Wednesday 5th October
The Pictish Trail +Monoganon
£8/£10 [+ 10% booking fee]
Doors open 8pm
Something of a sonic hermit, Pictish Trail has spent the past few years tucked away in his caravan on the Hebridean isle of Eigg, feverishly working on the follow up to Secret Soundz Vol. 1&2, his critically-acclaimed double album of DIY electronic folk-tinged croft pop, released in 2014. Now Spring has sprung, Pictish has emerged with a new clutch of songs, his most confident and accomplished sounding yet.
“ Far Gone” is a tip of the hat to Fargo, my favourite film (and favourite telly series now),” says Johnny. “The song is about paranoia, the fear of being caught, and how that pushes people into desperate situations. I started writing it for a Coen Brothers tribute show that I took part in a few years ago. I think the organisers expected me to cover a song from a Coen Brothers soundtrack, but instead I decided to use a sample inspired by the theme tune from the Fargo film and add a hip hop beat, a raspy Casio keyboard bassline and a reverb-soaked melody.”
‘Far Gone’ was produced by the Trail’s old friend Adem Ilhan, making it a reunion of sorts. In 2010, Adem and Pictish Trail wrote music together under the name Silver Columns, releasing the critically-acclaimed album Yes And Dance via London taste-makers Moshi Moshi. Throughout his career Pictish Trail has resolutely furrowed his own path, steadily creating an unique catalogue of recordings and performances through his own labels (Lost Map / Fence Records), eschewing the blueprint of the predictable singer-songwriter in favour of something untidily intriguing. Born out of a compulsion to make infectious, melody driven music from a treasure trove of secret sounds, Pictish Trail’s spectral songs are filtered through a sun-warped pop lens; where heart-pumping guitar shriek-outs collide with sampled gurgles, and fractured lyrics figure-skate over sine-waves of glacial synth.
Monoganon’s vibrant blend of disjointed psych-pop and jazz-grunge bristles with energy. Alongside guitarist and singer, John B McKenna, are Andrew Cowan (guitar and backing vocals), Susan Bear (bass), and Keith Smith (drums), all providing dexterous and intuitive accompaniment.
Bookings are not currently available for this event.