I really like The Muldoons! This Paisley, Scotland, band formed back in the 90s but didn’t record nor release anything then. Suddenly a few years I discovered them on Bandcamp. They had a CD single with two wonderful songs which sounded like classic indiepop. Where did they come from!? I wanted to know more. Last year they finally released an album which is truly timeless. I am really enjoying it (I only got the 2nd pressing a few weeks back… really how many bands these days can do 2 pressings!). The band has a lot of stories to tell. So I hope you enjoy this interview and if you’ve never heard them before, you are in for a treat!
++ Hi Davy! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you?
Hi – we are all well thanks, it been a tough year but luckily here in Scotland vaccinations are going well and we are starting to see life (very) slowly return to normal.
++ Let’s go back in time. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen to at home while growing up?
My personal first memory of music is being forced to sing by my parents at house parties, it used to be common that people were expected to ‘do a turn’ at parties back then. My parents listened to a lot of music like the Carpenters & the New Seekers and my mum liked country – Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton etc I still like country music today. However I was a punk at school, learned 3 chords on a guitar from the sleeve notes on a Damned Album and we had various bands putting on gigs in each others garages etc for our friends. It was a fun time.
++ Had you been in other bands aside from The Muldoons? If so, how did all of these bands sound? Are there any recordings?
I was in other bands but fortunately no recordings survive ! The Muldoons was our college band formed around 1990 and we stuck with it for about 7 years first time round.
++ And what’s the connection with The Church Grims?
Greg our trumpet/keys player was in the Church Grims, they were part of a great music scene in Paisley in the 80s along with bands like Close Lobsters. When the Grims decided to call it a day around 1990, the Muldoons had just started. Fortunately he is the cousin of Andy our drummer so it didn’t take much persuasion to get him to join.
++ Where are you from originally?
We are all from Paisley. I was born there but I grew up a few miles away, then came back to study engineering at the University which is how we met. Although I have been lucky to live and work in places like Germany and the USA I still consider myself to be from Glasgow/Paisley.
++ How is Paisley these days? Are there any bands that you like? Are there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?
Paisley for those who don’t know it is an interesting place with its own rich history but it probably suffers from being extremely close to Glasgow. It has gone through some tough economic times in the last few years so it can appear a little shabby. It made a name for itself musically in the 70s because Glasgow banned punk bands and it was close enough that all the bands played at the Bungalow in Paisley instead. The Clash, The Fall, The Tourists, Echo & the Bunnymen, Orange Juice, Siouixsie, Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks and many more played there. Its part of the wider Glasgow scene now which was in good shape before covid – the live music scene was pretty vibrant before lockdown and the hope is that the venues can open up again and find ways to thrive again.
++ How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?
That was pretty simple. Gerry the singer and main songwriter was always inspired by the 80s indie bands he listened to in his bedroom. He formed a relationship with a guy called Tim Campbell who was on the same engineering course. They wrote a couple of songs and managed to get on the bill at a local pub/venue. They found Andy the drummer through friends and they played without a bass player – they were so good I went out and got a bass next day and showed up and told them I wanted to join. We went through a few lineup changes before we got the the current one which added Bobby on guitar and Greg on Trumpet.
++ How is the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?
Most songs are collaborative – we usually start with a simple riff, chords or baseline and if it sparks a melody idea in Gerrys mind we build it up from there. We are lucky to have a friend/producer/engineer called Gavin who runs a small rehearsal and recording studio on his dads farm north of Glasgow. We usually practice and record there and its thanks to Gavin we have such a rich, layered sound. Also there is no-one to disturb except a few cows.
++ One thing that I really enjoy from your songs is that you add trumpets. That’s always something that wins me over. When you formed the band, did you always wanted to have trumpets? Are there other indiepop bands with trumpets that you like?
In the first couple of lineups we had no trumpet – Greg was still with Church Grims and there aren’t usually that many trumpet players hanging around the streets of Paisley. However if we think to our early influences – bands like the Brilliant Corners, Bodines, June Brides – trumpet was a cornerstone of a lot of those indie/C86 bands sound. When Greg finally joined it felt like we had been waiting for him, it was an instant fit.
++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
Its just a corruption of the way we talk to each other in Glasgow – often we take someones name and shorten it for a nickname.I think it was Tim the original guitar player who called Gerry ‘Muldo’ in the pub when we were trying to discuss names and someone said ‘hey what about the Muldos ?’ – or something like that. It was a long time ago and a lot of beer was involved !
++ Who would you say are influences in the sound of the band?
We could have a loooong discussion about that. Its clear our melodies lead our sound and Gerry is influenced by Lawrence, Orange Juice, Smiths, Velvet Underground, Bodines, June Brides etc You can hear those influences clearly. Collectively we have a big overlap but we all have our own different tastes. Somehow it all ends up sounding the way it does – these things are more sub-conscious I think, we never set out to write a song ’the sounds like….’
++ The first time I heard from you was thanks to a CD single for “Lovely Things”. I was quite surprised to hear such beautiful jangle, classic sounding indiepop. There are still copies of the CD so I ask everyone to get it. But tell me, before this CD single had there been recordings by the band?
