Each week we feature a different Scottish artist on the blog including premieres and Q&A’s. Please check out some of the amazing Scottish talent we have discovered over the years.
If you would like to submit a track please get in touch 4 weeks in advance of the release - resonatescot@gmail.com
Check out our Resonate Artist of the Week Spotify Playlist here
Q&A - Imogen Stirling
Imogen Stirling is a Glasgow-based playwright, performance poet and musician whose practice fuses these genres to create exciting multi-artform performances. She was shortlisted for the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry 2022, named ‘Artist of the Year’ supported by the National Theatre of Scotland (SETA 2021) and features as a writer/performer on BAFTA-winning Sky Arts poetry and hip hop documentary, Life & Rhymes.
From Secret Garden Party to Latitude, Imogen's poetry is frequently showcased on music festival stages and she was a recent participant of the BBC Words First talent development scheme (BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Asian Network and BBC Contains Strong Language). Rapper Darren 'Loki' McGarvey called Imogen's work, 'a tonic for the tribal times we live in.' Imogen's five star gig poetry show #Hypocrisy sold out at the Edinburgh and Prague Fringe Festivals before transferring to London. Meanwhile, Love The Sinner was published as a poetry collection by Verve Poetry Press and completed a 26-date book tour around the UK and mainland Europe, visiting music festivals, literary festivals and arts venues from Finland to the Isle of Mull. Benjamin Zephaniah called it ‘the work of a lyrical genius’.
We caught up with Imogen this week on her debut release. You can read the full Q&A below and listen here.
Your debut album ‘Love The Sinner' came out on 5th May. It follows the seven deadly sins as they seek solace. Can you tell us more about this and where the idea came from ?
The seven sins is a creative framework I've always been interested in - there's something so mythical, dark and magical about it, there's a reason why so many diverse artists have been drawn to offering their interpretation. For me, I liked the challenge of finding beauty in something supposedly ugly. I wanted people not only to sympathise with the sins but to see something of themselves in them. I set the sins as seven characters in contemporary Scotland, struggling with anxieties and overthinking in a society obsessed with judgement and self-betterment. But it was always important to me that these weren't characters to be 'fixed' - their sinfulness is what unites them, what unites all people, and is to be celebrated.
What is the album about?
“‘Love The Sinner’ is a mirror and a rallying cry, reflecting on all the messy and beautiful intricacies of what it means to be human today. The majority of the lyrics were written during lockdown which I think has inspired the creation of characters finding themselves trapped in isolation while yearning for community. While the album picks apart flaws and anxieties, I hope that what triumphs is a sensation of resounding hope.”
“As a spoken word artist, I've always been intrigued by the parameters of the genre - where it can be pushed and what stories it can tell. Pairing my words with Sarah's music has felt so visceral, tearing the world of ‘Love The Sinner’ off the page and throwing it, vibrant and electric, into the world. The multi-artform nature of the album has allowed me to draw on the elements that excite me in so many artists I admire - the lyricism of Kae Tempest, the introspection of James Blake, the ethereality of FKA Twigs and the badass vibes of Self Esteem. I hope that everyone finds a story they need within ‘Love The Sinner’.”
'WRATH' has some really clear lyrics and depictions. This track really resonates with me & the daily pressures we face in life. Can you give any advice to anyone dealing with these kind of pressures ?
I don't know if I really have any advice - I suppose it was a lack of knowing what to do under the weight of the pressures that drove me to write the track in the first place. Personally, I take comfort in knowing I'm not alone in a situation, so I hope that other women will listen to the track and find solidarity. The patriarchy we live under can be so insidious that sometimes you forget how ridiculous these rules imposed on women are, because they're presented to us as normal. The track is trying to highlight how completely unsustainable it all is and highlight the power in the collective rage women hold.
What is your creative process like?
It really depends on the project - whether I'm working on music, poetry or theatre. Either way, there's a lot of solitary writing time to begin with - a lot of drafting, redrafting and redrafting again. I'm trying to get better at not holding onto work until it feels 'ready' but instead working with trusted collaborators at an earlier stage - keeping my writing more malleable and responsive to whatever other art form I'm working with. I'm always working the balance between style and connection - I love presenting work that is stylistically exciting and that showcases poetry in visceral, unusual ways, but connection with an audience has to be the thing that leads. If my words aren't landing, aren't moving or speaking to a listener as I want them to, then it's not working.
