Exposure: Blue Sky Archives

(L-R: Ross, Lauren, Matt, Paul, Pete)

Blue Sky Archives seem to be the words on everyones lips at the moment and, as usual, I'm behind the rest of the blogosphere in featuring this cracking post-rock/pop five piece from Glasgow. Peenko, Kowalskiy and the lovely Wull Swales of Define Pop have all featured the band at some point or another as have For Folk's Sake where someone lazily compared BSA to Paramore. So I'll avoid a long winded introduction and any dodgy comparisons and let the band introduce themself.

"I croon, play percussion and synth." says Lauren. "Paul croons and plays guitar. Pete plays bass and acts as the 'producer' type person (hello, free recording!). Ross plays kit, percussion and bits of synth but refuses to croon. Ever. Under any circumstances. Matt plays guitar and croons in the background, but has just run off to Japan for six months, so a very lovely man called Dave is pretending to be him in the meantime. Thanks, Dave."

While I can safely say they sound nothing like Paramore, I wondered how the band them self would describe their music. "It can be pretty tough to describe your own music without the usual genre-centric jargon and cloying comparisons" explains Paul. "I would just say that we write really simple soulful pop songs, and then play them in as raucous and rousing a way as possible. Loads of percussion, loads of vocals, loads of guitars, and loads of fun." Lauren isn't entirely sure either, "Whenever people ask that question, we always give the stock answer 'post-rock pop' but it's been described in a bunch of ways. Whether it's indie or folky or whatever else, there's definitely a melodic base to it, with lots of harmonies and rhythms because that's what we're good at".

With a lot of experience and an impressive list of previous bands such as Dance Lazarus Dance, Titus Gein, Boyfriend/Girlfriend, Dead or American and Holy Mountain, Blue Sky Archives are by no means newcomers to the music scene. However, Lauren felt she needed a change, "I used to play drums in a band that died a death and wanted to try something new" she tells me. "Paul and Matt were also bandless and Pete and Ross wanted to try playing something different to the other bands they're in, so we all stumbled together at the end of last year."

Paul elaborates, "Each of us within the band have a very definite need to be musically creative. We must have collectively been involved in enough musical projects to start a scene in itself, so we were pretty familiar with each other as friends and peers before starting BSA." he explains. "The band was born out of a few initial songs and the process of finding the right people to do them justice. The line-up was finalised around December last year and we haven't looked back since then. It feels very natural making music together, like we've been at it for years."

As far as influences go, each band member's personal taste helps keep the band grounded and accesible and combines to form a healthy and refreshing mix. "The things that influence each of us in terms of how we write or play our instruments probably sound horrifying when all put together, but I suppose that's part of the fun." says Lauren. "I'm a big fan of people like Sleater-Kinney, Dirty Projectors and Broken Social Scene but the others never let me go full-on girl rock, which is probably a good thing, if only to preserve their manliness."

"Don't let Lauren fool you, she's more of a man than any of us." adds Paul. "She's right though, our influences are pretty diverse as musicians and as people, and I suppose we're all a product of our influences separately. I reckon that's the biggest strength of this band. If we were all brought up on the same music we'd be pretty one-dimensional but it's quite the contrary and it shows in our music. I've been pretty much steeped in a combination of Scandinavian ambiance (Sigur Ros, Efterklang, Album Leaf, etc.) and American indie (Cursive, Rilo Kiley, Elliott Smith) for my whole adult life and I unavoidably play and write in that style. The rest of the gang have their own individual musical heritage though and it only adds to the mix"

Having released their impressive, self-titled, debut EP back in April, Blue Sky Acrhives have already proved they have a knack for writing beautiful, melodic pop/rock. So how does a wealth of experience and such an eclectic mix of influences combine during the song writing process? "It's developed a bit as time has gone on." explains Lauren. "Paul had written a bunch of material before the band which made up much of the early tunes in the set. But since we became a full band everyone has been bringing ideas to the table, writing songs in different ways and finding different formats." Lauren explains further, "Usually we'll come up with a basic soundscape, then add some vocals to see where the emphasis is going to go. With 'Crash Your Face', it was only really once we found the gang vocal hook that we knew where we wanted it to go. That was a nice moment."

