Perth debut for Edinburgh band Broken Records

Nov 10 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

CULT Scots band Broken Records are going down a storm across Europe - and now they’re focused on conquering Perth.

The eccentric Edinburgh folk rockers appear at Perth Theatre tonight and the band’s piano / trumpet player Dave Smith told Music Scene he hopes that Fair City gig-goers will be, quite literally, up for it.

After being given a rousing reception by fans across Germany, Spain, France, Holland and Belgium last month, Broken Records kicked off a Scottish tour on Saturday.

“We’ve played in Dundee andAberdeen, but never in Perth before,” Smith said yesterday.

“I don’t really know what the music scene there is like, although I hear it’s all seated where we’re playing.

“We are going to have to get folk standing. Sitting gigs just aren’t on!”

Smith (29) admitted to being “really excited” about the band’s six-date Scottish sojourn.

“The main reason we do it is to get out on the road,” he insisted.

“We never intended to be just a studio-based band. Playing live is when we have the most fun.

“Unless you are plastered all over the TV and radio it’s also often the only way people can hear your music.”

Broken Records’ recent excursions only served to confirm the hardcore nature of their continental following.

“Our two weeks in Europe were brilliant fun,” Smith declared.

“Audiences demanded an encore every night out there and the few occasions we didn’t deliver the appreciative crowd turned into a mob!

“A guy from our label warned us, so we should’ve known what to expect.

“In Heidelberg we were told afterwards in no uncertain terms how we had disappointed some fans who had driven all the way from Basle, about 140 miles away!”

Broken Records were formed in Edinburgh three years ago by brothers Jamie and Rory Sutherland and their friend Ian Turnbull.

Soon after, the trio was augmented by Smith, cellist Arne Kolb, Andrew Keeney (drums), and bassist David Fothergill.

And Smith reckons the unusual dynamics have helped attract praise from critics who’ve likened the band to acts as diverse as Arcade Fire, The Verve and Nirvana.

“Getting more people in made it a bit louder, and it has been the seven of us ever since,” he said.

“Seven is a lot but it just seems normal to us. I grew up with five dogs and they always know when there’s one missing.

“It can be a bit of a mush if everyone plays notes at the same time but we’re beginning to understand better how to make it work.”

Suggestions that Broken Records stand alone amid the Scottish rock ‘n’ roll landscape are cautiously welcomed by the keys man.

“It’s probably opening up a can of worms but I guess we are trying to do something completely different,” he declared.

“Slowly but surely we are trying to figure out the Broken Records sound and we are getting there.”

The band’s debut album Until The Earth Begins To Part appeared in June under the guidance of veteran producer Ian Caple, who has also worked with Tindersticks, Mansun and Tricky.

While recording the set at Monnow Valley in Wales, all the members played together in the studios’ huge ‘live room’.

“I knew Ian would bring something different to the mix and it was a pleasure working with him,” Smith explained.

“He pointed us in the right direction.”

Until The Earth enabled Broken Records to fully realise 10 tracks that had been written over the preceding three years, with songwriter Jamie showing his esoteric side on songs like Thoughts On A Picture and If Eilert Loveborg Wrote A Song, which was named after a character in Henrik Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler.

But Smith insisted the band’s high brow lyrics are just a bit of fun.

“Jamie finds it interesting to write about a character from 400 years ago rather than what happened to him in a nightclub last Saturday,” the pianist explained.

“Too many people don’t realise there’s a massive slice of humour in it.

“We’re not trying to be pretentious.”

With the backing of influential British indie imprint 4AD, home to the likes of Pixies, Scott Walker and TV On The Radio, Broken Records appear to be immune, to a certain extent, from the commercial pressures faced by bands on major labels.

The consensus is that the band are happy slowly building up a loyal fanbase, even if it means modest financial returns.

“The future for us, in order to move on, is to keep playing as much as we can and try to get round Europe,” Smith predicted.

“The crowds there are so appreciative and the promoters know how to look after you and give you information which is in advance.

“A lot of the time in this country you are just left hanging and have no idea what’s going on.

“We’d also like to get to the USA and try to get another album out that sounds different to the first.

“We need to progress to stay in the game for as long as possible.”

Also featuring a support slot, tonight’s Broken Records gig at Perth Theatre starts at 8pm.