INTERVIEW | THE PARTY SLOGAN

We got the chance to catch up with Party Slogan and discuss their start-up, Lockdown, and their dream festivals. Thanks to the guys for the Interview!

 If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be? 

Calum (vocals, keys) – The way in how artists get paid for their music being streamed. I resent the fact that the owners of streaming companies like Spotify make all the money from all the artists hard work. 

Cameron (bass) – Yes, I too would ensure the means of production are in the hands of the workers.

Robbie (lead guitar) – People should be taking more chances on artists that have incredible songs, but not the budget to make enormous, polished recordings. The audio quality of a record shouldn’t determine whether somebody is eligible for an opportunity.

What or who got you into music?

Calum – I’m not really sure to be honest, I remember really enjoying watching my cousin’s band playing when I was really young. I think the fascination of that steered me towards learning to play instruments. 

Cameron – I was going to mention my cousin too, we’re such an incestuous band. My cousin and I both received musical instruments around the same time growing up and started doing tunes together. We still collaborate from time to time, we have a project called onybdy and Edited Arts released one of our tracks on a compilation.

Robbie – My Mum and Busted. 

Jamie – One of my pals introduced me to Oasis, The Beatles and I remember him showing me a video of Jimi Hendrix. I went and got my first guitar not long after that. 

If you could have 3 musicians headline a festival, dead or alive, who would it be? 

Calum – David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain playing with Nirvana

Robbie – Us, The Pogues and Love

What is your dream gig venue?

Calum – Got to be the Barrowlands for me. Never had a bad night in there watching a gig. 

Robbie – The Royal Albert Hall, or a huge outdoor gig at Leith Links

Cameron – Kirkgate 

If you had to describe Scottish gig culture in 3 words, what would they be?

 Robbie – Self-congratulatory, stagnant and inspiring. 

Cameron – Too Glasgow-centric. 

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Calum – Anton Newcombe from the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the guy is an insanely good musician and producer so would relish the chance to do some tracks with him. 

Robbie – Bernard Butler and Brett Anderson. 

What plans do you have for any new releases such as videos or gigs?

Cameron – We have our EP “Don’t You Think You’re Being Lied To?” out next month on the 13th of May which we are looking forward to everyone hearing, we’re all really chuffed with it and at least for me personally I feel as though it’s a collection of our best tunes to date.

Calum – In terms of gigs, we have a few booked up to hopefully happen in September – we’ll let everyone know about them when they are confirmed!

What did you get upto during Lockdown?

Calum – I was in the fortunate position to still be working throughout lockdown so that kept me very busy. Besides that I have spent stupid amounts of time and money researching my family tree out of curiosity.  

Cameron – Call of Duty 

What is the first thing you’re doing when you’re properly out of Lockdown?

Calum – Probably going to spend a lot of time catching up with people I have barely seen over the last year. 

Jamie – I haven’t been to the cinema ages so I’d like to do that, plus some sort of holiday might be nice as well. 

What are some of your favourite up and coming bands from Scotland?

Calum – Too many to name them all, but I really like fellow Edinburgh band Cameo Habitat – their music is so good!

Cameron – Ded Rabbit and Jeshua, both have albums out later this year, both are going to be incredible.

Robbie – Pizza Crunch and Quiche. 

What are a few songs that you listen to and think “God, I wish I wrote this”?

Calum – Again too many to name them all, but one song in particular I wish I had written is “Days” by The Drums – that song is pure perfection. 

Cameron – “Cop Killer” – Body Count

Jamie – “Temptation” – New Order

How do you think the gig scene in Scotland is going to look in 2021?

Jamie – It’s kind of hard not to be pessimistic with independent venues struggling and seeing as it’s been over a year now since we last played a gig – it’s difficult to imagine us playing live any time soon. Hopefully this lockdown has given people a hunger for live music though, and when we come out of it there will be a demand for it that sees the venues full again.

How did the band start up?

Robbie – Calum, Jamie and myself met as desperate single musicians on Gumtree and masqueraded as a band for about 3 years before finding the other two. In reality we were just getting pissed in Calum’s flat watching music documentaries instead of songwriting. 

Cameron – Jamie and I went to school together, and apparently Calum slept on my sofa once when I lived in Perth but I don’t remember. Jamie and I met up to go to a Cloud Nothings gig in Glasgow and he brought Calum along too. They asked me to come and see their band play at Leith Depot and asked me to join after the show. 

Calum – Me and Ally (drums) also went to school together, so we have known each other for a long time now and have played in bands together previously. When our last drummer left the band, Ally had just moved up from London and was staying in my flat, so it made total sense for me to ask him to pick up the sticks for us. 

For those who aren’t familiar with your music, how would you describe it?

Cameron – “Powerhouse rhythm section”

Jamie – Just now I’d say we are a mixture of a darker post-punk sound and some summery indie vibes. 

What is the best musical advice you’ve ever been given?

Jamie – It wasn’t advice given directly to me and I’m not sure where I heard it, but I remember hearing advice to just write and even if it’s a bad idea to just finish it. It’s definitely made me more prolific in my writing and although most of the songs I write we don’t end up using I do get the odd good one. 

Cameron – I chopped my fingernail off making falafel a couple years ago and famously played keyboards (poorly) and percussion (surprisingly well) at one of our gigs at Bannerman’s instead of bass. I wasn’t able to play it for like three months and then when I was my callouses had totally gone and I had soft wee baby fingers. Someone suggested rubbing surgical spirit on my fingertips to toughen them up and it really worked a treat, but an even better piece of advice than that was just not to chop my fingernails off.

Check the band out on their Social Media!

About Mirjana Lozančić 27 Articles
Journalist, Guitarist, and Vocalist. Fan of Nick Cave, Queen, and Amy Winehouse :) x