Electroscope

Gayle Brogan and John Cavanagh record some of the most striking music around.  Between them they have worked with everyone from Adventures in Stereo to Sir Cliff Richard, and Stephen Pastel described their sound as "uniquely entrancing" in the Scotsman.  Yet, after two full length CDs and a record bag full of seven inch singles, Electroscope remain one of Glasgow's best kept secrets.

We caught up with Gayle and John in March 2000, shortly before they decided to take a break from Electroscope to concentrate on solo projects.

How did the two of you first meet?

John: I met Gayle through a friend of mine who'd been at school with her.  This girl had told me that her friend liked strange music and she thought we'd have a lot in common!!

Gayle: John was chairing a seminar at Sound City in Glasgow that a friend of mine had dragged me along to...  he invited me down to the Pastels / Lungleg gig that was on later that night.

How did Electroscope come about?

John: A couple of years later we were trying out an old valve tape machine.  Although we'd been friends and knew that we'd both played instruments, we'd never thought of trying to play anything together.  Gayle suggested that I get out my clarinet and, once I'd got past the red faced embarrassment stage at the idea, I played that, she played a Farfisa Pianorgan my folks had bought in the late '50's and voila: Electroscope just happened.

How would you describe the sound of Electroscope to the uninitiated?

Gayle: Late night bedroom folk sometimes, dark psych tapestries sometimes, the sound of two warped imaginations running riot in a room full of gimmicky and ancient recording equipment and instruments.  My granny says "does anyone really listen to music like that?!  It's queer music!!"  heehee!

It can't have been easy to recreate the sound of your records at live shows, what has the crowd reaction been like?

Gayle: Just the usual mostly, a smattering of applause, some approving nods.  I feel pretty frustrated playing live mostly, I don't feel I / we can do justice to our sound live.  A small handful of songs work well live but I guess it's the experience of trying to create often fairly spontaneous moments again and again that I feel uncomfortable with.

John: The first time we played, at the 12 Bar in London, one person clapped at the end of our opener!  Later the people there started to get into it and then a guy who turned out to be the nephew of a '60's pop star got carried away and shouted "YOU GUYS ROCK"!  Hmmm I'm not sure we do!  One of the most enjoyable things we did was supporting Hefner last year.  They'd asked for us to support, but as both their agent and the club people assumed that the other had told us about this, we only learned that we were the "special guests" we'd been wondering about when we'd seen the posters about two hours before the show!  It was very busy, nobody knew we were on, so it was entirely Hefner's crowd and we went down really well: a very satisfying surprise on all counts.

Do you have any gigs lined up for this year?

Gayle: We did, tomorrow night in fact which we've had to cancel for one reason or another...  I'm sure this state of inactivity (on my flakey and inconsistent part I hasten to add) won't last for ever.  It's funny but the minute I feel I can't face playing live we get offers from the US, France, Norway ... typical!!

Most Electroscope releases are 7" singles, is there a reason for this?

John: Apart from the fact that it's a great format and one we're both really fond of, it's the format that most of the labels who have released our music have been working with.  Our first vinyl releases were 7" e.p.'s which was good: as our songs are generally fairly/very short, we had themed sequences, space and sea respectively, without it becoming some tiresome, elongated "concept".

Your second LP, Journey to the Centre of Electroscope, came out late in 1999.  How much of a progression was it from Homemade Electroscope?

Gayle: Quite a substantial difference I feel.  "Homemade" was us having it small, "Journey" having it large!!  It sounds so opulent in comparison.  We had access to much more exotic instruments and had a confidence in our music and ourselves that made it a much more ambitious and grandiose recording than the more self-conscious introspective sounds on "Homemade".

John: We started gathering songs as soon as we'd completed "Homemade" and I think the way we moved on trying new sounds and shapes on "Journey" is pretty clear.  If my memory serves, the earliest recording on the album is "Friends In Exile", the one we'd just finished when we decided it was time to compile the l.p. was "Shamash".  Getting better sounds onto tape was an adventure in itself, with all the strange old bits of equipment we'd pick up and I think we became much more adventurous with song ideas too.

