Scouting For Girls mark 10th birthday in Birnam
Hit London poprock band Scouting For Girls is bringing its 10th anniversary tour to Perthshire this autumn.
Band members are celebrating 10 years since the launch of their debut eponymous album, and are touring the UK and Ireland from October to December.
Lead singer and guitarist Roy Stride, bass guitarist Greg Churchouse and drummer Pete Ellard are stopping at Birnam Arts Centre on Wednesday, November 1, between gigs at Inverness Ironworks and Glasgow’s O2 Academy.
Between headlining Perth Festival of the Arts in 2014 and starring at T and the Park in 2008 and 2010, the band has plenty of fond memories of playing in the area and members have been looking forward to playing in Highland Perthshire for years.
Roy said: “We’re excited for the whole tour, but the Highland and islands stretch has been a dream of ours since we started.
“Robert Hicks, our promoter, has been a long-term fan and friend of the band since we started and put us on Belladrum all the way back in 2007. We’ve been trying to find a way to do this tour since then because we love this part of the world so much.
“It’s hard to have a bad gig in Scotland - the people are so friendly and up for a party. They love their music and they know how to enjoy themselves.
“The first time we played T in the Park I remember the biggest thunderstorm coming out of nowhere as we started playing Elvis Ain’t Dead, but nobody cared – if anything, it made them go wilder!”
As part of the 10th anniversary, the band has taken part in numerous fundraisers for Alzheimer’s Society, an idea inspired by Roy’s mother’s struggle with the illness.
He explained: “My mother developed dementia in the later years of her life.
“It’s such a horrendous disease that impacts on the whole family that I felt compelled to get involved in trying to raise both money and awareness.
“As it was our 10-year anniversary, we’ve set ourselves 10 fundraising challenges to complete over 2017.
“We started with Dry January, which was very boring, but we have also done the Silverstone Half Marathon and the full London Marathon. We’ve a few more challenges to complete before the year is up but we’ve already raised £10,000 which makes me very proud.”
The band has thoroughly enjoyed the occasion and are marking the milestone with an album re-release along with the tour.
Frontman Roy added: “We’ve re-released the original album on vinyl for the first time and we also released a live album from our Greatest Hits Tour.
“Next month we release a brand new album called ‘10 add 10’. It features 10 brand new songs and 10 of our biggest singles, all to celebrate not having a proper job for 10 years!
“On top of that, this tour will be our longest Pete, Roy and Greg can’t wait to take the Scouting For Girls 10th anniversary tour to Highland Perthshire
and largest since we started.”
Roy recalled the buzz when the band first released ‘Scouting For Girls’ and the thrill of getting a record deal, and everything that went with it.
He said: “We were just so excited about everything! We had been together for ten years before anyone took any interest so we had
completely given up on the idea of ever getting a record deal.
“When it came, we just grabbed every opportunity that we could. Everything was exciting and new, from going on the radio, playing on TV, going backstage at festivals, meeting your heroes... that and a lot of free beer!
“We never expected any success. Our only hope was
that we could keep going long enough to release another album. I still pinch myself daily that this really is my ‘job’.
“It doesn’t feel like ten years. It’s gone by way too fast.”
Roy put having virtually the same lineup since the band’s formation down to being one of the key factors behind their success
“I’ve known Pete since I
was eight and Greg since I was 11 - we’re closer than most families! Even the new boy Jamie O’Gorman has been with us nearly a decade!”
Tickets, priced at £25.25, are still on sale for the Birnam concert and can be purchased at www.seetickets.com/ event/scouting-for-girls/ birnam-arts-centredunkeld/1098317.
It’s hard to have a bad gig in Scotland - the people are so friendly and up for a party