IT’S not long until Glasgow’s punk rockers and TTV favourites Baby Strange take to the Stewart Cruickshank stage at Electric Fields, as the festival gets set to host its biggest lineup to date. The three-piece are enjoying quite a year themselves and are more than ready to hit the big time with their long awaited debut album being released on September 2nd via Ignition Records.
Having gone down a storm at a number of festivals already this summer, the Electric Fields crowds will be in for a treat when the band bring their impassioned punk anthems, raucous energy and visceral live set to Drumlanrig Castle on the Friday. This will also be a chance to see them before they embark on their UK tour, making them essential viewing.
We caught up with the band to hear about their summer, Electric Fields and the upcoming album.
“It’s been a fun summer, we’ve been working hard on new songs as well as getting things ready for the album coming out in September. Festival season has been good. We’ve played to a lot of packed out tents which is always nice.”
And with Electric Fields coming up, there’s still something to look forward to before festival season draws to a close: “We’re looking forward to playing alongside so many of our friend’s bands. We also prefer the smaller boutique festivals, they have a more personal feel. The bigger ones have been good but there’s something about the smaller ones that we’ve been drawn towards.”
With the event hosting one of the most eclectic and impressive line-ups of the summer, who are the band looking forward to seeing the most? “White, The Ninth Wave, Factory Floor and Neon Waltz”, they say. But if they could pick their dream festival headliners? “The Clash, Elvis and Nirvana’ would have to be up there; just don’t tell Bobby Gillespie.”
More than anything though, this year’s Electric Fields lineup reflects the huge range of talent currently emerging from Scotland, with a great deal of excitement currently surrounding the country’s music scene. Baby Strange have become a firm part of this music community, particularly in their hometown Glasgow which is thriving with new bands: “It’s great. Most of the bands coming through are all friends too – it makes it that bit more special.”
Such good friends in fact, that they joined fellow Glasgow band WHITE on a co-headline tour around the UK earlier this year; the best bit of which was “being able to annoy (WHITE’s) Hamish everyday 10 days straight” apparently.
With the tour proving such a success, the two bands recently announced a huge joint date at Glasgow’s ABC on the 16th of December with support from The Cut and The Ninth Wave. It promises to be a special night, but everything is being kept under wraps for now: “Yes, we have some huge plans. Can’t give anything away yet though.”
Before we reach the end of the year however, the punk rockers will be releasing their hotly anticipated debut album ‘Want It Need It’ on September 2nd. It will consist of some new and unheard material alongside some of their most popular singles such as ‘Pure Evil’, ‘Pleasure City’ and ‘VVV’:
“The sound has developed a little but only because we are getting better and writing and playing. It still sounds like us though, there’s no drastic change. We are still the same band as people heard on the first couple of singles.”
But given their impressive run of form in recent years, do they feel any pressure to live up to expectations? “None at all. We love the record. It’ll just be a bonus if other people love it too.”
There’s certainly plenty of exciting times ahead for Baby Strange as they look set to capitalise on their growing reputation as one of Scotland’s most exciting bands. If they could describe 2016 in three words? “What a buzz”, is the reply.
