It seems like recently all the bands I've interviewed for the blog have been from our fair countries capital. So rather than buck the trend, I've decided to continue it! Edinburgh 5 piece Trapped Mice
released an EP 'Waving And Pointing' earlier this year. Rocking a melodic folky beat throughout, it's a lovely little number. Ian from the band took some time to answer a few questions. Have a gander below.
Hello, how are you?
Fine thanks. Been better, been worse. Beat up, run down, high on life, buzzing my tits off. How are you?
Aye no bad thanks! Tell us a little bit about your music and influences.
It's a bit of a mixture really. Loud songs with lots of noise and guitars and shouting, and quieter acoustic tinkly ones, but mainly somewhere in between. We all come from fairly different backgrounds musically so I guess there'll be a few influences lurking about down there. The last few months I've been listening to lots of Red House Painters, Low, Grandaddy, and I think that might have had some impact on a couple of our more recent songs, with longer instrumental passages and slow builds etc.
Scotland has a thriving music scene. How do you find being a part of that?
Fab.
Which Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?
Plastic Animals! The Scottish Enlightenment! They're two of my personal faves, just off the top of my head. Also I'm a huge fan of Wounded Knee and Withered Hand, and I know there's a lot of love for those two guys in the rest of the band.
What is your songwriting process like?
Normally I'll have a song pretty much finished before I take it to the others for them to work their magic, sometimes with just a vague structure and sometimes a bit more padded out with different parts and everything. It was only fairly recently I conceded that it was perhaps not enough to write a song and unleash it on the public for everyone to appreciate its innate worth, and that it was probably best to try and make it sound good first.
You had an EP 'Waving And Pointing' out earlier this year that got some rather nice reviews. How did that feel?
Did it?? That's nice. I'm not sure they listened to it properly. What about the shit sandwich review? (Or was that our first EP?) Available in all good retailers! (called Avalanche)
What could we expect to see/hear from your live shows?
See: flailing limbs, dropped picks, wincing band members
Hear: kicked-out leads, forgotten words, shredding, slap bass, Latino spirit, snore-core, tribal rhythms
What does the rest of 2011 hold for you?
Recording! We're busy recording our first proper full-length album, which is exciting. We're doing it all ourselves on my laptop , which should be interesting given our lack of technical knowhow or indeed talent. Luckily we plan on finding someone who knows what they're doing to sort out the mess afterwards; Alex at Swanfield studios has done an amazing job mastering the first couple of tracks so I'm sure we'll end up with something at least half listenable.
What's been your biggest achievement so far?
Achieving the unachievable. Obtaining the unobtainable. Bridging the gulf, filling the void, slaying the dragon and saving the princess. Eating the killer curry. Smelling what's selling.
Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Trapped.
Trapped who?
Trapped Mice.
Oh.
Check out Trapped Mice's Facebook page, Soundcloud page, Bandcamp page, and follow those lovely guys and gals on Twitter too. Have a wee listen to 'Beauty And The Beast' below as well. Go on, go on, go on.
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