Scotland is a hotbed of musical output, with bands such as CHVRCHES, The Twilight Sad and Honeyblood – to name just a few – all finding huge success nationally and internationally.
Even the capital, not commonly associated with a thriving modern music scene, is sending acts out into the musical limelight in the form of Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers; so, it’s a good time to be a musician in Scotland.
One band who are hoping to ride on this wave are Edinburgh duo Thirty Three Connection, who have recently released singles ‘Time and Time Again’ and ‘Heart in the Clouds’.
Comprising of Stephen Gillon and Andrew Brannen, the pair create a full sound from a very minimal set up consisting of keys, drums and vocals.
Speaking about their sound, drummer and co-vocalist Brannen said: “I personally love the piano, it has such a dynamic sound; I never fully realised how good Stephen was till we started playing together.
“We’ve thought about incorporating other instruments, but feel any potential gaps in our music that sound ‘bare’ can be perfectly filled by the diversity of the piano.
“We’re also starting to work more synthy-electronica into our music, but nothing too different to the natural sound we’re aiming for.”
It seems to be working for them, as their sound has drawn admiring compliments from none other than Scottish author Ian Rankin, who tweeted about the band after seeing them perform live – “@33connection, really enjoyed your set! Heading to iTunes…”
“That was an overwhelming message to receive; he came to one of our gigs and messaged us on twitter to say he was buying our old single.
“He has recently said he will be getting back in touch with what he thinks about our new singles; we are eagerly awaiting his opinion!”
The band have previously been involved in Verden Studio’s Demo Project, which gave them the chance to record some tracks and get advice on the music industry, as well as play a live show at the Electric Circus in Edinburgh.
“It was good to meet everyone and a great opportunity to network; we met some great people through the project including Jamie and Shoony who we still get in touch with today.”
Despite projects like this, the band still finds themselves at a crossroads in their musical career; there are thousands of artists in Scotland who find themselves in a position where progression becomes difficult, almost always because of finances.
Brannen very openly described the problems facing bands at this level, and why life can be difficult for acts on the outer circle of success: “We’re definitely not the only band in a similar situation; in the end most of these problems are financial.
If we had the financial backing to record a full EP and help with our travel costs to venues then we would happily be doing that willingly without hesitation; it’s very hard to know where to go from here without support from people in the industry.
When asked about what he felt could be done, he suggested more opportunities to meet with people working within the music industry, or more readily available advice; perhaps a place where musicians can regularly meet to speak and to help each other.
This brings back the old story of Edinburgh’s music scene, where many bands feel stifled at the lack of opportunities.
There have recently been huge movements within the capital to try and persuade the council to relax noise level rules, to try and give the scene a boost, however, compared to Glasgow, Edinburgh is still far off the pace:
“We personally believe that from when we first started getting into the music scene around 2010 to now it has significantly grown for the better and it’s only getting better.
“Although we have seen great progress, the capital is in desperate need of some more venues to attract more touring bands, especially after the closure of the Picture House.
“I believe that if Electric Circus wasn’t there to attract bands to the capital, the music scene would completely die.
“It would be great if rather than competing against each other, Glasgow’s and Edinburgh’s music scene helped each other out, for greater benefit to the Scottish music scene.”
In the future it is possible that this will be the case, but for now the scenes seem to operate almost separately, with more and more bands moving west to seek out Glasgow’s musical Mecca.
For Thirty Three Connection though, it is a case of soldiering on as they pursue their musical passion; now starting a new year, the band can look back on what has been a successful 2014, while also looking forward to the future: “We’ve had a magnificent initial response to our new singles, a lot more so than our debut.
“Great write-ups and radio airtime with a successful comeback gig at Teviot with Aquafaux; we’re looking into preparing for a busy 2015 calendar with plenty of gigs across the country and festival appearances.”
Words: Thomas Brent
