THEY are ‘brothers-in-pop’ – and now two leading lights of the Scottish independent music scene are joining forces for a one-off gig.
David Scott of The Pearlfishers and Duglas T Stewart of BMX Bandits will be performing together and separately at Frets Concerts in the Strathaven Hotel near East Kilbride on October 7.
“We’re almost joined at the hip,” laughs David.
“We met around 1992 when our bands were on the same bill at Strathclyde University, and we have been friends ever since.
“I’m also a peripatetic BMX Bandit, having played on four of their albums. We connect on all sorts of things – our relationship is deep-rooted.”
The off-the-beaten-track concert series has already played host to acts as diverse as Lloyd Cole and Altered Images, and the laid-back, acoustic vibe really appeals to David, as he explains.
“Frets is the kind of place you can write a love letter to your fans,” he says. “The people who come are there because they just want to listen to beautiful music, in a different kind of atmosphere – there is always something special in the air at Frets.”
Getting the chance to chat to fans both during and after the gig is also part of the appeal and, says David, something that would not have happened when he and The Pearlfishers were just starting out 30 years ago.
He explains: “One of the big things that has changed in music is that it really is de rigueur now to go and meet the audience after the gig.”
David laughs: “In the old days, you’d never have dreamt of doing that, or going out and signing CDs – it was honestly something you’d turn up your nose at. Now it’s really great to be able to chat to folk for whom the music they have just heard really means something. It’s a positive thing.”
The Pearlfishers grew “out of the ashes” of David’s previous band Hearts and Minds, which he founded in his hometown of Falkirk in the 80s when Scottish pop was exploding all over the global music scene.
“A few years later, when our label collapsed, I licked my wounds and set up my own,” he explains. “With some money from the publishing company and a Princes Trust grant, I set up My Dark Star and put out three EPs as The Pearlfishers. And next year, it will be the 30th anniversary of our first album, Za Za’s Garden.”
That record, with its mix of catchy pop tunes and thoughtful lyrics, was released on Iona Records – the next eight Pearlfishers albums came out on Marina, the German indie label which has been hugely supportive of Scottish music over the last 25 years.
“Our first album is out of print now,” adds David, ruefully. “I’m really hoping it might be reissued in time for the 30th anniversary.”
He pauses. “I mean, 30 years – it sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?” he grins.
After around six years without touring, the band returned to live shows after its last album Love and Other Hopeless Things, in 2019.
“It was great, we had some fantastic audiences and the night at Oran Mor in Glasgow was one of the best I think we’d ever played and we were thinking, gosh, there are still people who want to come and see us,” adds David, who lives in Troon, with his wife, Margaret.
“With The Pearlfishers, we all do a lot of different things – the band is not the only thing in our professional lives, but it is still the most important.”
David is also a regular radio broadcaster, and head of Business and Creative Studies at the University of the West of Scotland, where he is passionate about encouraging and supporting young people into the business.
In addition to his hopes for a 30th anniversary reprint of Za Za’s Garden, David is currently recording lead vocals for a new Pearlfishers record, also due out next year.
“I’m about 80 per cent finished,” he says. “I got Covid, and couldn’t sing for six months, so that has held things up.
“But it’s on course for next year. And if we can get Za Za’s Garden out again too, that would be excellent.”
READ MORE: Glasgow rockers Gun go back to their roots for new album and tour
He adds, honestly: “For a long time, I couldn’t listen to that record – I don’t really know why. But when I finally did, I thought – this is actually quite good.”
At Frets on October 7, he says both bands will play a mix of old and new.
“Anybody who likes The Pearlfishers and BMX Bandits will find something they recognise and hopefully like, at Frets,” he says.
“It’s a strange thing. I get – annoyed is the wrong word, but frustrated, I suppose – when people say, ‘oh, The Pearlfishers should have been huge.’
“I appreciate the sentiment, and maybe we haven’t been ‘huge’ in terms of massive record sales, but we have had a sustained output over a very long period of time, and you can only do that with meaningful music. The same is true of the BMX Bandits.
He adds, with a smile: “And actually, we are delighted with the way it’s gone.”
The Pearfishers and BMX Bandits perform at Frets Concerts in the Strathaven Hotel on October 7, with support from The Hungry Beat Group (featuring members of The Bluebells, Josef K/Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and Article 58)
Tickets from fretsconcerts.com or here.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here