46 ............... Friday, July 8, 2016 1SM

SPARESWHO: Ewan Santer (vocals/synths/percussion), TobyBrunning (guitar), Dave McMa-nus (synth/vocals/percussion),Lucie Miller (synth/ vocals/per-cussion), Adam MacMillan(bass/synth), Stuart Brunton(guitar), Lewis Gale (drums /percussion).WHERE: Edinburgh.FOR FANS OF: New Order,Foals, LCD Soundsystem.JIM SAYS: I first came acrossSpares a couple of years ago,and fell in love with a songcalled Home. I didn’t knowmuch about them, but thesound coming out of thespeakers is what really matters.It had me hooked.

The collective is still a bit of amystery, but then they’ve yet toplay a live show. That’s set tochange with their first showsplanned later in the year inEdinburgh, London and Ham-burg.

That may sound a trifle ambi-tious for an unknown band, buteach member has paid theirdues over the past decade orso. The band’s lineageincludes such past andpresent acts as Stanley Odd,Make Model, Chutes, The LittleKicks and The Lonely Together.

Ewan told me: “We are the‘spare’ parts of many bandscoming together. I think wehave all graced the T Breakstage at T in the Park in variousguises over the years. We haveall appeared on the same gigbills, becoming friends andadmirers of each other’s musicand talents.”

Encouraged by the initial

response to their original 2014three-track demo Spares havebeen beavering away in thestudio. They’ve just released adouble A-side single called Iwith work on the follow-up IIalready under way. The twosongs on I are a perfect musi-cal calling card that has medesperate for more. Truth, Love& Beauty is a glorious slab ofdisco infused undergroundelectro that wouldn’t be out ofplace on legendary New Yorklabel DFA. Underground, butwith pop sensibility at its core.Friends Of Mine, meanwhile,veers towards piano house,while retaining a lo-fi indie feel.Both tracks are incrediblydanceable and ripe forremixes.

Ewan said: “Spares is quitedifferent from the other bandswe play in. It’s more of a collab-orative process. Everyone isfree to bring their ideas to thetable. It’s more dance orien-tated, there are more synthsand the songs don’t all follow astandard structure. On a per-sonal level I find it fun and excit-ing when we all get together.”

When Spares do unveilthemselves live, I reckon we arein for a treat. Ewan added: “Ourkey objective is to create thebest live performance we canpossibly put together. Morethan just a gig.”

I can’t wait!More: www.facebook.com/WeAreSparesl Jim presents a weekly show-case of New Music on AmazingRadio on Sundays, 2-4pm.

www.amazingradio.comwww.jimgellatly.com

See video of band at:thescottishsun.co.uk

NEWMUSICBy Jim Gellatly

MUSICss f t w MEETSBIFFYCLYRO

‘MyheadwasallovertheplaceandI felt soalone inallof it. Iwasfeelingunfulfilled’

By JACQUI SWIFT

BIFFY Clyro neverplanned to take awhole year off afterthey finished touringlast album, 2013’sOpposites.

But when they began theprocess of making their nextalbum, something wasn’t right.

Singer Simon Neil explains:“When I started writing songs atthe start of last year, I realisedthat, for the first time, I was writ-ing songs anticipating the band’sand record company’s reaction.

“That was a bad start. So I wentaway, made another record (underhis solo name of ZCC) to forgetabout that pressure and rememberthe joy of making music.”

New album Ellipsis sees the Kil-marnock trio return to their heavyroots with some of their mostimpassioned songs in years.

Simon adds: “We started practis-ing three or four days a week, likewe did when we were 15.

“We are a band rooted in ourreal life and feelings, so spendingtime with our families, learning tobe normal again, was just what weneeded.

“We can’t write or sing about lifeon the tour bus in Hungary, it’snot real. So for the first time inyears we had to let go andstopped looking at the calendarand knowing we were on tour oroff doing something else. We justenjoyed life again.”

