BELLADRUM: Stornoway, the band who like to get back to nature
WITH a name like their’s Oxford band Stornoway are one band that should feel at home in the north of Scotland.
And the Bella-bound four-piece have already passed the acid test of playing in the Hebridean town that gave them their name.
"We were definitely worried about that and wondering what sort of crowd we were going to be met with, but it was incredible up there, So wild and amazing. We booked out a venue and prepared a dram of whisky for all the audience members, which we gave to them just before we played to loosen them up and it went really well," drummer Rob Steadman said.
Stornoway later returned to their namesake town for the HebCelt Festival, which was also an amazing experience, rob recalls, although slightly marred by someone chucking a plastic bottle towards the stage.
Not quite as far as Stornoway, Belladrum is already familiar to the band, who previously appeared there in 2010.
"We’re looking forward to being back in such a beautiful landscape," Steadman said.
"It makes a really welcome change from touring around these smelly, dingy clubs! It’s definitely preferable to play somewhere that’s outdoors and beautiful. Any festival is a lot better than just playing a club gig — and also you get to see so many great acts."
Far from playing dingy clubs, Stornoway recently embarked on a tour of RSPB reserves around England, a move in keeping with their latest album Bonxie.
The album takes its title from the Shetland name for the great skua, but it is not the only indication on the album of the band’s love of the outdoors.
"We have got these soundscapes on the album. The majority are birds, but we have arctic wind and even a cityscape I recorded in New York for a song called Man on Wire, about Philippe Petit, who walked a tightwire between the Twin Towers," Steadman explained.
"But yes, the majority are birds. Brian (Briggs), our lead singer is an ornithologist and so that’s the connection there. He always has some influence in his lyrics leaning towards the natural world. We put those in to set the scene for each particular song.
"We have a keyboard programme that lets us play them live too and that’s gone down well."
While the band’s nature loving frontman has relocated to rural Wales, Steadman has done the opposite and moved to New York.
That might have added an extra logistical difficulty for the band, which includes Steadman’s older brother Oli on bass and keyboard player Jon Ouin, but Steadman added that like Briggs’ move to the Welsh coast, a change of location and out of his comfort zone had proved inspiring.
While for Briggs, that resulted in the songs for the new album for Rob that meant creating the artwork for Bonxie, which he says he doubts he would have been able to do had he not made the move to the Big Apple.
Yet even 3000 miles away, Stornoway remains his main focus.
"The album is released in America on a US label, so I feel I can fulfil a role as our man on the ground here," he added.
Bonxie, the third album from Stornoway, marks a new departure for the band. For the first time they have brought in an outside producer, Gil Norton, who is best known for his work with such influential rock bands as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen and Foo Fighters.
"In the past we’ve had a do-it-yourself mentality, but for this one we did want to shake things up again," Rob explained.
"Gil offered a very different perspective, not only because he is more experienced than us, but he has worked with bands in very different genres from us. He made it a bit more streamlined, which is what we were aiming for, and that’s reflected in the artwork.
"Getting a fresh pair of ears is a logical thing to do, and I think a wise thing to do."
• Stornoway appear on Belladrum’s main Garden Stage on Friday.
