First up to bat in the
'Why Blogger' feature is Lloyd Meredith from
Peenko. Lloyd is a busy man, as when not putting out great content on his blog, he also co-runs
Olive Grove Records, puts on gigs, and has also recently ressurected
Peenko Records. Here's a peek inside Peenko's head.
Hello, how are you?
Not too bad, not too bad at all.
Sum up your blog in 140 character tweet.
The ramblings of an idiot, mixed in with sensible words from artists.
There's little (if any) monetary gain in blogging. Why do you do it?
I often ask myself the same question. I guess I have always wanted to be involved with music in some way and seeing as I have no musical talent, blogging allowed me to be part of something that I love.
Allow yourself some self praise, what's your proudest blog related moment?
That's a tough question, so many crazy things have happened since I started the blog. What from starting a label, presenting radio shows, being asked to appear on music industry panels and that's just the tip of the iceberg. But out of everything I've been involved with putting on gigs has been the most enjoyable part of it all. The first Aytunes vs Peenko gig with Kid Canaveral, Mitchell Museum and Campfires in Winter is still one of the greatest nights ever for me.
You're on a plane and the only in-flight movie is Maid In Manhatten. What do you take to:
Listen to: Maid in Manhattan
Read: The in flight magazines guide to find out more about Maid in Manhattan
Watch: Maid in Manhattan/for the air hostess to get more drink
What Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?
Off the top of my head PAWS, State Broadcasters, Randolph's Leap and PET
Do you write your blog with an audience in mind, or do you blog about what's on your mind?
I used to write as if I was writing solely for my friend Jamie, but that was a long time ago. Now I just tend to ramble in the hope that someone might give a shit
What do you think blogs bring to the music 'scene'?
A collective sense of support, when I first started it was really only The Pop Cop and Song, By Toad that were posting regularly about Scottish music. Now it really feels as if a new blog starts every week, which I guess just shows what a strong scene Scotland has at the moment. There's so much great music, so we need more folk out there covering it.
As a reader, what blog(s) do you frequent?
I try to read all of my fellow Scottish music blogs, I would list them all but I'd undoubtedly miss folk off. Have a look at my blogroll and you'll get a good idea of what I've been reading.
Thanks very much for talking to us. Would you care to end with a joke?
As a young boy, Joe was completely obsessed with tractors. He had pictures of tractors all over his bedroom walls; he had tractor toys, tractor T-shirts, a tractor carpet, and duvet cover, the whole works. He ate, drank and slept tractors. On his 17th birthday he was thrilled to get an invitation to go to a tractor factory nearby and test-drive a brand new tractor.
His excitement was incredible as he told his family and friends. The great day came and he went to the factory for the test-drive. Unfortunately something went terribly wrong with the tractor when Joe was driving it and it flipped over, trapping and breaking Joe's leg and fracturing his skull.
He was so upset and tried to sue the tractor company for negligence. But the company would have none of it and told there was no liability and he could get lost!
You can imagine he was very annoyed with tractors after this and vowed to shed them from his life completely and forever.
All the posters came down, the toys were given away - tractors were GONE.
Many years later, Joe went into a bar for a drink. Inside, the cigarette and cigar smoke was terrible but through it he saw a beautiful girl seated at the bar on her own. Tears were streaming down her face.
Joe asked her what was wrong and she said that the smoke was making her eyes sting and stream with tears.
With that, Joe looked around and then took a huge breath, sucking in all the smoke. He then walked outside into the car park and blew all the smoke out again. He goes back into the bar where the air is now clear and sweet and sits down next to the girl.
"That was amazing!" she said, "How did you do that?"
"No problem", said Joe
"I'm an ex-tractor fan"
Check out Peenko's blog here
