Like with the also recently published “This Etal” Interview,
this interview with Scotland’s “Traquair” also came from a
demo review on a local telextext server, which publishes
reviews on demos once a week
Let me be honest, some of these demos are amazing.
Take Traquair for example, the review actually compared the demo to a
cross between Billy Joel and Belle and Sebsuation and incredibly it
actually sounds like this but it works.
Both of the two EP’s reflect this, in particular his second EP “"The Three
Sides of Perception" released in 2004 which is so raw, just the singer and
his guitar, it really allows to show how stripped down the songs can be and
actually work.
Stewart who is Traquair has his own website running (http://www.defomd.co.uk/straq/) which contains downloads of his
first EP “Levelled”….
Believe me, it is well worth popping over and trying to download
one or two and then nag him to get his second EP up on-line there!
Thanks for the interview, Stewart… Hope your trip to New Zealand
goes well..
Regards
Andy N xxx
Setting Sun: How's things and what are you doing at the moment?
Traquair:
I’m good, Hope your well. I’ve just finished recording some stuff and
now I’m sitting in front of my computer getting ready to plough
through your questions. Fire away….
Setting Sun: Can you tell us next a little about the history of ,
Traquair who fired the starting pistol and what started you off etc, etc?
Traquair:
Traquair is essentially me, Stewart Traquair. I’ve been writing and recording
songs since I was about nineteen or twenty. I initially recorded really simple
tunes on my trusty four track. Although the sound quality wasn’t always up
to much, I just enjoyed recording and experimenting with weird sounds
(much of which, to date, no-one has heard). It wasn’t until a brief spell
working in America, that someone convinced me to actually distribute
my stuff. I’ve always been confident in my songs but I never expected
other people to like them. So it was a blast giving out little tapes and
people giving me feedback, not always good I might add, but its all
part of the growing process. Eventually, I jumped both feet first into the
digital age and recorded on CD. Although I have to admit, and you may
hear it on the new E.P, “The Three Sides of Perception”, I have casually
been going back to a more restricted recording environment and
shunning the technology that is on offer nowadays when recording.
Setting Sun: What are your musical influences and what have you been
listening to recently?
Traquair:
My Musical Influences…Wow there’s a lot. I think, like most singer
songwriter’s, I owe a lot to artists like Neil Young and Bob Dylan. I
got into those guys at an early age. So maybe that’s what initially put me
on a path to being a musician. I just loved their music, lyrically amazing
and killer tunes to match.
My major influences at the moment would have to include WILCO,
Clem Snide, Calexico, and The Lemonheads & Car Power. I generally
like artists who are understated and who aren’t afraid to convey their
emotions.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, I love Jane’s Addiction, PJ Harvey,
the Stones and countless others. As you can see my influences are
somewhere in between the sensitive introspective side of music and the
dedicant rock star side of it. Although, I probably live my life like the
former and occasionally delve into the latter.
I’m currently listening to a lot of Elliot Smith (An American singer
songwriter who recently committed suicide). I’m embarrassed to say
that I didn’t get in to him until he died, but his music is unbelievable.
Every time I listen to his albums they just get better. I’ve also recently
discovered The Hidden Cameras, a crazy nine piece (and counting)
band from Canada. They truly are a Belle & Sebastian hybrid with a
little bit of avant-garde weirdness thrown in for good measure.
Setting Sun: I know you have released two EP's to date – "Levelled"
EP in 2002 and "The Three Sides of Perception" in 2004, can you
tell us a little bit about both of these EP's and how the experiences
of recording both differed as I can certainly hear a difference in
both of them?
Traquair:
Sure. I’m glad you could tell a bit of difference between the two.
I guess it comes down to the way both were recorded.
“Levelled” was recorded with a friend of mine in his house with a
computer and pro tools. This was my first step into digital recording.
The recording process went great and we probably finished the
four songs in the equivalent of a working day.
In retrospect, however, I’m a little bit disappointed with this EP.
I’m not too happy with the overall sound of it. I can’t fault my friend,
, his production was good and a lot of the stuff I wanted, he was able
to help me achieve. But ultimately, “Levelled” sounds polished, clean
and like it was recorded on a computer. Which is all well and good but
it wasn’t really the sound I was after or the sound I was playing with
when it was just a four track and me.
After “Levelled” I invested in an eight track and this is where
“The Three Sides of Perception” was born. I recorded this EP
in my own house and on my own. I went for a very simple
stripped back sound, recording the instruments as naturally as
possible, adding some slide guitar and echo along the way.
Where as “Levelled” was over produced I wanted this one to feel
under produced. I really wanted to create that effect where the listener
feels like I’m in the room, singing to them while they are listening.
Setting Sun: Can you also enlighten us about the meaning of
the title of your second EP "The Three Sides of Perception"
as it is a interesting title certainly, and seems to flow well particularly
well with the last song "The Musings of a conversational bore"
(which is a great title for a song by the way)
Traquair:
Why thank you. I was particularly proud of that song title. It was one of
those rare times that I really captured the people that I was trying to
sing about. I really enjoy playing that one live as well.
