invernessGiGs speaks to new local band Square One prior to their forthcoming gig at Glachbeg.
Glachbeg Acoustic sessions have seen a plethora of young talent (Josephine Sillars, Megan Blyth to name but two) through their doors, but a change of format of the monthly sessions will see this increase further (see: Glachbeg looks for more talent). First to benefit from this are, the band formerly known as BuckminsterFullerene, Square One. We were keen to catch up with the guys to see what they were about.
Why did you change the bands name to Square One from Buckminsterfullerene ?
We felt that BuckminsterFullerene was too long for people to remember and we wanted something slightly snappier so we spent about a month trying to think of better ideas. Eventually we realised that with every name we were going back to Square One! So we decided to use that as our name! Tom then drew up the logo and it stuck.
Can you tell us a bit about the influences behind the band?
Our influences are quite strange to be honest! Jonny is heavilly influenced by indie bands such as Oasis, Stereophonics and folk bands like Mumford and Sons, Tom’s bass playing is influenced by everything from electro and dance bands to Muse to Paul Mcartney! Meanwhile I [Douglas] personally am influenced by a mixture of the folk guitars styles from the Feis and listening to artists like Pete Roe as well as most Rock N’ Roll bands and of course Bob Dylan!
How do you describe your sound to folk?
We’re mostly a soft type of acoustic sound using a mixture of finger picking melodies and strumming patterns given depth by the bass. Our lyrics usually tell a story such as in “Morning Bells” and “Girl in the Vodka Haze” and we know I don’t have the best voice but we think its more right that my own lyrics come out of my own mouth so we can get the true meaning of the songs across.
How are you feeling about your Glachbeg gig?
We’re all looking forward to it as we’ve been practicing and writing songs for a few months now and played a couple of gigs at fundraising events as well as trying some out busking so we’re are definitely looking forward to playing a new audience at a proper venue!
Do you think the acoustic route is one that you hope to follow, or are you planning for the sound to develop?
We would definitely like to keep our acoustic roots but maybe introduce some electric guitars and drums at a later date in some songs. But on a whole we would like to stay true to our acoustic routes.
So what are the plans from here, any gigs forthcoming etc.?
We would just like to keep on gigging, maybe try and get some festivals in, and will be trying to find some more gigs in the near future!
Square One, who will be joined by Davy Cowan, will be playing the Glachbeg Acoustic Sessions on the 21st of February, 2012. Full details here.
