind!

You have a new EP 'The Long Way Home' out on 28th July, tell us a wee bit about that.

It’s a 3-track E.P. of some of our slower songs. We’re all really happy with it and very excited to get it out. All the feedback on it so far has been fantastic and we’ve had good radio support from Jim Gellatly and his
colleagues at Amazing Radio plus Janice Forsyth on Radio Scotland and that’s even before it‘s been released. In turn we’re hoping that this will translate into bigger and better gigs and keep things moving up the way.

You've had a lot of support from the folk music community, including a live session for Folk Radio UK. Folk music and folk influenced music is riding a wave of popularity at the moment. What's your own views on that?

It’s brilliant to see lots of different people starting to get into the folk thing. I reckon it’s almost gone full circle because everything in music became so produced as of late that people are now wanting to hear more raw, natural sounding music. It’s an exciting time for it.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

That’s a very difficult question to answer. It’s all relative to loads of different things but I’d say my 2011 Radio 2 Folk Award nomination was up there. Attending the awards ceremony in London where I got to meet a few heroes of mine was a very humbling experience to say the least.

Tell us a little about about your songwriting process.

I write mainly in my head till I can get to a pen and paper. Songs never usually come at a convenient time. Generally the melody and the words come at the same time. I always seem to find out what the songs are about a few months after I’ve written them, I never sit down and tell myself I’m going to write about a specific thing. I think it’s cool to try and use as many different instruments as possible, it helps to keep things fresh.

What could we expect to see/hear from your live shows?

Just us playing the best we can. I like being at the stage we’re at because you have to prove yourself at every gig. It’s exciting winning people over at a gig where no-one knows who you are.

Speaking of live shows, what does the second half of the year hold for you?

Well we have our EP launch gig at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on the 28th of July and that’s shaping up to be a brilliant night as we’ve got an incredible singer/songwriter called Donna Maciocia as our special guest. After that we’ve got a bit of an August break before doing the Southern Gathering which is a new festival in Peebles on the 4th of September plus a headline at The One Below, Edinburgh on the 30th September for Woosh Entertainments.

One thing we really want to do is to work with a core of other acts/bands like Donna and host our own gigs to build a bigger following as far afield as possible and with the way things are with the internet and all the social media sites there are great opportunities around to create a buzz in advance of a gig or tour. It’s exciting times!

Thanks very much for speaking to us. Would you care to share a joke with the Scottish Fiction readers?

You are most welcome. I don’t think any of my jokes are suitable but there’s always plenty to laugh about.

You can check out more of Adam Holmes & The Embers on Facebook and Soundcloud. Have a listen to the wonderful preview track from the new EP 'Home' below.

Home by Adam Holmes & The Embers