Sprawled across the Scottish landscape, from Caithness to Edinburgh, are Maydays. Confidently making melodic pop tunes, the band have got new material planned for this year. Drummer Darren took some time to answer a few quick questions.
Hello, how are you?
Grand thanks. Fed and read to be questioned.
It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?
No problem. Its a strange one for us. Most of our band are in love with The Band more than any other band but we don't write songs like them or sound anything like them. I would still say were heavily influenced by them though. There are 6 of us and we all love many of the same bands but we each like completely different things aswell. So I would say we're somewhere in that new indie bracket that we all share a common interest in but the style of each instrument comes from what were each listening to and thats ever changing.
What's your song writing process like?
Like no other! We're divided between central and northern Scotland. Most of us write. We record these horrendous demos in a very basic chords/melody fashion. We email them to each other. Give our opinions and ideas. And then eventually we get together and turn them into something similar to finished songs. We've been playing together for some time now and it usually comes together pretty fast. If it's taking too long then it usual wont get finished. We're not ones to slave over a song. We're hoping to change things a little and experiment more with sounds now. So we're gonna take a little more time with each idea.
What could we expect to see from a live show?
In and out. We usually have a 6 song rule. The aim is not to bore people. We want them to remember the first song by the time they've heard the last.
If it were all to end tomorrow, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?
The travel expenses we received for playing the Opening of Scottish Parliament last year. Did you know it's 289 miles from John O'Groats to the foot of the Royal Mile? And it takes 3 cars to transport 6 people and a massive organ.
What have you got planned for 2012?
Quite a few things. We hope to be playing a few small festivals this year and play more gigs in general. We're very busy emailing each other demos just now and have been meeting to write as we plan to record an EP at Chem 19 in April-ish time. Hopefully we'll release that in the summer. We're also releasing a single on the brand new Edinburgh label Feast Records in March. That launch is in Cabaret Voltaire on the 2nd March.
At Scottish Fiction we focus on new Scottish music, how do you as a band view the Scottish music 'scene'?
Currently it's brilliant. Hard to tell when you don't live in one of the Cities. But from here, what we've heard makes us proud.
What other Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?
We've always loved an Edinburgh band called Miyagi. We've been listening to the Bwani Junction album a bit. The Imagineers have some great songs and are a great live band. Tango in the Attic have lost a member but are doing some new stuff with a new sound. The Merrylees. Run/Lucky/Free. Paws. It's hard to think on the spot!
Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?
Whats the difference between Walt Disney and Bing Crosby? Bing sings and Walt Disney.
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