We're Only Here For The Banter - Bottle Of Evil

Derek Bates is one of those lovely people who can't seem to stop producing music.  And so is his partner in Evil Steven McGilvary.  Derek puts music out as Evil Hand (see our Scottish Fiction Christmas Shelter EP) and Steven operates under the guise of Bottle Of Steven.  But together they become the shoe-gazed, alternative indie rock force that is Bottle Of Evil.

They hail from Lanarkshire, and put out the joyous 'Inside Looking Out' in October 2011, which received unamionous praise from the blogging community.  It's delicate melodies and post rock sensibilities are such a treat that we hope it's not too long before we see them releasing some new material.  In the meantime have a glance at what the band had to say when we had a little internet chat.

Hello, how are you?

Not bad, cheers for asking

It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?

We like to experiment with instruments and effects, but I'd say our music usually comes back around to folk or dream-pop styles. A recent quote refered to us as being "an exercise in smashing genre norms" - which is flattering as we always try and keep things interesting for ourselves and whoever maybe listening.

Influences-wise it's tough as there are thousands of influences out there for both of us - I suppose the last albums I bought were KC and Jon Hopkins, Martin John Henry and Blouse. But we grew up on a lot of older music such as 60s/70s psychedelia, 80s post-punk and 90s metal too.

What's your song writing process like?

Usually there is very little pre-planned when it comes to recording. We'd maybe get an idea together then meet again a few days later to start recording - realise we've forgotten what we were doing and start something different. After spending years in bands rehearsing and touring this was a chance to try a new approach.

What could we expect to see from a live show?

We have nothing lined up at the moment I'm afraid - maybe towards the end of the year when we start working on the next album.

If it were all to end tomorrow, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?

Back in November we entered a track into the Scotsman Radar Prize, in which we came runner up judged solely on the music - no live shows, meetings or interviews. That kind of recognition and support is achievement enough for us and there are many to thank for that.

What have you got planned for 2012?

We'll be working on our own projects Evil Hand and Bottle of Steven for the first half of the year before returning to the studio and recording the second Bottle of Evil album at the end of the summer. There'll probably be a single put out along the way too.

At Scottish Fiction we focus on new Scottish music, how do you as a band view the Scottish music 'scene'?

The high ratio of great Scottish bands to the output of other countries still baffles me - I think the fact we're isolated up here, don't take ourselves too seriously and are sarcastic miserable bastards provides for some great music.

What other Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?

I'm sure most of you will already know them but I'll throw some out there: Benbecula Records, Martin John Henry, Plum, Capitals, TalkingMakesNoSense, Royal Edinburgh Music, Christ, Monoganon, United Fruit, The Ocassional Flickers, Cheer, Pan, Withered Hand, Brave Little Note, Malcolm Middleton, Call To Mind,

Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?

David Cameron

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