Anyway… “The Three Side of Perception”, the original title of the EP
was actually going to be ”Musings of a Conversational Bore”,
although I soon realised that people might take that the wrong way.
Hence a little step forward to the “perception” title.
I once read a book that claimed people never know how they are truly
perceived and that perception is only a product of how other people
see you or how you yourself would like to be seen. That stuck with
me and I guess the title is a reflection of how I see myself, other people
and how I perceive the society that I live in. Although with that said
if I had a ten pounds for every time someone has said to me “
What happens if you’ve got four sides of Perception” I would have,
well honestly, ten pounds.
Setting Sun: I am also quite taken by the cover to your first EP
"Levelled". Can you tell us a little about the significance of it to
that EP as it is certainly quite a striking image.
Traquair:
An ex-girlfriend of mine, whom I met in America and who studied
Art in London, designed the cover of “Levelled”..
I’m not really sure what she’s up to at the moment but she had an
amazing talent for seeing images like no one else can see them
and seeing colours like no one else can see them.
I once seen a still life image she had painted and the picture it had come
from. Asking her how she takes the image from the picture and paints
what she paints, she replied: “What, you don’t see it like that?” I’m
amazed that people can see things so differently. So with the “Levelled”
artwork I asked her to design me something with the scope basically being,
the title -“Levelled”.
The cover is her perception of me or how she saw me at that particular time.
It was weird seeing it for the first time and looking at how someone else
sees you. I guess in retrospect and with hindsight it would have also
been a nice cover for the second EP as well.
Setting Sun: Do you do gigs? If you do (or don't) how do or would
they vary from your studio recordings? Traquir:
I gig on a regular basis, probably more now than I have in the
past while. My set up live is normally just me and an acoustic guitar.
So right off the bat my live performances lack the extra instrumentation
and harmonies that my recordings normally have.
I sometimes use some effects pedals though, most of which are used
during “Musings of a Conversational Bore”. I have to admit, I prefer
playing live to recording. I guess it’s the thrill of having an audience
and interacting with them. Every time I write a song I try and visualise
how it would sound getting played live. The thought has crossed my
mind to put together a little band and thrash some stuff out but I never
seem to get round to it.
Setting Sun: What plans do you have next (gigs / recording wise)?
Do you have an album planned?
Traquair:
Well, I’m currently planning a trip to New Zealand. I’m going to go
and work there, write some songs, gig and do some travelling.
When I get back, I’m definitely going to put out an album, proper.
I have a lot of songs that I haven’t recorded yet. These are songs
that I guess I’ve been holding back on, waiting until I’m ready to
do something like a long-playing disc. Its good having loads of
songs for it, but the hard part comes with conceptionalising an idea
and having a con-current theme running through out. I may also
look into doing my own little label as well, releasing my own stuff
and hopefully other bands stuff as well.
Setting Sun: Where do you hail from? What's the local scene like
where you live? Have you seen any good concerts recently?
Traquair:
I hail from Glasgow in Scotland. As you probably know Glasgow has
a thriving music scene at the moment. What with ‘Franz Ferdinand’,
‘Snow Patrol’, ‘Sons & Daughters’ and ‘Dogs Die in Hot Cars’ all
making it ‘big’ in 2004. There is also quite a big acoustic movement
in Glasgow at the moment.
There is a hell of a lot of acoustic nights where local musicians can
turn up and play their own stuff or covers if they choose to.
It’s a good city to stay in for live music. Much like London and
Manchester you can see a gig every night of the week if you wanted to.
There are of lot of great local bands and talent that have yet to slip
through the surface. The last great gig I went to was Brendan Benson
at a really small pub in Glasgow called the 13th Note. It was great, just
him and a guitar and playing to about 70 people, at the most. I also saw
New York Singer /Songwriter Jessie Mallin the other night at Kings Tuts.
A great gig, real showman and one of the few people that I actually
believe is doing it all for the right reasons. It’s hard to believe
his old band supported the Ramones back in the early 90’s.
Setting Sun: Anyway, a few lighter questions to start winding down
with…. What would you be your ideal job if you were not a rock and<
roll star?
Traquair:
Wow, my ideal job if I wasn’t a rock star. I guess the ideal thing
would be to keep writing songs somehow, perhaps for other people,
films or something in that vein.
The only problem with the former is that you could end up writing songs
for some second rate c-list pop idol like Darius.
That would be painful.
If I could do anything that didn’t include music, I would love to work for
something like Lonely Planet and travel for a living that would be good.
Setting Sun: Lastly, something slightly less serious to finish
off with perhaps ... (Nicked from a pal's Zine in away "Imagine you
were ship wrecked on a desert Island and could have (clearly second
sight here – lol) the choice of having 5 records or cds with you
with a stereo of course. What would be your desert island discs?"
Traquair:
1. Clem Snide – ‘Your Favourite Music’
2. Wilco – ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’
3. Neil Young – ‘Rust never sleeps’
4. Jane’s Addiction – ‘Nothings Shocking’
5. Cat Power – “Free”
