A busy few months for Hector Bizerk’s Audrey
Gigs with the Libertines, a new EP and requests to play in America - it’s been a busy few months for Hector Bizerk’s Audrey Tait.
Rutherglen drummer, Audrey and bher bandmates, are set to headline Oran Mor in Glasgow this Friday night (October 23).
It comes just over a month after they supported resurgent rockers the Libertines at the city’s O2 Academy, which was a huge opportunity for the hip-hop quartet.
“It was special to open for a band like that,” says Audrey, who’s from Johnstone Drive.
“We got a good reception doing it, and it was a really huge support for us to get.
“They know of our stuff - I met Gary ( Powell, the Libertines drummer) and he’s really sound.
“They’re just nice guys - when you’re a musician you just want to write tunes and play them to people, and I don’t think that changes depending on how big you are.
“They just seemed to be loving being back and playing gigs again.”
Hector themselves have been playing plenty of gigs over the past several months, with their last Glasgow headline show being a sold-out King Tut’s gig in June, just after they launched a soundtrack to the play Crazy Jane.
Now they’re working on finishing their series of four EPs based around Glasgow’s coat of arms, with the Tree That Never Grew seeing the band joined by several guests, including the guitarist RM Hubbert, who’s previously won the Scottish Album of the Year Award.
Audrey added: “We’ve got some really talented artists featuring on the EP. Marc Rooney from Pronto Mama is on there, Be Charlotte from Dundee is on there and we’ve got RM Hubbert as well.
“We spoke about doing something with Hubby at the SAY Awards last year when there was a lot of free alcohol about, but it’s actually come to fruition. He was just ridiculous in the studio - I still don’t even know how he does it all because the way he plays guitar is unreal. You’d think there was two people there on some of his parts.
“It’s the same with Marc, he’s so innovative too. It would be boring if we just got any old MC to come in, we want to push ourselves and hopefully learn from them, as well as them putting something really cool down.”
The band are already looking ahead - they’ve recently taken on an American agent who can secure them more Stateside bookings, after they played the South by South West festival in Texas earlier this year.
Audrey said: “We’ve had people from America getting in touch and asking if we’ll be coming back over, that was a bit mental.
“We’ve got an agent there now after playing SXSW - that’s a sentence I never thought I would say.
“We’re also going to France in December for a festival, so that should be pretty cool. There’s a big hip hop scene in France, so hopefully they’ll like what we do. ”
Hector Bizerk play Oran Mor this Friday and tickets are £9.