As with all my other Exposure artists, I asked Lauren if there were any unsigned or unknown Scottish artists she had been enjoying recently. "I'm dead keen on Meursault (what pipes) and Young Fathers (what beats) but they're both becoming more reknowned, and rightly so! More locally, Stomachs have some pretty sweet guitar jams."

So what does the rest of 2010 have in store for Blue Sky Archives? "We've just finished recording another EP (thanks, Pete) so will be putting that out after summer. We've got some Scottish shows lined up over the next couple of months and are playing at a festival in Belgium in October too with some English/European dates round about, so are brushing up on our languages."

Blue Sky Archives' debut EP is available now from Bandcamp.



You can also find BSA on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and LastFM.

Exposure: Jack James

The list of my favourite Scottish singer/songwriters is as long as my arm - and I have very long arms. From Beerjacket to Panda Su, Shambles Miller to Anna Meldrum and many more in between, there's now another addition to that list - Jack James.

Armed with powerful, impassioned lyrics, a knack for storytelling and a surprisingly mature voice which never fails to strike an emotional chord, his brand of lo-fi, folk music is one that evokes a smile as much as it tugs at the heart strings.

"I think the songs I've written are pretty much lyrically-driven with quite simple arrangements" explains Jack. "For example, a lot of songs are just vocals and guitar. In the description of the latest album there's a part that says it's not party music, I think that's a fair description."

It may not be music to swing your cat to but it's certainly music that's able to resonate with its listeners.

"It’s great if people can relate to my songs, although I got one comment recently from someone who listened to the first two songs of the new album but couldn’t listen to any more. He said I was talking about things that were from a totally different life from his and that it was dark, disturbing and he couldn’t relate to it."

I wondered if Jack saw this as criticism. "I took that as a compliment actually because I like to read and listen to stuff like that, from different perspectives from your own. Music should be able to connect with people regardless of their backgrounds or perspectives."

With such an educated and open-minded outlook on life, it'll come as no surprise that Jack has a way with words that most people could only wish for. "I’m not sure if everyone actually listens to lyrics these days, but the people that do probably want to hear interesting stories or phrases and not cliché-ridden shit that’s thrown together just because it rhymes; at least that’s the kind of music I like listening to."

As far as his influences go, a mix of young and old help to inspire his music. "I listen to a variety of music, but in terms of what influences my songwriting I'd say contemporary artists like Damien Jurado, Elliott Smith and Bon Iver would rank near the top. I'm also a huge fan of Neil Young, he's probably my main influence if I was naming names, and of course Bob Dylan, who I just seen live a few days ago which was fantastic."

"Generally I'll get an idea on the guitar for a chord progression or a melody and lyrics will enter my head at that stage." says Jack on his method of songwriting. "I like to finish the song and record it as quickly as possible, though some songs will take a few months to write and others will be completed and recorded in a day or two, it varies. I also record live takes and try to capture the song when it's still fresh and newly written because I think there's a noticeably different feel to that."

"I try to be unique in what I write." Jack explains. "Occasionally I'll get an idea and I'll get excited because I think it will be a good song, then realise half-way through writing it that it's actually the same chords and melody to a Neil Young song or something. I try and avoid clichéd lyrics as I really cringe at a lot of the lyrics in a lot of songs these days. I also try and avoid choruses for the sake of choruses whilst not strictly following any structures; I just try and write how I think the song should sound and flow."

Jack released his second album, Quarter-life Crisis, back in May and it appears to be a step in the right direction following his impressive and well recieved debut, Lights off, headphones on. "Well the biggest change for the new album has got to be the additional instrumentation. I also think the songs are a bit more melodic. When I was writing and recording the first album I was getting into a lot of musicians that were new to me and discovering what type of music it was that I wanted to write, so I think those influences show. I also learned a lot more about singing from the first to second album and seem to have resolved to a certain accent now that feels quite natural to me."

I noticed Jack had been pretty quiet on the gig front of late. "I played at King Tuts a couple of weeks ago but you’re right, before that there wasn’t much. When I’m writing and recording I tend not to book gigs because I’m occupied with everything involved in that."

