A Perth man has told of his shock after a song he co-wrote in his parents’ house became an unlikely online hit nearly two decades later.
Scott Chalmers’ band The Defended – also featuring David McCallum, Fraser Breingan and Louis Pietranik – formed at Perth College in 2006.
The four-piece played small gigs across Scotland but had no commercial success and went their separate ways in 2011.
However, one of their songs, Man on a Hill, received international airplay without the band’s knowledge.
That led to an army of online fans working to track down the original version years later.
Online community launched bid to find Perth band’s song years later
Lead guitarist Scott, 36, says the band was “just a bit of fun” – so was surprised to receive an email this week asking about the song.
He told The Courier: “After completing our music courses at college, we unfortunately drifted apart.
“Jobs, families and life took precedence over our musical careers and the band became defunct.
“We had virtually no internet presence – just a rudimental Myspace page that became archived, and our band and music were lost over time in the vastness of the internet.
“Unbeknownst to us, on April 6 2017, a man called Arthur Bogushev uploaded a one-minute and 43-second song to his SoundCloud and entitled it ‘1’.
“He then put it on to a website called Music Banter, asking for help identifying the band and song name.
“He advised he had recorded the song from a Ukrainian radio station while living in Kyiv four to five years prior, and had kept hold of it as he liked it.”
Scott says the song was then discovered by a Reddit community called Lostwave, whose members work to find out the origins of random tracks.
‘The video went from 100 views in 15 years to 10,000 overnight’
Scott continued: “After years of searching, a Lostwaver who goes by the name TrippyDrew stumbled across an old archived live recording video on YouTube and recognised the song.
“It was a short recording of my band playing Man on a Hill live in a venue called Box Glasgow in March 2008.
“He submitted the info to the forums and the video went from 100 views in 16 years to 10,000 overnight.
“An old friend, Scott Denny, who had uploaded the video, and is still active on the YouTube channel, got a shock when he woke up and saw all the comments and views.”
Music fans’ delight as Man on a Hill by The Defended found
Hundreds of people from across the world have since left comments on the live version of the song, along with a full recording of the track that was uploaded to YouTube in the wake of the interest.
One fan wrote: “My favourite Lostwave song has been found.”
Another posted: “Been obsessed with this song and finding out they were in Glasgow and possibly originate from there makes my day.”
Another comment said: “So glad we found this one, amazing job to everyone involved in the search.”
Others said they were “so happy” and “witnessing history”.
Scott says he remains baffled by how the song came to be on the international stage.
He said: “Some things will remain a mystery – I have no idea how or why our song ended up on a Ukrainian radio station.
“It’s pretty cool to think that a song David and I wrote in my parents’ house in Gannochy years ago has travelled across the world, been listened to thousands of times and provided joy to an investigative music community for years, and we didn’t have a clue.”
Guitarist refuses to rule out reunion for Perth band The Defended
Scott is still living in Perth, working as an engineer, while David is in Glasgow, Fraser is in Auchterarder and Louis is in Dubai.
Asked if their new-found fame may prompt The Defended to reunite, Scott added: “As Louis is now living abroad, a conventional comeback may not be on the cards, but it has drummed up a bit of nostalgia between us.
“With modern technology allowing you to record and connect remotely, I’d never say never.
“I actually hadn’t spoken with Louis and Fraser in a few years, so this all happening has been great for catching up again.”
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