First thanks !!! This was the first song we ever wrote – Gerry had this 3 chord idea in the late 80s and was the first song the band ever played live. It hasn’t changed much since then. We struggled a little to fund recording in the 90s – we were playing jangle-pop then grunge happened. Then britpop – we were always a little unfashionable but quite content. We did record a number of tracks and sold cassettes at gigs etc but we never got any label to release music – back then self funding recording and distribution were expensive. Though its worth mentioning we only got back together to play a one-off gig and we had only intended to revive those songs for that gig. I had to buy a tape recorder from eBay to play the old tapes back to re-learn the songs. So what you hear on our album is just our decision to finally properly record those old songs – they were are written in the late-80s, early 90s. There’s nothing from this century on that album.
++ Where was the single recorded? How do you enjoy studio time?
We never actually set out to make an album or even record. Our first gig in 2017 was a ‘one off reunion’ in Paisley and it sold out. As a ’thank you’ for our friends drinking the bar dry, the club asked us to support Inspiral Carpets. Then we were offered a gig in King Tuts in Glasgow (legendary venue where Alan McGee met Oasis) and it sold out too. This kept happening until we ended up supporting Clem Burkes band that summer. Around that point we decided to take it more seriously and record something and see what happened. Lovely Things was the obvious choice and it was a great couple of weekends learning how modern recording works in the studio – no more tape machines and we now get infinite re-do’s ! It kind of becomes addictive.
++ Then came another CD single, “Don’t Be Like That, Girl”. Now I wonder is it yourselves that made these CDs? Why did you decide to go by the self-release route? How do you enjoy doing distribution and promotion of your own music?
The second single was based on the reaction we got to the first and the fact we enjoyed doing it so much. We had no ‘ambition’ as such, it was just for fun. I have worked in the tech industry my whole career so running our own small label was fun and pretty easy to do. I also had a personal ‘agenda’ that I was hoping to develop the label into a hobby for later in life – we also released my sons band’s music on that label so I just enjoy the management and logistics of the process. (Secret Public – they’re great !) Self release was also the only option for an unknown, middle-aged band but its a great way to develop. One thing I would say is that I have been so impressed by the number of local and community radio stations, labels, bloggers, podcasters etc who support new music. There is a truly global community of indie music enthusiasts out there and I hope they know how important they are – the first time someone plays your song on the radio or a podcast or writes encouraging words – its a real buzz. We would probably have given up without them.
++ Last year you released a wonderful album called “Made for Each Other”. This time around you didn’t self-release but worked with Last Night from Glasgow. How did this relationship start? And what changes did it bring to the band working closely with a label? What were the benefits?
Again – thanks ! After we released the singles we knew we should record the best songs we had written, we didn’t know what we would do or whether there were enough good songs for a whole album but we thought we’d record and then decide later. As it turns out we liked the result but it took us at least a year to get through it, recording one or two at a time. We decided to self release the album and we started the process, but my gut told me that this was a pretty decent album and there might be labels or distributors who would be interested in helping us. I did an old-fashioned marketing job of looking for as many labels as I could find who put out music we liked and then called, pestered and annoyed them. In the end 2 or 3 expressed interest but Last Night From Glasgow were just set up to work with bands like us and we immediately loved the ethos of the label.
LNFG are a non-profit label focused on vinyl, they support the art and the economy of the bands and the wider community where possible. It is based on member patronage and for around $90 (£60GBP) per year, you get 6-8 new albums delivered to your door plus discounts on other releases the label artists make. The artists retain control and profits and the label shares risk. We get huge exposure and access to fantastic manufacturing and distribution capability – I think the label has more than 500 members now, and shipped nearly 15,000 albums last year. Most importantly it makes you feel like you are working with a community of like minded people – its a great model that other artist communities could look closely at to escape the tyranny of streaming !
++ This record was recorded at 1790 Studios in Cumbernauld by Gavin Paterson. How was the experience of working with him? What did he add to The Muldoons sound you think?
Thats a profound question ! Gavin is a professional musician in his own right and has a successful band who have toured the world playing modern traditional Scottish music. He has an amazing talent. He is absolutely responsible for much of our ‘sound’ – he had a real idea from the start how we could sound even though we didn’t. I think the album sounds quite ‘orchestral’ and rich and he is patient enough to work around our lack of experience. We cant imagine working without him.
++ Also tell me about the photo on the sleeve? Do you know who the person is in the photo? Or where it was taken?
Great question. We really struggle with graphic design, its not our thing. As we got closer to release deadlines and we were getting bit frustrated, Andy our drummer showed up with this amazing photograph. It is of his wife’s mother and I would guess it was taken sometime in the 1950s ? It has this amazing ‘David Lynch’ quality to it and somehow it was just perfect. Luckily his wife has graphics design experience and she put the colours and fonts together, somehow it worked itself out beautifully.
++ Another curious question is why did you decide to include all the songs from the two CD singles on the album? I don’t mind it as I love these songs, but there’s always this conversation about including or not including songs from singles in the album. What’s your take?
