Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher get together at Gardyne Theatre
Less than a year after forming, five supremely talented but completely diverse musicians named Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher are set to release their debut album.
- By Alan Wilson, Rocktalk writer
- Published in the Courier : 27.01.12
- Published online : 27.01.12 @ 04.47pm
Assembled from local bands Luva Anna, The Law and Magdalen Green, Stevie, Gavin, Dave, Billy and Robbie are quite literally Dundee's "supergroup".
It's a quintet seemingly made in heaven — all multi-instrumentalists, wonderful vocalists and armed with a big collection of songs to die for.
They launch their debut album with what should be a special sold-out gig at Gardyne Theatre on Saturday night (January 28). As the guys point out, it's only very rarely they have managed to all be on the same stage at the same time.
"You have to remember it's only our fourth real gig," drummer, vocalist, trumpet and percussion player Billy stressed. "We've played lots of gigs all over the place with varying combinations.
"In fact, this is only the fourth one where everybody in the band's been there."
And despite a huge buzz of anticipation over both the album and the gig, it's obvious from talking to them that their early "success" has come as a bit of a surprise to them all.
"It's our biggest indoor gig, in a theatre, it's sold out and we're getting filmed as well and getting streamed live online, so it's pretty cool," Dave added.
"When we first came up with the idea of playing at the college it was a bit weird — we thought if we can sell a couple of hundred tickets that will be fine. But it sold really well and now it's a sell-out so it's also a good thank you to Dundee College for allowing us to mix the album there and giving us their facilities to rehearse and get ready for the gig."
The 12-track album — four each from Stevie, Dave and Gav — is understandably "eclectic", reflecting their varying styles and influences. Recorded at the Teapot Studios in Perthshire, typically Billy and Robbie had hardly heard any of the songs when they arrived to record their parts.
It's an ethos they've carried on into their live sets, with everybody taking advantage of the space allowed in everyone's songs for some wee bits of improvisation.
Latterly though things have become a bit more structured and "professional".
Gavin says: "We just wanted to get a record made. There was no sort of thought about how the album would be put together. We just put the track listing together last week. It was like: 'This album goes to print in 10 minutes, what have we got?'"
Steve says: "We've started off with a song about Jesus and finished with The Devil, then just filled in the gaps in between."
Dave added: "Even just the other day we had a proper practice. Until that point I don't think anybody really knew what harmony or what melody we were singing. It was all there live but it just confirmed what we already knew."
Billy explained: "There are some complex harmonies and when we play live we do what we think and it sounds all right, but for a gig like this it's got to be worked out properly, so that it's Beach Boys good.
"It'll be quite daunting with all these people sitting down but it's good for the nerves."
As far as being eclectic — "schizophrenic" as Stevie suggested — all five of them agree it's better to have more ideas and different styles than not.
And in terms of the finished product, big praise was handed out to engineer Mike Brown who helped them mix the album at Gardyne Studios.
"He's been great; he's great to work with and he'll take our suggestions on board as well as offer his own ideas."
If you don't have a ticket for the gig, you can buy a copy of the album, which is limited to just 500 CDs, from the usual outlets and from the band themselves.
Grab one quickly because they could just become a collector's item very soon.
08.47pm - 27.01.2012 bob johnson - dundee, scotland Report This
good luck to the guys
10.53am - 28.01.2012 B Dylan - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Supergroup? They're hardly The Taveling Willburys innit!
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