Why Blogger? - Scottish Fiction

Yah! New feature!

Regular readers of the blog will know that I often have little chats with Scottish musicians in my 'We're Only Here For The Banter' feature.  In fact most blogs that you'll frequent will have something similar.

Whilst it's always great to chat to the artists who make this blog possible, wouldn't it be nice to have the boot on the other foot? 'Why Blogger?' is a delve into the murky underworld of blogging?  We are strange creatures, who turn over our free time to promoting music that quite often would not get the time of day, hap-hazardly reviewing music and gigs.  Ah it's a tough old life.  But seriously I thought it would be interesting to know a little bit about the people who make up the blogging community.  Starting with me.

Hello, how are you?

Very well thanks, just had my tea.

Sum up your blog in 140 character tweet.

On the blog I post interviews, reviews, news and other things ending in 'ews'. I also talk nonsense and play new Scottish music on the radio.

There's little (if any) monetary gain in blogging. Why do you do it?

This is a question I get asked by my wife repeatedly as she goes to bed and I'm still battering away at the keyboard (now none of that!).  And the cliched answered I suppose is because music is something that I've always been passionate about.  And when it became apparent that I possess as much musical talent as a juiced lemon, then this seemed an appropriate way to stay 'involved'.

You know that feeling when you're talking about music you like and people stare at you slack-jawed and ask "who?"  I got fed up of that feeling, and although I'm savvy enough to realise it's a drop in the ocean, one of the main reasons I started doing my radio show was to bring some much needed alternative music to the radio. 

And lastly I guess if I'm being honest, it's an ego thing.  It would be absolutely fantastic if I could do this as a full time job, but for the time being I'm happy enough if people actually read what I've written or listen to a band I've recommended.

Allow yourself some self praise, what's your proudest blog related moment?

As I said above I get goose pimples by seeing that someone is actually reading the blog or listening to the show.  Particular highlights include:

RM Hubbert coming on the Scottish Fiction radio show (Shameless plug but listen to that here)
Raising £108 for Shelter with my Christmas EP

You're on a plane and the only in-flight movie is Maid In Manhatten. What do you take to

Listen to: At the moment I am LOVING Happy Particles album 'Under Sleeping Waves'.

Read: I'm a huge comic book geek, and have recently bought 'Castro' by Reinhard Kleist which is a biography of Fidel Castro in graphic novel form.

Watch: I'd love to see the Ian Curtis biopic 'Control' again, so I'll choose that.

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

How much time have you got? Clearly I think Scotland is blessed with musical talent, so here's a smattering of suggestions both old and new, which I'm sure you've already listened to.

PAWS, The Spook School, Michael Cassidy, Errors, Remember Remember, Endor, The Moth And The Mirror, Boards Of Canada, Idlewild, Mogwai, Meursault, Shambles Miller, Camera Obscura and Happy Particles.

Do you write your blog with an audience in mind, or do you blog about what's on your mind?

I tend to write in the style that I would like to read.  Ever the self critic I don't think I quite achieve this.  In regards to content, I have made a vow for 2012 to become more structured with what I post.  Time shall tell...

What do you think blogs bring to the music 'scene'?

Support. As we all know with the ill advised proposals of the BBC regarding BBC Introducing, there's an ever increasing need to champion and support local music.  I also think (although I may be wrong on this one) that it can give encouragement to artists to keep going when they see blogs championing their cause.

As a reader, what blog(s) do you frequent?

Truth be told it was the blog of Mr Jim at Ayetunes that got me into blogging.  I also check out Peenko, Kowalskiy, The Pop Cop, Favourite Son, Tidal Wave Of Indifference and Song, By Toad regularly.

Thanks very much for talking to us. Would you care to end with a joke?

What do you call a fat laptop?

A Dell.