That’s just a product of the way we got to the album – we never intended to make one so the singles were out there. Only real indie music geeks already had the CDs when the album came out 🙂
++ What about compilations, have you appeared on any so far?
This is one of the great things about LNFG. In the first lockdown they decided to put out an album to raise money for the small venues around Glasgow who were furloughed. The idea was to ask the bands to cover songs by other artists on the label and release an album called the Isolation Sessions. The project snowballed and included a photo series by Brian Sweeney and became a double album. It sold a lot of vinyl and raised a lot of money. More than that it is a genuinely great album in my opinion and includes incredible bands like Close Lobsters, Bis, Carla Easton etc It was mastered by Paul McGeechan (from Love & Money). We had to really develop our style and cope with home recording to get on it and it has taught us new things about composition and writing we will use in the future
++ Are there unreleased songs by The Muldoons?
Yes we have recently finished recording a new single, our first song written this century ! It is scheduled for release later this year, hopefully to support a return to gigging. We think its the best thing we’ve done but maybe that just because its the first genuinely new thing we have done. Its called Audacity.
++ And are there plans for the near future for more releases? I hear there is some project with a link to The Bluebells?
This week we just released a cover of Cath by the Bluebells for a compilation album called ’Step Sisters’, an album of covers to celebrate the re-pressing of the original Sisters album. The album will be released later in the year by LNFG, but our single is the first release. This has been pretty life affirming for us – the Bluebells themselves have supported the release since they heard our version and privately have been unbelievably supportive. They liked our version so much they offered us an updated version of their original artwork to use. This is a personal achievement for all of us and we are overwhelmed by this kind of acknowledgement from a truly incredible Scottish band. As a footnote there is an outstanding female vocal on that track which was composed and performed by Gerry’s daughter, Niamh. She is studying drama and is clearly very talented, that’s a classic pop song and yet her vocal sounds like it should always have been part of it.
++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Made For Each Other”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?
Thanks – most of these songs are stories based very loosely on people, stories and events from our misspent youth. They are based on real things but are hugely exaggerated and distorted with a great degree of artistic license. Gerry writes these things, we have an idea, but the ’truth’ is probably less interesting than the song. Also Gerry won’t really tell us so we are using a lot of guesswork.
++ If you were to choose your favorite The Muldoons song, which one would that be and why?
I would probably say Don’t Be Like That Girl – it is the point in a gig when we can just cut loose and not have to worry about anything. It is a bit of a mash-mash of styles stolen from Wedding Present, New Order, Velvet Underground and everything in between, but it hangs together amazingly well live – you always need a song to go to in case the gig hasn’t fired and thats ours.
++ What about gigs? Have you played many?
Well not recently sadly, but we have had some amazing experiences. In the 90s we traveled a lot and played some unbelievable gigs, though we used to think it was a good night if we got expenses and a free bar. This time round we have mostly played in the Glasgow area. But since the LNFG launch we have had a much higher profile so we are hopeful we can travel further after lockdown. We have started selling our first tickets for a gig in July which is looking increasingly likely to happen.
++ And what are the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?
In our first spell we were younger, dafter and drank more booze ! We had brilliant chaotic gigs and some just chaotic gigs, they were happy days. We played a gig with Clem Burke’s band a couple of years ago and it was hilarious. It was amazing enough to be asked to come and support Blondies drummer, but we sat in the dressing room with this collection of Californian TV execs and musicians and they told us incredible stories about the LA music scene and drank beer. Later in the evening we were having a post gig drink and Clem told Andy our drummer how much he liked his jacket. Andy being a bit drunk took it off and made him try it on. In the end Clem left wearing it. We now imagine Clem showing up at showbiz parties in Santa Monica wearing Andys jacket…
++ And had there been any bad ones?
Yeah a few. One in particular in the 90s when the engineer didn’t show up with the PA and we were resigned to cancelling. We were really annoyed since the venue was packed and it was a beautiful summers night. He showed up almost 2 hours late, probably stoned, and tried to set up quickly – it was a shambles of feedback and noise. We emptied the venue in about 3 songs and one customer was so annoyed he charged the stage and had to be restrained. Seems funny now but it is possible to wreck peoples night out if things go badly !
++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say has been the biggest highlight for the band so far?
Without doubt releasing our album, I don’t think anything will ever feel better than walking into a record store and finding your album on sale for the first time or seeing people tweet photos of their copies. It’s such a buzz.
++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?
Well I have 2 great kids and a job in the tech industry, so my hobbies are few outside the band but I used to live near the Alps so I am a very enthusiastic snowboarder and I love to cycle.
++ I’ve been to Glasgow, but never to Paisley, so I will take advantage to ask a local for some recommendations! What are the sights one shouldn’t miss? Or the traditional food or drinks that you love that I should try?
Paisley has some great old pubs, we would recommend the Bull Inn. If you like architecture it has some incredible old mills (it is the home of the Paisley Pattern) and a 12th century Abbey. Its a cool place. To eat we recommend fish n chips from Castelvecchi which is run by the parents of Paulo Nutini !
++ Anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks – great questions, that was fun.
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