
Glasvegas
Viva Glasvegas!
Feb 01, 2008
Winter 2008 - She & Him
Photography by Dean Cunning
Scottish up-and-comers Glasvegas have made a name for themselves through the classic pop-inspired demos that have been circulating online and a couple of limited run 7” singles. But it is the band’s latest track, “Daddy’s Gone,” a poignant commentary regarding an absentee father, that has garnered Glasvegas the most attention. “You could have had it all,” sings vocalist James Allan. “You, me, and mum, you know anything was possible. I won’t be the lonely one, sitting on my own and sad, a 50-year-old reminiscing what I had. Forget your dad, he’s gone.” “Some of the song is through personal experience and some of it is just through growing up and seeing things,” says Allan about the track. “Most people have experienced this kind of thing in some capacity. My main point with ‘Daddy’s Gone’ was that I don’t want to get to an age where I regret. Regret and guilt…I believe those emotions can destroy the best of us.” After some solo recording in 2004, Allan formed Glasvegas with his cousin and guitarist Rab Allan, bassist Paul Donoghue, and drummer Caroline McKay in Glasgow in the spring of 2005. The band started mainly as an outgrowth of the foursome’s friendship and social pursuits, and much of early rehearsals involved learning how to play their instruments. Now their sound mixes newer reference points like fellow Scots Jesus and Mary Chain and The Twilight Sad with classic ’60s pop, influenced by Phil Spector and Elvis Presley. “I can never remember a point in my life when I hadn’t heard of Elvis,” says Allan. “But it was really through watching old footage of his Ed Sullivan shows where I got a glimpse of the power of the Elvis.” When Allan spoke to Under the Radar in early December, Glasvegas was unsigned, but interest in the band was growing, fueled by U.K. hype-machine NME and justified by the strength of their demos. Still, Allan remains mum, saying simply, “I don’t take anything to do with all that. I’m the guy who makes the songs and sings them.” Yet the band’s profile is rising. In recent months, they have gotten to mix with old guard luminaries, meeting Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim), playing shows with The Stone Roses’ Ian Brown, and hanging out with The Smiths’ Andy Rourke. The highlights? “They were all really sweet people,” says Allan. “My highlights are always playing the shows…for the kids, man!”
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