64 .............................. Friday, December 19, 2014 1SM

WE WANT A GOOD SOCIAL LIFENewMusic By JIMGELLATLY

SHINING . . . lads want more gigs in 2015

SUNSHINE SOCIALWHO: Calum MacDonald (vocals/guitar), DanielMiller (guitar/vocals), Spencer McMillan (guitar/vocals), Jake Morris (bass/vocals), Greig Dickson(keyboard/vocals), Julian Lambin (drums).WHERE: Glasgow.FOR FANS OF: Bombay Bicycle Club, Mumford &Sons, Frightened Rabbit.JIM SAYS: I first came across Sunshine Social in2010 when I was a judge at the final of the Billy KellySongwriting Award at Òran Mór in Glasgow.Despite a very strong line-up, it was a unanimous

decision to present Sunshine Social with the prizeworth £5,000, including studio time and promotion.Though initially listed as a solo act for the competi-

tion, by the time the final came round they hadbecome a full band. Greig said: “The band gottogether throughout that competition. Calum

intended to enter as a solo act but invited a few of usto accompany him. We played the final as a six-piece.Winning the competition secured the funding andsupport network to record our first EP and video.”A collective of singer-songwriters, the band gradu-

ally got together through open mic nights acrossGlasgow. Julian added: “At the start the band fulfilleda more supportive role to Calum’s songs. As peoplejoined they also got involved in the songwriting,although Calum still writes the majority of the lyrics.”The band’s early material was rooted in acoustic

folk but they’ve developed a more contemporarysound as they approach the release of their debutalbum. Daniel said: “We’ve added a lot more instru-mentation, so it’s an almighty noise. But there’s a lotof delicate melody and harmonies in there too.”

Recent material, including the stunning new singleThe Brace, retains the folk influence, but with moreof an indie rock feel. The plan is to release anothersingle at the start of next year, with the as-yet-untitled album to follow in February.Having previously sold out King Tut’s and packed

out the T Break tent at T In The Park, SunshineSocial have already have a healthy following.Julian said: “We really want to play some gigs

further afield and generally gig as much possible.Some more festivals in the summer would be great.We’re really happy with the music we’ve got on thealbum. It’s now just about getting as many people aspossible to hear that music and see us live.”MORE: facebook.com/sunshinesociall Jim presents Drivetime on XFM Scotland, Mondayto Friday 4-7pm. www.xfm.co.uk www.jimgellatly.com

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian SweeneyWatch the band at: thescottishsun.co.uk

Something for the WeekendSomething 2

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TURBOWOLF rockharder than a bag of

cement.Head-banging,booming drums andcrunching guitars.And the Bristolband’s current singleRabbit’s Foot hasgot all of that . . . inspades.Even better, if youpre-order their album,

you get it now fornothing. Give it alisten at facebook.com/turbowolf

ICONIC venue KingTut’s in Glasgow isabout to turn 25.And to celebrate,bosses are putting ona load of crackinggigs throughoutFebruary. The likes ofThe Courteeners, TheCribs and VigoThieves are all set towow the crowds.Check out the fulllist at kingtuts.co.ukbut be quick becausethe dates are sellingout fast.

MOST rock stars spendtheir downtime living itup in places like BeverlyHills, blowing off steamand spending smallfortunes.

But not Queens Of TheStone Age axelord MichaelShuman.

He’s hard at it — with his othergroup Mini Mansions.

They’re grafting away, playingsupport slots — miles away fromthe headlining duties of his morefamous band.

The Los Angeles star explained:“It’s two completely differentthings. I enjoy both equally.

“It’s always a challenge to be asupport band because you’re tryingto win over someone else’s fansand they don’t really care.

“We played a bunch of showswith Arctic Monkeys and it wasreally great — the fans were young,hungry and excited about newmusic.

“But a lot of times it’s not likethat. It can be hard and you needto give everything you’ve got towin them over.

“I like being the underdog.

‘There areall these hoops’

“We’re a completely differentband, completely different kind ofmusic and I wouldn’t expect it tobe the same world.”

Mini Mansions are hoping to getrid of their underdog tag withtheir new album The GreatPretenders, which is due out inMarch even though it has beendone and dusted for six months.

Michael, 29, said: “It’s been donesince July. There are allthese hoops you’ve got to gothrough, but the music has beendone for a while.

“We’re fine with waiting. We’regetting ready to tour a lot. Ofcourse I want the music to beheard as soon as possible, but Iknow how it works.”

The band did toy with followingU2’s lead by giving the albumaway for free.

Michael added: “We were think-ing about putting it out for free,we make this art and we wantpeople to hear it.

“I fully support bands puttingout their music for free — morepower to them if that’s theirchoice.

“But I have mixed feelings aboutthe streaming companies likeSpotify. In some ways it’s great aspeople can hear all types of musicbut it is hard for an artist.

“You put your blood, sweat andtears into making an album and italso costs a lot of money.

“This one cost us a lot and itwas our own money at somepoints so to not get a return wouldbe hard.” Punters have reacted

well to lead single Death Is AGirl.

But Michael has bad news ifyou did like it. He said: “Thealbum sounds nothing like that.

“That song was weird anddifferent enough to catch people’sattention.

“We wanted to put out a songwith that energy as our firstalbum was laid-back.

“This time we wanted to comeout all guns blazing.

“I wouldn’t say the music peoplehave heard so far is any indica-tion of what’s on the rest of thealbum. It’s pretty much all over

the map. One thing I’m proudabout is we’ve made a record thatsounds like us — it stands on itsown.”

‘We hung out andhad a good time’

And the trio — also includingZach Dawes and Tyler Parkford —will be showing it off becausethey’ve agreed a deal to be thesupport act for rockers RoyalBlood’s upcoming tour.

They storm Glasgow’s Barrow-land for a double-header on Feb-ruary 22 and 23. Michael said:

“When we got those shows, it wassuper exciting. Their success hasbeen great and they’re really greatguys, I met them when they werejust starting out.

“They came out to a Queensshow and we played a festivaltogether in Norway. We hung outand had a good time.”

He added: “A lot of times yougo on tour and either you don’ttalk to the other band or you’re indifferent places but this time, wecan all hang out and have agood time.”l Watch the video for the single and gettour tickets at minimansionsmusic.com

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ONE2HEARTURBOWOLF rock

It’s sucha toughgigbeingasupportact