Like most of the new music featured on Dear Scotland, The Agitator was brought to our attention by Vic Galloway after Vic attended the Trans Musicales Festival in December. The Agitator is quickly gaining a reputation for his compelling live shows and he recently spoke to Dear Scotland about his upcoming tour of France and more:
Dear Scotland: Where are you now and what did you do last night?
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The Agitator: I am now using the internet in a strange little off licence in Brighton, its snowing outside, again! Yesterday I walked along the cliffs to a place called Rottingdean, which is where Rudyard Kipling lived. You can walk around in his gardens, which are quite beautiful. Its a very picturesque little village but very, “Middle England”, it features prominently in Nick Cave’s latest novel too, which is quite amusing!
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Dear Scotland: Paul McCartney said he got into music to avoid a job – and get lots of girls. What made you get into music?
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The Agitator: I got into music because I wrote some music and some people seemed to enjoy it and it gave me the chance to make records and do tours. That was nearly ten years ago and I’m still at it! But ultimately, I got into music because I wanted to write and this was the way I found to channel that. It may not always be the way I will write but at the moment it is. Nothing to do with jobs or girls I’m afraid, I consider them to be a completely different kettle of fish!
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Dear Scotland: What is your favourite song of yours to play right now?
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The Agitator: We have a relatively new song called, “Die Like A Dog” which features a middle section in which I improvise a kind of scat/rap (that sounds horrible, but promise it isn’t!), so that is quite enjoyable. Also, our song which is going to be our first single, “Let’s Start Marching”, simply due to the message of the lyrics, they basically sum up the point of our music.
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The Agitator – Lets Start Marching
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTQorS41wdc
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Dear Scotland: You’ve lined up a few gigs in France this month and I know Vic loved your performance at the Transmusicales Festival last year, but are there other places you’d like to visit?
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The Agitator: The Agitator music is intended to be universal,so I want to perform it and for people to witness it anywhere and everywhere.
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Dear Scotland: What will be your first words on stage then at La Maroquinerie in Paris on Feb 23?
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The Agitator: “WELL….. (for as long as my chest will allow) ITS A PRIME TIME FOR A CHANGE OF MIND!”
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The Agitator – Get Ready
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VCC_8_yDU
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Dear Scotland: You’re based in England now. Do you feel more Scottish down there, or do you adapt well to new places? Anything you miss about Scotland?
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The Agitator: I do live in the South of England now. I feel as if I have a different attitude towards lots of people down south but am not sure if that’s simply to do with being Scottish. Also, I get asked quite frequently where abouts in Ireland I’m from. That amuses me! I miss the humour of a Scottish pub, I enjoy Southern English pub humour but it’s very different from an old guy in a pub in Scotland.
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Dear Scotland: Are there any Scottish musicians, past or present, that have influenced you?
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The Agitator: Nectarine No. 9, Ivor Cutler, Josef K, Sensational Alex Harvie Band, Orange Juice, Mogwai are some of the many.
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Nectarine No. 9 – Constellations of Vanity
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yzf965H8NA
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Dear Scotland: What should the Scottish national anthem be?
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The Agitator: I think if you asked Alasdair Gray to write some lyrics and got someone to put it to music, (if the person who decides these things is by any slim chance reading this, I’d be honoured to step in!) much the way “O, Flower of Scotland” was written, that would be the perfect anthem for a modern Scotland.
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Alasdair Gray – BBC Scotland Documentary
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrSxH9RjBQc
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Dear Scotland: How do people react when they discover that The Agitator is Scottish?
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The Agitator: Like I said earlier, The Agitator is meant to be universal, its not about nationality, its about getting together to fight against things and organisations etc. So, it doesn’t really matter that I am Scottish. This, however does not mean I am not proud to be Scottish, I am very much so.
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Dear Scotland: What is the best after-show experience you’ve had?
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The Agitator: There have been many great nights after shows. The best recently was actually the Trans Musicales night you spoke of earlier. I got to meet Sixto Rodriguez who is a hero of mine, so that was great. If you haven’t heard him, check out his Cold Fact album, you will then see what I mean.
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Sixto Rodriguez – Inner City Blues
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjRAprz5fq8
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Dear Scotland: And finally, many many years from now, when you finish your farewell world tour, is there one place to where you would like to retire?
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The Agitator: I have no idea, I’m not at all ready for that way of thinking yet, I’ve got way too much left in me! Maybe an old tenement in the West End of Glasgow though, I love those buildings, but like I said, too far away to think about, I’m only 23!
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The Agitator – Live in London
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7NeXPLtZPo
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More from the Agitator at www.myspace.com/theagitatormusic
Photo Credit: Eleonora D’ Ambrosio