How do you go about writing an Electroscope record, is it a group effort, or do you work separately?

Gayle: It used to be a collaborative effort, and in fact "Journey" to my mind shows that approach at its best.  We would both start a track and then take it to the other to for added input / ideas.  The last few months have seen us working in isolation from each other increasingly which is probably more down to me than John.

John: We generally work seperately as we've got quite differing approaches to the process of recording and preparing a song.  Sometimes ("Aphelion" or "Eight Arms to Drown You" for example) one of us does the music, the other supplies the words.  Alternately (as in "December Moods" or "Shamash") we may have complete songs on our own which the other appears on, or doesn't depending on what's needed!

You both seem to play a variety of instruments, are you classically trained?

John: Gayle studied violin and played in orchestras when she was at school.  I started learning clarinet, but had to stop when I was 12 as I had a bad "wheezy" illness and couldn't blow the instrument for long without coughing.   I have no pretensions of musicianship and I think my realisation that "the chops", as they say, weren't the be-all-and-end-all came when I was seven: I saw Brian Eno with Roxy Music on "Top of the Pops" and it dawned on me that what he was playing was just perfect, but it wasn't the overblown stuff of the Keith Emerson/Rick Wakeman variety!  If you can get a sound that you like that fits what you need from an instrument, that's what matters.

John, you interviewed Delia Derbyshire for Gayle's Boa fanzine, would you say that early BBC Radiophonic Workshop was an influence on your recording style?

John:Oh yes!  Delia is amazing and everyone should know about her.   Of course I think everyone does know her "Doctor Who" theme, but her other stuff is astounding!  Delia was a great rebel; she came from a very formal background in music and then she just took off and did her own thing.  Sounds she created nearly 40 years ago still sound utterly timeless.

Joe Meek gets a mention on the first Electroscope LP, and you have recently covered a song which was co-written by him. Has he been an inspiration for you?

John: Delia says she never met Joe, but she wished she had as she was aware of what he was doing and felt that they were two lone figures swimming against the tide of the establishment.  What Joe achieved in a home studio was truly amazing and he is a great inspiration to us, although I don't think it shows particularly in our sound except perhaps in our fondness for lots of compression of the signal!

Stephen Pastel gave you a favourable review in the Scotsman, do you feel part of some Scottish indie scene, or is that an invention of the music press?

John: If there was a scene, it was over before the music press even started sniffing around and building a myth.  Yes, there was a lot of attention here over Bis and yes it was incredible and very exciting to go and see them get better and better just about every week.  Then suddenly there was a "scene" and, no disrespect, but people are still asking about it.  Any city will generate its share of music and Glasgow is no different: some of it is great, some of it is crap!  We just do what we do regardless.

Gayle: I suppose every town has its own "scene" for want of a better word, a group of people with musical interests in common who put on gigs / play in bands and loosely associate.  Both of us were inspired by the Pastels to a great extent and we feel a certain affinity with them and also Mount Vernon Arts Lab but I can't say that I feel part of anything.  I tend to feel more isolated, the more cliquey scenes become.  I like to remain on the periphery.

You helped out on both Hefner and the Delgado's debut albums, how did that come about, and are you surprised by how successful they have both become?

John: John Morrison who plays bass in Hefner is also the bassist in Rhatigan and it was through Suzanne Rhatigan that we got to know Hefner.  When they came up to record their first l.p. in Glasgow, they stayed at Boa H.Q. and we were really pleased when they asked us to do something on their record.  To see something as "one off" as Hefner getting successful is really exciting.  The market usually dictates that the only people who get any push are the safer soundalikes.  It seems that really distinctive sounds have a hard job breaking through...  Hefner came in for a bit of a cautious approach with that first album...  I'm sure their record label would claim they were right behind Hefner from the start, but I remember that the initial mixes of "Breaking God's Heart" were thought a bit wild by Too Pure.   "Eloping", for example, was much more of a racket at the end!

