NEXT up in our TRAIL SPOTLIGHT series, meet Fog Bandits.
When it comes to loud and anthemic alt-rock few bands in Glasgow are doing it better. The four-piece shared their debut EP ‘Coven’ earlier this year – a heady concotion of nu-metal, punk and 90s alt rock that channels the energy of My Chemical Romance with some added Glasgow grit. Dark, formidable and exhilarating, they’re a band undoubtedly ont he rise – so expect an incendiary live show at TRAIL.
Find out what they had to say below, and get your tickets here.
How would you describe your music for those not yet acquainted?
“Our sound is very loud and it’s very in your face and there’s so much energy and we just ask you to just sort of lose yourself in it a wee bit. We like to blend different genres together. So it’s not just alternative rock, this song’s got a bit more of a kind of punk feel to it, or this song’s got a bit more of a metal edge to it. We try to always spice it up and keep it really fresh, just both for us and anybody that’s listening.”
“If you’re fans of bands like My Chemical Romance. Bring Me the Horizon, Muse, Scotland’s own Vukovi, you’re really going to absolutely love what we’re doing. And even if you’re not, I think you’re still going to have a really fun time here.”
What can we expect from your set at Trail?
“At Tenement Trail, this year we’re going to be way too loud and way too energetic, but we think that you’re going to have way too much fun with it. So we are also hoping to debut a little bit of new music. Maybe we’re not. We’re not setting that at the time of recording, but we’re working on it.
“But yeah, just like brace yourself for a kind of classic Glasgow punk and alternative energy, because we’re going to be sending it through the roof.
Do you have any memories of Tenement Trail?
“So my favourite memory of Tenement Trail needs to come from 2023. There were so many artists that day. Like, it genuinely felt like a non-stop live music marathon. I was seeing so many bands and seeing so many new bands, I just couldn’t keep track of it. But my favourite memory from the day comes from the first band of the entire day, and that was San Jose.
“And they were opening in Van Winkle. I already had seen them and I’ve seen them tonnes of times since, but they’re very… I don’t know how best to put it, but they’re like good performers, right? And they make a lot of big statements when they play. So seeing the chaos that ensued in the tiny, tiny Van Winkle was just like, you can’t unsee it. It was just brilliant. I don’t understand how you go on after that and you hear the band on after them. You’re like, “oh, great, we’re just not going to be as good as that”. But it was so fun, it was so good. It set such a good tone for the rest of the day.”
What makes Glasgow crowds special?
“Glasgow is such an incredible city for live music. As an artist who’s been growing up and playing here, you know, we’ve got to play so many incredible venues and, like, there’s so many iconic places in Glasgow that you can play. Not to mention the fact that there’s like such a good community of musicians and artists right now and a whole bunch of different genres and niches. And the Glasgow crowd is, like, famous for when they like you, they like you and they make it known. It’s fun, you can’t beat a Glasgow crowd everybody knows they are the best.”
What has been the highlight of your year so far?
“I would give two highlights from this year. The first is when we supported the Vukovi in SWG3 back in April. That was the biggest room we’ve ever played to. On top of, like, opening for our favourite Scottish band. It was a really amazing experience and a glimpse that maybe we could get to this stage one day. The second was selling out our King Tuts headline in August.
“That show is like our collective favourite that we’ve ever played. The crowd was amazing. We pushed ourselves as performers, as on a technical level, just everything about that show was just everything we wanted it to be. And it’s really propelled us to do something really great over the next few years.”
Can you tell us about your recent EP – what was inspiring you at the time of writing and how has your sound evolved since starting?
“Our first EP came out back in July. It’s called This Coven. And the inspiration behind that was a lot to do with being young and having all these ambitions and dreams and not really knowing how you achieve them. It can almost feel like you’re not in control of what’s going to happen next. So it’s about finding the strength and the certainty to stand and grow as a young person in that kind of strange environment that we’re in right now.
“And sonically, it completely developed every way we write music. At the start of the process of it, we were still writing quite stripped back, kind of like punk songs. And you can still hear that on the final product. But by the end of it, we were introducing synths, we were introducing samples of different things, we were bringing everything together under this one umbrella. And it’s really like defined what we think we can do going forward.
“It’s been a massive process, the way it’s changed our sound and our vision for what we do next.”
What else have you got coming up? What are your ambitions for the band?
“We’ve got the rest of our year planned out gig wise, but our biggest goal right now is writing and getting this band outwith Glasgow and outwith Scotland. I think that’s our biggest goal for next year, is to sort of have a few gigs down south or wherever they’ll take us. Our ambition for this band is to just push it and see how far it can go. We’re all young, we’re all ambitious, and we think we’ve got a sound that will really click with a lot of people. But we just need to put the graft in to find those people and to give ourselves whatever chance we can.
“So we’re hoping that next year, we’re going to be releasing a lot more music. We hope that that is going to help with that, with reaching new people. We’re so excited about all the stuff we’ve been working on. It’s just such a different direction and such a new sound. It’s so much scarier than before.
“The plan is to stay ambitious and to push ourselves and see where we end up.”
