Achi news desk-
So, what I want to know, I tell Tam Killean, the front man of Wojtek the Bear, is how his band got to work with the great man. Some impressive music business contacts? Family recognition? A spot of blackmail, perhaps?
“I sent him a really speculative email never expecting a reply and he replied within an hour and a half saying, ‘Yes, I’d love to work with you guys. When are you free to speak?’”
Email? Ah, right. That simple? Killean doesn’t quite believe himself.
“Once I managed to peel myself off the ceiling I spoke to him and we set off very quickly.
He was so gracious and fantastic through the whole process.”
The result is Wojtek the Bear’s new third album, Shaking Hands with the NME, which feels familiar and fresh at the same time. It reminded me, I tell Killean, of the first time I heard Cake, The Trashcan Sinatras’ first album. It has the same sense of being part of a tradition while offering a new voice.
If anything, handshakes are… maybe a little more grown up. It’s no surprise as some of the bands are on the cusp of middle age, and a bit greener (much of which you can put down to the work of violinist Becky Cheminais).
Even at first listen, the title track and slowly, then all at once sound like worthy additions to the great Scottish songbook. All in all, the collaboration with Street is a success.
The how, we know. But what about the why? Why did Killean even send that email in the first place?
“We thought we’d try and do something to push ourselves and we put together a wish list if you like. And Stephen was pretty much at the top of that wish list.
“He’s worked with some of our favorite artists and some of our favorite records of all time. We’re huge Smiths fans, huge Blur fans and New Order.”
They also wanted to make the most of Cheminais’ talents and Street had worked with The Cranberries on songs such as Dreams and Linger.
“That’s what was in my head,” Killean explains. “If he can make the strings on our record sound like that then straight away we have a winner.”
The appeal of working with Street is kind of obvious. But what about Wojtek attracted Street? The producer is happy to tell me.
“When Tam first contacted me he sent me a link to some of the demos they had written for this record and I really enjoyed the quality of the song. It really was that simple,” Street said.
“I have been very lucky to work with great artists and writers over the last few years. There is a certain quality that I am ready to work with and I liked what I heard.
“To me Tam’s words are very good. I didn’t realize how good they were until I sat down and listened to them much more closely when I was working with him in the recording process.”
Street’s involvement is also a sign of Wojtek the Bear’s growing reputation. Named after a war hero of the Polish war effort commemorated in a statue in Prince’s Gardens in Edinburgh, the band was formed in 2016 by Killean and guitarist Graham “Chuck” Norris. Killer and bass player Paul Kirkwood is originally from Wishaw and the rest of the band includes drummer Scott McCutcheon and the aforementioned Cheminais. “She’s the only real musician in the band. He went to the conservatoire in Glasgow,” Killean admits.
READ MORE
Nick Cave returns with a new album ‘joyou’ and a Scottish gig
I’m not morbid, said King Creosote. I’m 55. What’s to lose?
The best holiday in Scotland for 2024? Here are our favourites
Killean, who has just turned 41, has been in bands since he was a teenager, as has the rest of the band. It is a testament to his resilience and perhaps even stubbornness that he is still making music all these years later.
“For a while I didn’t, he admits. “I had a break, late twenties, early thirties, when I did nothing for four or five years. I got sick of it and became very depressed. But that’s probably the reason anyone does anything creative.
“We don’t see this as our career. In the landscape we now operate in and none of us make enough money out of this to live on. This is something we do for fun.” (By day Killean is Head of Student Council at the University of Glasgow.) “Coming back to it is because of the itch you have inside yourself ,” he continues. “If you don’t do it you feel like you’re selling yourself short or missing out on something.
“When I’m playing live or composing songs I just feel better. It is definitely good for your mental health. It’s good for my mental health anyway. I immediately felt better when I started going out and doing it again.
“We have an album launch in a couple of weeks and I’m really looking forward to that. I have a little boy who is two. The nights out I get are quite limited so it’s a good excuse.”
Last June Street spent two weeks in Blantyre recording the album at Chem16 studio. Part of the appeal, he said, was working with new talent.
“That has always been my strength. Which would have been helping break the Kaiser Chiefs or The Ordinary Boys, or even the Cranberries. I’ve always been known for that. Every now and then I’ll work with an established star, Chrissie Hynde or someone like that. My forte has always been discovering new things and helping them break. I still do that to this day. But that’s exciting. I like to help new talent along the way.”
That is getting harder, he admits.
“It’s a lot harder than it was back in the nineties, that’s for sure.”
Killean agrees. “I’m thinking of making a record like two traditional guitars, bass, drums, a band it’s …” He sighs before continuing.
“I’m trying not to give you a super depressing answer but when you consider the cost of living, it’s extremely difficult. Everything is more expensive, even basic things like having a practice room. The prices of the practice room we use even in the last few years, have increased significantly. Things like this make it very forbidding. It feels almost like a luxury when it should be accessible to everyone.
“Don’t get me wrong we were incredibly lucky we had support from our label Last Night From Glasgow and Creative Scotland to make the record and to work with Stephen. And to be honest without that support we wouldn’t have been able to work with him.”
It’s probably easier, he adds, to sit in your room and make music out of beats and samples. But that is not true of the traditional band establishment. “It is also a matter of concern that over the last few years the Scottish Government has been hanging the ax over Creative Scotland funding and cutting it back and only general funding for the arts across the whole of the UK is being prioritized in the way it should. That is a real concern going forward.
“I’m not saying that from a selfish point of view only because we’ve managed to benefit, but the arts are crucial – especially music – for everyone; for general enjoyment or culture.”
In a way the album’s title track is a bit of a nostalgic lament for the music industry that Street cut his teeth on back in the 1980s and 1990s. “Guess I’ll never see the Brit awards/at a table paid for by Polydor …” Killean sings before going on to name Steve Lamacq and conjure up terrifying tales of Pulp.
“When we were recording Stephen actually said to us, ‘I feel it’s my responsibility that you could be prosecuted for this. So I hope Jarvis Cocker’s lawyer doesn’t get his act together.”
A final word to Stryd then. He wants as many people to hear Shake Hands with the NME as possible.
“I can’t wait to see what the world’s reaction is to this record. I’m very proud of it.
“I hope the band is, too. They should be.”
Shaking Hands with the NME is out on April 12. The band will play Glasgow University Debating Chamber on April 13 to launch the album, supported by The BMX Bandits and Annie Booth
