The Scottish Enlightenment – Little Sleep EP
17 Aug
The Scottish Enlightenment are about as close as we get to regulars on the Elba Blog and we know what we like here at Elba and we know we like The Scottish Enlightenment. They have featured previously on the blog as part of our Elba Annual last December and they joined us at The Liquid Ship earlier this year for Elba Sessions Presents…(Five).
After releasing the Pascal EP in May to critical acclaim, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the long awaited St Thomas album which is scheduled to be unleashed on Armellodie Records in October/November. Prior to that we are getting another wee teaser with the Little Sleep EP which is released on September 27th. After being sent a copy of the new EP a couple of weeks ago, we thought the time was right to catch up with main man David Moyes to see what they had been up to since we heard from them last. Also, the EP was that good that we’ve decided to break the Elba mould and stream a track at the bottom of the interview. Enjoy!!
When we spoke to you last on the blog, you told us that you were looking to release some records this year and play some more gigs? How has that panned out?!
The records thing is working out well, thanks to Al Nero of Armellodie Records. Pascal EP came out in May and Little Sleep EP is coming out in September. Then our album is coming out in October. So lots of records. Gigs wise its altogether more difficult, but we’ve had some good times at Kid Canaveral’s album launch and Kays Lavelle’s album launch. We’re pretty much just doing album launches now. Its our niche. Our guitarist became a Dad at the end of July, so he’s had some downtime, but now the year from September onwards is going to be more gigful, so i suppose that is going to be panning out ok. Pure dead panning it out.
Obviously you are now signed to Armellodie, a label we know plenty about here at Elba. How did that come about and what’s it like being included on their roster?
That came about when Al Nero emailed and asked what we were doing with the album. The label we were with at the time was running out of steam, so after much beard pulling and wisdom seeking, we gave our heart to Armellodie. It was a completely bonza decision. Al is brilliant at what he does, partly i think because he decided himself what he would do – I’m not sure anyone does the label thing quite like Armellodie. But its exactly right for us and Al has given loads to us and our records. But hes a friend now and that makes everything fun to do which is the whole point i think. If not the whole point, it makes the whole point, whatever that is, much more achievable.
We were really pleased to have you playing at our Elba Sessions night earlier this year as we knew that you hadn’t been playing many gigs, have you got any other gigs for Glasgow, or anywhere else in the pipeline? Maybe a tour?
Not a tour. We’d need a big Winnebago for all the wives and children. No no, not a tour. But we’ve got a few gigs. 17th September at Classic Grand in Glasgow, 24th September at Sneaky Petes in Edinburgh, then 2nd of October we’re playing a wee festival in Aberfeldy. We’ll have a few in November and December, after the album is out. But Phillip, i will let you know about those. I will.
You have the second EP, Little Sleep, due for release in the next couple of months. I’ve had a wee listen to it and it flows nicely from the Pascal EP. Do the songs all come from the same sessions or have the collection of songs on each EP come from separate times?
Let me think. We basically recorded all the songs off the EPs and the album in three sessions at the Green Door Studio in Glasgow. But three other tracks got themselves recorded here and there. One of those three is on each EP and another is on the album. But we started recording these tracks over two years and i think we have changed over that time. Pascal EP was mostly more recent stuff, but Little Sleep has tracks from the first session on it. I think that’s why its a bit louder as a record. We got quieter over the two years. I confidently predict that at some point in the future we’ll get louder again.
On ‘Get My Limousine’ you mention Steven Malkmus? Who are your’s or the bands main influences?
Well that song is like Pavement by numbers, so that line is sort of admitting its a rip off. I love Pavement and the Malkmus albums. Having been a teenage radiohead fan, they taught me that simple is a virtue when there’s real substance in the song. And Malkmus manages to combine cynicism and tenderness, and here and there we’ve tried to do that. Low are a big influence in lots of similar ways. Other folk in the band listen to different stuff. But we’ve been playing together for such a long time that the main influence on us is everything we’ve done before. They way we play is more a product of that than anything else. Although i think our influences are pretty much worn on our sleeves. I’m quite partial to a rip off now and again.
And for any reader who hasn’t heard The Scottish Enlightenment before and is wary of taking our word for it that they should buy the new EP. What should they expect??
They should expect to pay £4, mook.
The Scottish Enlightenment – San Germain is Thick Tonight by elbasessions
*The Scottish Enlightenment will play a stripped back set at Henry’s cellar Bar in Edinburgh this Thursday (19th Aug) along with Martin John Henry (ex De Rosa), Debutant and Dan Lyth. Not to be missed as it’s a beezer of a line-up!
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