This one’s for the Masses Q&A

Radio DJ Vic Galloway has sights set on new music career with his trip-hop collective

FOR more than 20 years, Vic Galloway has been one of Scotland’s best known and best loved DJs.

First on Radio 1 and then on Radio Scotland, 6Music and even the World Service, his love of new music has been a springboard for most if not all our best musical exports.

Now, the DJ, 47, who has been making music since he was a teenager has his own shot at being a rock star.

His band Check Masses, from Edinburgh, includes singer Philly Collins and producer Saleem Andy McGroarty. It has mixed trip-hop with punk and soul to create a unique sound, heard on debut album Nightlife and on songs including new single Lost in the City, which is out today.

It was rock star first and radio second. I’ve made music since I was a teenager. I was in lots of bands before getting the Radio 1 gig in 1999 and since then, I’ve constantly made music. However, I know how much is being released on a weekly basis, so I wanted to get something special together before putting out anything else into the world. It needs to be quality and it needs to stand out from the crowd.

To some, it will be a hindrance

– who does he think he is? To most people, though, I think they will be interested. I’m confident that if they take a listen to the Nightlife album, they will like what they hear. Even if the music isn’t exactly to their taste, they will realise it’s good stuff.

I’d love the band to take off and we’re very serious about the music and the debut album Nightlife. I’d like to balance the two, if that started happening. I obviously love presenting radio shows, writing books and hosting events. But I love making music just as much. In this modern world, I think it’s possible to do both.

Not really. The three of us in the band have all been making music for years in different guises and in different styles, so we’ve really taken our own experiences and used them. Philly was signed to EMI, wrote songs with Graham Gouldman from 10CC and sang vocals on tour with Macy Gray. Andy is a hip-hop producer and beatmaker who has released music on the Mo Wax label and produced artists such as Joseph Malik and I’ve been in lots of bands with childhood friends such as James Yorkston and King Creosote. It all goes into the melting pot.

We’ve all known each other since the 90s – Edinburgh is a small city. Andy and I went to see Alexei Sayle doing stand-up one night a few years ago. We went for a pizza afterwards and started to discuss music-making. We then began to collaborate and quickly had five or six tunes ready. Andy suggested getting Philly involved. He then heard what we’d done and jumped in.

The first track we worked on together was Dripn Angel – that became the first single and the opening track on the album. We knew we had something special straight away.

In Andy’s and my flats. The songwriting process would start with a sample, loop or beat from Andy. I would add instrumentation and turn the beat into a backing track. Then Philly and I would work that backing track into a song, with vocal melodies and lyrics. It was quite effortless. We just made a load of music – I think about 18 songs or maybe more. Not all the songs we finished are on the album and there’s lots more to come.

We had a plan for gigs, festivals, promotion around the singles and Nightlife album release... and that’s all vanished. We thought about waiting until