Biffy Clyro — Simon, drummerBen Johnston and his twin brotherbassist James, all 36 — have beenin Los Angeles for the last fewmonths putting the finishingtouches to Ellipsis when we meetat a West Hollywood hotel.

There’s a tray of margaritas andsoft drinks being delivered to theirtable. The trio are in celebratorymood with album number sevennearly finished.

‘It was like startingall over again’

In good spirits, they’re jokingwith their record label people whoaccompany them, while Simon’swife Francesca says how shethinks Ellipsis is her favouriteBiffy album in ages.

What’s clear is this new albumis the sound of a rejuvenated band.

“We didn’t want to go on cruisecontrol,” says Ben.

“We’d much rather be terrifiedthat everyone is going to hate thisrecord than try and do somethingthat is a surefire hit. And after adouble album we wanted to makesure it was really streamlined anddown to just ten to 12 tracks.

“We wanted to feel like we were18 years old again, making ourfirst record with that kind ofimpact and impression. Thinkingno one gave a f*** again isactually quite healthy.”

James adds: “It was like throw-ing everything out of the windowand starting again.”

The band says that despite beingone of our biggest rock bands andheadlining festivals, they’ve neverfelt like they belong.

Simon says: “We’ll always beoutsiders.

“We grew up in a small town inScotland and we were never taughtmusic, we learned from ourselvesand it’s part of our characteristic.

“We’re not allowed to be rockstars when we are back home,”says Ben. “It’s just the Scottishmentality.”

Writing the album at home inScotland and recording it in LAwith producer Rich Costey whileliving together in a house in theHollywood Hills, is, says Simon, “acontradiction.”

He laughs: “We were out at din-ner with John Taylor from DuranDuran last night. How LA is that?

“We need to be at home and onour own to write yet we come hereto LA, where it’s all about people’sdreams. And that then feeds intothe record. Everywhere you go in

this city you see beautiful people aswaiters, wanting to be actors.

“But then the glamour of the cityfades away when you stay here for awhile and see the dark underbelly.There’s a stench of desperation here.

“So here is as much the Americandream as the death of the Americandream and that ying and yangworks well with our band. There isno middle ground and that’s thesame with this city.”

Biffy are a band who haveexperienced ups and downs.

In 2013, Ben revealed that hisaddiction to alcohol while makingOpposites nearly split up the band,who have been together since theywere teenagers.

But after a stint in AA, he gotsober and “has been in a goodplace ever since.”

He wasn’t the only member goingthrough a hard time. In 2013, theband were forced to cancel a num-ber of gigs citing frontman Simon’s“serious respiratory problem”. Hewas suffering from anxiety and

panic attacks and feared he wasgoing to have a full-on nervousbreakdown.

“My head was all over the place,’he admits. “And I felt like I was soalone in it all.

“I know people who suffer withmental health and depressionsometimes feel alone because noone understands.

“I look like I have this great lifeand I do — look we are here in LAon this beautiful evening. But I feltunfulfilled and I wasn’t happy. Ialso couldn’t write for a while.”

Recovering at home, Simon wasunable to leave his house for morethan a month. Francesca, who hadquit her job as a schoolteacher,

decided to take her husband to LAfor a long holiday, to rest and clearhis head.

“Frankie was there for me andwe worked through it.

“I’ve been surprised by theamount of people who have gonethrough a similar thing.

“There is strength to be takenfrom that. It’s brutal but there isroom for support and help.

“That is all anyone wants and Ithink that we can help each otherdo that. And it was this point,when I was in LA and getting helpthat my songs progressed into thisnew album. That is why we’vemade a f*** you record.”

First single Wolves of Winter is asnarling album opener that camefrom watching a David Attenbor-ough documentary.

Simon says: “I was watching thewolves and how they protect theirland. I’ve felt like that about theband at certain points.

“Whether it’s a pressure fromlabels or people with certain