We catch up with Ewen Watson of Be Like Pablo ahead of their performance at Belladrum 2022.
If you are reading this and still have not get tickets use this Belladrum 2022 ticket link to make sure you do not miss out.
You have ten words to describe your act, no more no less…
Be Like Pablo are Scotland’s number one powerpop band. Probably.
As an act how how does it feel to be back post-COVID?
Our performance at Belladrum will be our first since September 2019. Having had such a long time off, it feels like such a novel concept to perform again. We can’t wait!
Given the myths and legends theme of Belladrum 2022, can you tell us a myth or legend of Be Like Pablo
Jamie once won a leg wrestling contest when we played at a festival in England. It was pretty legendary.
Which legend (non-musical!) would you have appear on stage with you and what song would you play with them?
We have a few Christmas songs and have plans to put out a Christmas EP at some point in the future. It would be pretty great to share a stage with Santa Claus and play some Christmas classics but he’s pretty busy at that time of year.
There have been a few musical legends play Belladrum over the years which performance would you most like the opportunity to see again?
Martha Reeves played at Belladrum once. That would have been amazing!
How are you preparing for your Belladrum performance, what are your plans after you have played?
We are in the studio in Belfast working on our new album in the days leading up to Belladrum so we are very focussed on our new songs right now. We’ll be playing some of these at the festival but will throw in some oldies too! We’re all planning on staying at Belladrum for the whole weekend and are looking forward to catching some great performances. I’m excited to see Ash. They are a big influence on our band but I’ve somehow never managed to catch them live.
If your set only consisted of three songs and one extra cover, which ones would they be and why?
We’d play two of our catchiest singles, Julianne and There She Is. We’d also throw in a song called Find A Way to You from our new album that we’ll be playing live for the first time ever at Belladrum. We don’t really do covers but I’d like to play That Thing You Do, the song from the film of the same name. It always gets stuck in my head and was written by the Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger who tragically died of Covid-19 a couple of years ago.
And a wee bit of festival madness…
Who’d win a fight between Nessie and Godzilla?
I think Godzilla would have the upper hand based on his mouth-laser ability. His win-loss record is pretty impressive too. However, Nessie is a master of disguise so could strike from out of nowhere. A Godzilla and Nessie tag team would be unstoppable
You’re out for a few drinks, what other artist that you know, would turn it in to a legendary night?
I don’t drink so I’m not sure I can do this question justice. I’ve been on a night out with Angus Monro before. We ended up playing board games. It was a pretty legendary night! He’s a uniquely talented singer/songwriter so be sure to check him out.
Is Nessie real?
Yes.
What would you rather fight, a unicorn the size of Nessie or 20 unicorn sized Nessies?
I struggled to answer this one so I asked some of my bandmates to step in…
Andrew: I’m a pacifist so just one unicorn the size of Nessie so it will just stand on me and it’ll all be over with quickly. But unicorns are noble creatures so I don’t see it attacking me unless provoked.
Jamie: I’d fight a unicorn the size of Nessie in the water and 20 Unicorn sized Nessies on land. One after the other.
What is your favourite urban legend?
I guess I have a soft spot for the Loch Ness Monster because I grew up watching The Family Ness. What a great theme tune.
If you had to form a 4 piece band from legendary creatures what instrument would each play and why? Also what would you call the Mythical band?
The Kraken would be great on drums because it could play multiple kits at once. The Yeti would be on lead guitar because there’s no one cooler. Godzilla has an amazing scream so he’d be on lead vocals. Death was amazing in Wyld Stallyns so he’d be on bass. Please never ask me to name a band, I’m obviously not the best person to ask!
You can see Be Like Pablo at Belladrum 2022, performing as part of the IGigs Takeover on Thursday 28th July at 7.30pm at the Bandstand Stage. All things Belladrum can be found on our Belladrum Festival Page.
On the interweb you can catch Be Like Pablo on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, where news of the new album will be out in due course.
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