I’ve never really been a massive fan of post-rock bands, though it’s never been through a lack of trying. I own a couple of Mogwai albums and have seen them live on numerous occasions, but while some grown men weep I usually find my mind wandering.

My short attention span usually needs vocals to hold my attention. This might come as a bit of a shock to those of you who realise how passionate I am about Scottish music, some of you might even be slightly appalled. That’s what I get for exposing myself as a non-hipster.

It is for this reason that I am quite surprised how taken aback I was by Edinburgh post-rockers The Gothenburg Address. I was a bit behind some of my fellow Scottish bloggers and although I had seen their name being banded about a fair bit (mainly by Jim Ayetunes and the lovely Glasgow Podcart crew), I must admit that I hadn’t given them a listen. It wasn’t until their name cropped up in quite a few of the entries in the inaugural Scottish BAMS Awards (they came in at a very impressive #26), that I decided to give them a proper listen. I am glad that I can rely on my contemporaries not to let me down.

Coming from Scotland it is difficult not to compare The Gothenburg Address to the aforementioned Mogwai, but that’s not all that’s going on with this band. There are also elements of early 90’s grunge bands such as the Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana in there too. Their eponymous debut album is an absolute cracker, it’s even made me reconsider giving Mogwai another go……..

Would you care to introduce yourself?

Yes indeed. Hello. I am Luke Gareth Joyce, and my band is The Gothenburg Address from Edinburger.

How would you describe the music you make?

We are an instrumental band. After being in bands that relied on vocals, I decided I wanted to put together a band where we could push ourselves to the limits of musical story telling. I think my favorite descripton of our sound so far is from the Skinny who said we ‘are a storm on a mountain and a cliff-top in the rain’. I like that 🙂

How did you come together as a band?

It was a template tale of myself looking for musicians to play my songs that I had been writing over the previous year. I met Rob through an ad, he in turn was in a band with Jeansy and they were both looking for something new. Chris, who was a former bandmate of Jeansy when they played with Arab Strap & The Zephyrs, heard the tunes and immediately came onboard. 6 weeks later we played our first show in Glasgow.

What process goes into the way you write songs?

I had what could be termed as a musical breakdown a few years ago and completely turned my back on it. After a lengthy time out I started recording demos in my flat. These are the songs we’re playing now. The others bring their own style to the songs and take the music to a whole new level.

Mike Garson (Smashing Pumpkins / David Bowie) played on your debut album, how did that come about?

I have a friend called Alex Boyd who is a photographic artist from the west coast. He has known Mike for some time and handed one of our songs over to him. Within a couple of days of receiving the track, Mike had taken his engineers into a studio in LA and recorded the part. Being a die hard Pumpkins fan it’s something of a dream come true.

Lastly, what can we expect to see/hear from you in 2010?

2010 is going to be busy. We are in the final processes of booking some Euro shows, then there’s the 2nd album which I hope will be hitting the shelves by the end of the year. I would like to put out some singles as well so there’s a constant stream of fresh material for our listeners. Gig goers will notice a substantial game raise in our live shows as we introduce some visuals that are being made up as we speak, and possibly a few other unexpected ‘new arrivals’.

The Gothenburg Address – album promo

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzphoRBa-Bg

www.myspace.com/thegothenburgaddress

More from Lloyd at Peenko

Photo Credit: Alex Boyd