I first came across the Scottish Enlightenment when their name kept cropping up in the “top friends” Myspace page of a lot of the bands that I like, (yes, I prefer Myspace over Facebook, because the majority of folk from school that I have no inclination to speak to don’t loiter on there).
Yep, I’ve gone and done it again, I’ve started to write an introduction to a band that I think are great and ended up talking about myself. Sorry. Aye, so where was I? That’s right, the Scottish Enlightenment kept cropping up in loads of great bands Myspace pages, which made me pretty curious. This must have been about a year ago. When I contacted the band, they replied saying that they didn’t have any new music due out for a while, and that they’d be back in touch when they had recorded something new. In October they posted three new tunes on their Bandcamp page for free download, and corkers they were too.
In just a few weeks time their new EP ‘Pascal’ is coming out on Armellodie Records, and it’s one of the best releases that I have heard all year. ‘All Homemade Things’ could possibly be my favourite song to come out this year, I can’t get enough of it.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings, onwards and upwards, here’s David from Fife’s finest, ladies and gentlemen show some love for the Scottish Enlightenment……….
Would you care to introduce yourself?
I’m David – I play guitar and stuff and sing in The Scottish Enlightenment.
How would you describe the music you make?
Smoo Cave Rock. Or Ecclesiastic Rock, although after this EP/album hoopla is done that’ll change. Actually, lets try Sessionette Rock, because the Sessionette amps we use have been pretty inspirational in terms of the way we sound.
How did you start out making music?
Playing the black keys on the piano at home. Then playing the guitars that were lying around – my Dad and sister played. I made up tunes before I learned any, and I’ve carried on being rubbish at learning compositions. At some point I started playing the white keys too.
What process goes into the way you write songs?
I mess around on my piano or my guitar. Meanwhile I get upset and/or bothered by things. At some point the messing around produces a particular tune, and one of the things I’m bothered about gets attached to it. Once that is nearly a fully formed song the band gets involved. From that point on anything can happen, and it’s the best bit of the whole thing.
Who are your big musical influences?
I’m not entirely sure. I think growing up in church must have been an influence, because there is music everywhere there. Right now the hymnal feeling has got right inside me. Low have been a really important band for me for quite a while, and I would say they have been the most persistent influence on the way we currently sound. But every band I like influences me, so lets just leave it at Low. Actually, when I was younger I was massive into the Pumpkins, and I think Radiohead are the greatest British band of recent decades. Have that. And The Clouds Taste Metallic by Flaming Lips is their best work. And Six by Mansun is the most underrated British album ever. I’m done.
Do you find that you have been able to develop more as a band as you are out of the spotlight that bands based in places like Edinburgh or Glasgow might feel?
No, I don’t feel that but it might be true. We’ve developed a lot just because we’ve been together for years and years, but particularly since my daughter was born and I realised that music was going to be a hard thing to do, so we were going to need to just do exactly what we wanted, and that really it was fun not important. At that point I think we prised the fingers of any scenie-ness off our shoulders. So I feel very free to do whatever we want to.
Buy The Scottish Enlightenment on Itunes
The Scottish Enlightenment – Eyes
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNwYL7i88Ec
The Scottish Enlightenment’s new ‘Pascal EP’ is out on the 10th of May through Armellodie Records, note it in your diaries as it’s an absolute corker of a record.
They also have three tracks available now for free over on their Bandcamp page.