Gayle:The Delgados' connection came about through John - they were playing a session on his radio show and Emma was toying with the idea of playing violin again and I offered to lend a hand (meaning I'd teach her the basics) and somehow ended up playing on it and a couple of recorded songs and live shows.  We played our first show with Hefner in London and then they stayed with us in Glasgow when they recorded their album and we ended up playing some bits and pieces on that.  I get my chance at being famous(ish) every time they play up here when I sing my part on "Hymn to the Postal Service"!!  I'm not sure how commercially successful either band are to be honest, I tend to exist in my own wee world and am constantly surprised by things that happen in the outside world.  It surprises me that the Delgados are still together - I thought they'd have killed each other before their first album was released!!

Have you been working with anyone recently who might be destined for similar success?

Gayle: I like to think that Colin from Zurich will one day be adored by all and I know he shares that dream haha!  I am also going to be recording with the Relict who I think are destined to be loved and idolized by many.

John, Intriguingly the Electroscope website claims that you appeared on a Cliff Richard record. Please, please elaborate.

John: Ah....Cliff...yes....  After an interview tour in '95, he wanted to put something about what he was up to at the end of an e.p. he'd done with Olivia Newton John (!!) and, of all the interviews he'd done, the one with me was the one they chose.

John, As well as being in Electroscope you have a "proper job" on Scottish Radio.   Does this help in any way with your own music?

John: If anything, I always tend to be careful not to be seen flogging my other wares, if you like, but I have played the odd Electroscope track along the way and I've had quite a few people asking for it too!  I got a red face when I was interviewing John Peel for his 60th birthday last August.  He was on the line from his home and suddenly he started going on about how much he liked the guitar playing on one of our tracks called "Turbine".  After that people were writing in saying "go on then; play some Electroscope" - well, I couldn't really refuse that.

Gayle, how do you decide which records to sell on the Melody Bar website?

Gayle: Basically it's what I like but also what I think I can sell to my discerning clientele.  I prefer to sell things that are otherwise difficult to track down or prohibitively expensive.  That was the original rationale behind the Melody Bar.

Which Boa releases are you particularly proud of?

Gayle: Well, the Electroscope album of course.  It was a pretty major release for our wee occasional label to undertake.  I'm not sure what the future holds.  I have a fantasy wish of doing a 10" record in a gatefold pack with Boa #10 but whether that will happen or not... we'll see.

What other bands would you recommend looking out for in 2000?

John: Last year I found I was listening to quite a lot of electronic stuff: Lali Puna, Fizzarum etc. and that has carried on this year with an l.p. by Figurera.  Printed Circuit are doing some really interesting things too.   Someone played me a cd by the Need from Olympia (I think) which was pretty amazing...  then I picked up this one sided l.p. by Current 93 with the early folk revival figure Shirley Collins singing on it...  I got the Bristols l.p. a couple of weeks ago...  now if they'd only do a show with the Action Time...  ask me tomorrow and the list will probably be completely different!

And what are Electroscope's plans for the year ahead?

John: Why to explode of course!!  No seriously, we've got a third album on the way from Mar-Ino records, there's a split e.p. from a Finnish label (Octane, formerly Weird Dreams) another split on Kylie Productions, a track on a Norwegian Syd Barrett tribute album, a Nick Drake cover, a cd re-issue (already) of the split l.p. we did with Minmae last year, various tracks on compilations and a new single on Boa featuring Geoff Goddard songs.  He worked closely with Joe Meek and wrote things like "Johnnny Remember Me".   Electroscope & Mount Vernon Arts Lab have collaborated on a version of Geoff's "Sky Men" and Pam Berry's band Castaway Stones play "My Friend Bobby" on the flipside.

Gayle: Hmmm, I'm not sure beyond what John has already listed. I have a collection of songs I've recorded which I want to do something with at some point. Watch this space... to use a well-worn cliche!