You have live performances starting this week, can you tell us more about them?
Love The Sinner exists as a book and now an album, and has been adapted for stage by Vanishing Point Theatre Company. We open this week at the Tron Theatre and next week at the Traverse Theatre. The stage show is absolutely beautiful - a big, multi-layered pulsating fusion of performance poetry, electronic music, visual theatre, video and sound design. It's somewhere between a gig and a theatre show and I really can't wait to present it to audiences.
Tell us more about how your artist career started, and where you see it going?
I started mainly in music - I was in a music duo and we toured a lot around the UK and Europe. I discovered performance poetry really by chance when I came back to Glasgow and bit by bit experimented with adding music or theatrical narrative to it, to start creating work that felt genre-pushing and exciting. I'm very keen to write a new set that tours as a music set but is clearly theatrical in its presentation - think Self Esteem meets Kae Tempest. Lots of lights and movement and brilliant sound. I'm also working on a couple of new plays that are specifically for theatre. So we'll see!
‘Love The Sinner’ sees Imogen Stirling take command of the spoken-word genre, and drive it into electrifyingly fresh and free new territory. Listen to ‘Love the Sinner’ here.
Q&A - Ocean Tides
Formed in the midst of the pandemic, Glasgow alternative metal outfit Ocean Tides bring a fresh sound to the Glasgow metal scene. Combining elements of visceral post hardcore and heavy metalcore riffage, Ocean Tides strive to create a familiar ringing in their music that will stick around in your ears. Inspired and commited, the band want to become renowned amongst the likes of Bleed From Within; & Ocean Tides are doing everything in its capabilities to play bigger shows and reaching more people to do so!
The outfir have just released their new single ‘This Has to End Somewhere‘ on 1st May recorded by Bruce Rintoul & written/producer by Connor Sweeney. This is a follow up to their recent single release ‘Can’t You See… ?’ and their self titled album last year (2022).
Ocean Tides experiment with their sound by adding more energetic catchy choruses and groovy heavy sections with screaming chaotic guitars. Gaining their footing in the local scene, they perform to their highest standard providing a solid set at any show. Being one of the youngest bands in the local metal scene they are seen as one of the most promising up and coming bands from Glasgow.
Recently playing their hometown headliner at Audio to a near sold out audience & recently supporting The Head of the Traitor, Ocean Tides are aiming higher to reach their aspirations of playing shows non stop. We caught up with them this week. Listen & read the full Q&A below:
How would you describe your sound?
Since the release of our first EP, our influences were more of the classic metalcore sound e.g Polaris, Beartooth and Architects. Preferences in music gradually changed, now we have gone into alternative metal leaning into shoegaze/post-rock, we’re wanting to create the sort of music we want to hear and scratch our ever-changing itch of writing music.
Tell us about your recent show supporting "The Head of the Traitor' in Audio?
The Head Of The Traitor we’re one of the first bands we ever played a show with, for that they are one of our closest friends in the Glasgow metal scene. The most friendly people and always down for a laugh during load in and soundcheck.
The turn out was amazing and the crowd was great, pits were lively and everyone had a great time.
Your new single 'This Has to End Somewhere' is out now. Can you tell us more about your approach to writing this track and who was involved?
The track was based around our lead guitarist Fergus Macleod, he was in a dark and scary place which influenced the overall approach and feeling of the song. Myself and Fergus worked together on lyrics alongside Connor Sweeney who featured and produced the song, we aimed for a conversation piece for the lyrics which are eerie and memorable.
Who are another Glasgow metal band people should be checking out ?
We can’t only choose one as there are so many bands in the scene killing it right now.
Sixth Wonder have recently come into the scene and have a really cool sound.
Inferiem have been good friends of ours as we’ve played quite a few shows with them and always have a ripper of a set.
Where did the band name come from ?
The name came about from both guitarists Ben Nixon and Fergus Macleod as they both have grown up near the ocean and it has such a significant meaning that the band should be named that.
Can you tell us anything more about your plans for 2023?
Play as many shows as possible,inside and outside of Scotland and try to get more people to know about us. We’re trying to also play some festivals but that’ll be more likely to happen next year.
We’re also trying to reach out to labels to possibly be signed as it’ll be helpful to have the backing of a label to create more music
Listen to Ocean Tides new single ‘This Has To End Somewhere’ below.