Staying Positive

GRANT MACLENNAN catches up with the Glasgow-based seven piece

BE A FAMILIAR are a Glasgow-based band with roots in Lochaber – founder members Callum Morrison and Chris Pashley are both from Fort William, and were members of the highly-regarded Carson before forming Be A Familiar.

GRANT MACLENNAN: Be A Familiar – where did the name come from?

BE A FAMILIAR: In the formative stages of the band myself (Callum) and Chris used to talk loads about music and would try come up with names for songs and possible band names. One drunken night I remember us stumbling upon the words “Be a Familiar” after discussing a lyric in a song that I liked. It kinda fit as we wanted this band to be about unity and friendship amidst adversity.

Be A Familiar

GRANT MACLENNAN: Would you say you prefer playing festivals or regular gigs? What differences to you find?

BAF: I don’t think we have a preference as long as the crowd are up for it and we feel good. Some of our best shows have been in small clubs but obviously playing T in the Park in front of 600 people was awesome as well. There are differences concerning the audience but we try play every show with the same attitude.

GRANT MACLENNAN: Do the band have any summer festival dates this year?

BAF: We are playing the Sound of Summer festival in Edinburgh on 22 August. Apart from that we are touring in support of our new single, which is out on the 20 July.

GRANT MACLENNAN: BAF Fest 2010 – who’s on the lineup?

BAF: Oooh, this is difficult. At the moment this is what it’d be. On the main stage we’d probably have Fleetwood Mac, Bjork, The Twilight Sad, Blonde Redhead, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens and Elbow. We’d perhaps rock it up a bit with Idlewild, Brand New, Deftones and Biffy Clyro. We’d also have some of our friends play on the alternative stages like: The Robocop Krauss, The Green Apple Sea, Terra Diablo, Strike The Colours, Gdansk, Tango in the Attic and Jocasta Sleeps. That would be a nice day, even if it rained.

GRANT MACLENNAN: What other bands do you get along with best, whom do you see coming to the forefront of the “scene” this year?

BAF: We have a lot of friends in bands around Glasgow, Scotland and further afield internationally. It’s a healthy scene in Glasgow with loads of bands making really great music. Are oldest friends are probably Terra Diablo and Strike The Colours – who are all super talented musicians you should check out. We really like Tango in the attic’s music and that’s the reason we are doing a split single together.
Other bands that we are good friends with are The Robocop Krauss and The Green Apple Sea, both from Germany. Locally we’d probably say Gdansk, Jocasta Sleeps, and The Fire and I are three bands that have become good friends. They are three great bands you should go see. It’s always difficult to predict who will push to the front of the scene as the industry is pretty unpredictable at times but I guess that’s what makes it exciting.

GRANT MCLENNAN: BAF is pretty big with seven members – what are the differences in playing in such a band compared with the regular four piece?

BAF: There are not too many differences as the band works in the conventional four piece way but all you have with us is the extra bonus of melody and layers from extra members. From a drumming point of view being tight with the band is important and it can be slightly more challenging at times but we manage okay. I suppose the sound is just much, much louder and more visceral with seven members.

GRANT MCLENNAN: Being seven of you, how did you all come together?

BAF: Myself and Chris would jam together and record what we had on an 8-track. We roped in our friend Louise Ironside and our former member Gregg to add unconventional instruments to the sound, like cello, piano and trumpet. It was apparent that the kind of music we were making needed a big band and from there we recruited three more members, Maria Higgins, Jack McKenna, and Matt Edgar. Ewan Grant has recently joined and taken over the trumpet and piano duties from Gregg. We all compliment each other and have a strong friendship as well as being band mates.

GRANT MCLENNAN: How important would you place giving a “performance” live rather than replicating a recorded single on stage? In terms of having such a large band to accomplish this with.

BAF: We like to be well practiced as a band and try hard to play our songs really well on stage. It would be a horrible mess if we were not good players or didn’t practice hard. Our recordings have a very natural feel to them anyway so we don’t stray too far off the path when it comes to our live sound and I think people appreciate that. In an age where there is a lot of electronics used to replicate sounds, I think it’s important to show good musicianship and play a true representation of the song showing craft and feeling.

Performance is hugely important to us but we don’t plan what’s going to happen or discuss anything before hand. I think it’s nice when you look around the stage and see people losing themselves within the performance and that shows the audience that we feel it as well as think it…whatever “it” is.

GRANT MCLENNAN: What influences your music, excluding other bands?

BAF: Lots of different things influence us. It’s easy just to say “life”, but that’s a bit too broad. With seven members comes a lot of different backgrounds and interests so we take a lot from different places. Chris really likes film and Maria has an English Literature degree which they say helps with lyrics and vision.

GRANT MACLENNAN: Do you feel there are any themes which run through out the lyrics in your music? Do they tell a symbolic tale of life, or just whatever rhymes?

BAF: With this band, I think it definitely has to be adversity and fighting situations that you are not happy about. If it comes across vitriolic or vengeful it is a feeling that is innocent at heart and tells a tale of finding your way through life. Friends and family support you through stuff like that and I hear a lot of that message in our music.

It’s easy to be negative in life but difficult to remain positive which is something we take notice of a lot. At times, Scotland can be full of negativity and this band takes a chance to express that we don’t feel like that all the time and want to break out of the common mould. That was a bit philosophical wasn’t it!? ha!

GRANT MACLENNAN: Chris and Callum, having been in Carson, a band with such hyped promise, but ultimately breaking apart; is it difficult to pick up again and start something new with the same passion?

BAF: It was probably the best and most natural thing we’ve ever done. Passion is never a problem and when it starts to become a problem in anything you do it’s probably time to stop.

GRANT MACLENNAN: If you could be a member of any band, past and present, who would it be?

BAF: I would be a member of Nirvana. In my opinion, the best rock band ever to grace the planet.

‘You’d Make A Great Ghost’ is released on the 20 July, available for download from the iTunes store or as a 7” single from Broken Friend Records

© Grant Maclennan, 2009

Links

• Be A Familiar Myspace
• Broken Friend Records