Audioholic Media

Glasvegas are from Scotland and they are an anthem band. The songs from their debut album, Glasvegas, double dog dare you to throw your fist into the air and take a shot of whisky (… or maybe just throw your fist into the air). Lead singer, James Allen, sings every lyric with a great deal of emotion– which is hugely appreciated because it’s downright difficult to understand what the hell he’s saying at times. But after a Google lyrics search, it becomes apparent that Allen (who is the band’s sole songwriter) has some really great stories to tell.

It’s no secret that Scottish music magnate, Alan McGee, has played a large part in Glasvegas’s success. After discovering them at a show in Scotland then praising them extensively on his blog, the band have become both well-known and respected over a short amount of time– they even got former Libertine/ex-Dirty Pretty Things lead singer, Carl Barat, to open for them on their first American tour.

Not bad, Glasvegas. Not bad at all.

Audioholic Media: So a lot of people know that you guys are involved with Alan McGee. Is he how you got Carl Barat to open for you on this tour?

Paul Donoghue, bass: Yeah, yeah. Alan and Carl came along to see us on the same night, and Alan managed Carl’s band, Dirty Pretty Things. They were finishing the album in Glasgow, and they managed to get Alan to come along. Carl just came for something to do. It was great.

AM: I read that there were twelve people in the audience when Alan first saw you live and that Columbia got you a $4 million house in New York City while you were recording the album. How are you able to process such a dramatic shift in such a relatively short amount of time?

Caroline McKay, drums: I don’t think we have time to process anything because there’s always the same kind of manic activity the following day. So maybe some time in five years’ time, we’ll process it all. [laughs]

PD: On our death beds. We’ll be like, “Ah, shit. That was really good!”

AM: James [Allen, lead vocals] co-produced the album, which is pretty rare for a new band on a big label. How were you able to convince Columbia to go for that?

PD: Before we signed a deal, we had already done sell-out UK tours on our own, and one of the singles went to number two in NME [for single of the year], and that was James that had copied that in his house, on like, a really crap little computer. So we had done so much of the groundwork, and what James had done in his house– I think they realized it was really special. Rich, who produced [the album] as well, had been in touch before any labels, so he already believed in James enough to let him do it.

CM: We were very fortunate when it came time to sign, that’s for sure. We had the opportunity to go with any kind of label, so… yippee! [laughs]

AM: With most well-known Scottish bands here in the U.S., it seems that one of peoples’ biggest complaints is that their sound is too Americanized– that they sacrifice their accents or strive to emulate American bands. Taking that into account, were you surprised at the American acclaim for your album?

PD: With the lyrics James sings, it’d be very hard for him to do anything other than completely honest, and if he sang in kind of a Mid-Atlantic accent, that’s not what we sound like. We wouldn’t sit down and talk with a Californian drawl or a New York accent, so it’s mostly just honesty.

AM: It seems as if this band is personal for you all– you were all friends before the band and the songs seem to be based in a lot of emotion. Does that make public criticism more difficult to hear? Are you more likely to become defensive?

CM: You can’t take it too seriously. If you believe everything that’s written about you, then you’re going to be in some kind of crazy headspace. You know, because as much as there’s good, there’s an equal amount of the bad things being said. If someone said something personal about someone in the band, I would be very upset.

PD: It also helps when you’re friends– you all have that bit more heart and you can face the kind of bad things because you are a group and there’s always four of you together.

AM: How long have you been on tour?

PD: Almost just over a year to the day.

AM: And you only get to go home for a few days sometimes, right?

CM: Yeah. We’ve spent more time in America than we have in Glasgow this year.

AM: Your families must be going crazy with you being gone so much. Did you get to travel a lot before you were in the band?

PD: No, no, not a great deal. Me and Caroline both had full-time jobs. Rab [Allen, lead guitar] and James were unemployed, so you don’t really get to see much of the world, Our families are good– as soon as you’re in the local paper. [laughs]

AM: What continents have you been to so far?

PD: Just America and Europe. We go to Japan in three or four days.

CM: Yeah, we finish this tour in Japan.

AM: People seem to be reacting really well to your live show– I heard that you just had a great show in Vancouver…

CM: Yeah, it was amazing!

AM: Is fan reaction at shows a definitive indicator for you of what your music is beginning to mean to people?

PD: It’s more important to us, the people out in the crowd than in the press. They’re the people who… they don’t have to spend their $15 to come and see you. They can spend that $15 on anything they want, so because they come to see us, it means so much. You have to give your all for them. It’s good being over here as well, because in Britain the shows are sold back now and you don’t get a chance to get out after the shows and talk to people, whereas here…

CM: It’s quite intimate. It’s great to get a chance to speak to everyone.

AM: Scotland has really rallied behind you, and everyone seems to want to see you do really well. Being that you have so much support from Scotland, is it strange or difficult for you to go back home? Does it feel like the same Glasgow to you?

CM: It’s just like going home. Because we’re constantly on the move and at the end of each day, we’ve got a gig or something major happening, I think after you’re home for, maybe four days– which I think is the longest we’ve had off this year– you get a bit restless. That time is usually kind of mad because you wanna see everyone but you don’t have time to, so it’s actually easier to be on the road…

PD: She sounds like a bit of a diva, ’cause it’s only the 15^th of January and she said we’ve only had four days off this year. [laughs]

CM: [laughing] No, no! I mean last year! I mean last year! But you know what I mean. It’s really hectic when you go home because you want to see everybody whereas when you’re on the road, that’s it.

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Visit Glasvegas on MySpace at myspace.com/glasvegas.
The band’s debut album, Glasvegas, is available on iTunes.