So, any plans for gigging soon? "Nothing is scheduled at the moment but I think I’ll be playing some shows around Glasgow in a month or so."

As an independent musician from Glasgow, I wondered what Jack made of the Scottish music scene. "The Scottish music scene is quite strange to me sometimes" he explains. "Even the artists that are huge within it, the average guy on the street has no idea who they are. So I’m a big fan of artists like Malcolm Middleton and De Rosa and I listen to them quite a lot, I think more people should."

I couldn't agree more.

"I think a lot of people are realising that they don’t need a record label to release music these days, so I admire guys like Beerjacket who self-release. I guess you could call him unsigned, but that term may be irrelevant in the future."

Any plans for the rest of the year?

"Well 2010 is half-way through but at the same time, it’s a bit early to tell. I released the first album in May 2009 and Quarter-life Crisis in May 2010 so if someone was extrapolating this then they might say there’s a very good chance of an album in May 2011."

So is there? "If you were to ask me I’d say that’s a bit unrealistic but we’ll see what happens. I’ve had my longest break in writing for quite a while so it may be good to get back to it soon, though I’m not going to force or rush anything. Hopefully there will be a few more gigs too."


Quarter-life Crisis is available now as a 'name your price' download from Bandcamp.



You can also download Jack's debut album from his Bandcamp page.




As well as Bandcamp, you can find Jack James on MySpace, Twitter and Last.fm.

Exposure: beneath us, the waves

I am a huge fan of classical music, particularly modern minimalist and ambient. My love for this genre began back in 2005 when I found a copy of Ágætis byrjun in a Woolworths bargain bin. Having never heard of Sigur Rós, I decided to buy the album based on the album artwork and the £3 price tag and I can safely say it was the best choice I have made to date. This opened up so many new doors, leading me to discover artists such as Olafur Arnalds, Ludovico Einaudi, Jonsi & Alex and Seabear to name but a few. But recently (as recent as little over an hour ago) a Warsaw based, Scottish artist was brought to my attention.

Neil Milton is a name you may recognise, whether it be as one half of the photographic collaboration We Sink Ships or as founder of record label Too Many Fireworks but what you may not know (you probably will, I fear I'm way behind everyone else on this one) is that he composes music under the moniker beneath us, the sea. Heavily influenced by a variety of Iceland's ambient artists, his music evokes emotion through beautiful arrangements and stunning instrumentation. Each piece fills your head with images of vast landscapes and spectacular scenery, making it the perfect visual music. It's easy to see why he was asked to score music for the Glasgow Tramway theatre to accompany a promo video. He is also working on strings accompaniments for a few Scottish bands, most notably for The Kays Lavelle front man, Euan McMeeken's solo EP which is due to be released later in the Spring.

As I mentioned earlier, Neil currently lives in Warsaw however he is returning to Scotland very soon to make a few live appearances in Glasgow and Edinburgh. beneath us, the sea will be accompanied by a live string quartet and will be playing in Edinburgh at the Wee Red Bar on the 30th of March with Euan McMeeken and The Japanese War Effort. On the 1st of April he'll be moving across to Glasgow to play a show for the Elba Studios folk at their Elba Sessions Presents... event at the Liquid Ship before playing a headline gig at Stereo on the 12th of April which will also feature The Last Battle and Maple Leaves. Neil also tells me there will be a beneath us, the waves and Maple Leaves collaboration that night.

I thank Neil Milton for getting in touch with Scottish Scribbler and introducing me to his wonderful music. I am now very excited for his final Glasgow show at Stereo and urge you all to toddle along before Mr Milton takes beneath us, the waves back to Warsaw.


Elegy For Tramway by beneathusthewaves

Click here to listen to beneath us, the waves. You can also click here to listen on SoundCloud.
Too Many Fireworks is currently on hiatus but Neil is preparing for a re-launch later in the Spring.
We Sink Ships, his photographic collaboration with Glasgow based photographer Heidi Kuisma, can be found here. Their weekly podcasts can be found here.
For tickets and other information, visit the above links.