aLCATRAZkIDz is the moniker of one Graeme Kerr, a singer songwriter from Paisley. Influenced by the power rock of Foo Fighters, Wings and The Beatles, aLCATRAZkIDz creates catchy melodies in his songs. Graeme was kind enough to have a chat to us. Read what he had to say below.
Hello, how are you?
I'm fine thank you.
It's the question everyone hates, but could you tell us a little bit about your music and your influences?
I describe my music as driving melodic power pop rock with killer riffs and catchy hooks. It's also very dynamic like an audio roller coaster ride. I have a wide range of influences from Foo Fighters, The Beatles, Biffy Clyro, Ben Folds, Billy Joel and pretty much anything that catches my interest and ear.
What's your song writing process like?
It varies but 9 times out of 10 I get a melody first with a first few lines and then I slave over the lyrics to get them to make sense to the first line. I like my lyrics to make a bit of sense and maybe have a theme or story going through it.
What could we expect to see from a live show?
An energetic and powerful performance and a bit of banter in between. I sometimes play solo acoustic shows and I use a looper to make the performance more interesting and dynamic and fill out the sound a bit. It's all about dynamics for me. Keeping it interesting for the people watching and listening.
If it were all to end tomorrow, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?
Difficult one to answer. Musically, probably just setting up my band and getting out there on my own after being in other people's bands playing their music and not mine. Simple, but difficult.
What have you got planned for 2012?
I have a few gigs coming up, one in the 13th Note in April, one in Paisley in October for the Paisley Music Festival and a few in between. I have entered the band into T Break this year and we are in talks with HMV to possibly sell our EP in their Scottish stores and hopefully play in a showcase gig in Glasgow as part of the promotion for the HMV thing.
At Scottish Fiction we focus on new Scottish music, how do you as a band view the Scottish music 'scene'?
Its very healthy and very competitive. Lots of really talented people, playing great music. Where I come from, Paisley, there is a lot of really good bands and solo artists, but a severe lack of places to play which I think is a shame, considering the talent Paisley has produced over the years.
What other Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?
There is a band from Johnstone called Dirty Sally who I really like and Majestic Dandelions are another favourite of mine. Both well worth a listen or going to see live.
Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?
Did you hear what happened to the short sighted circumsizer?
He got the sac!
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