Andrew Wasylyk

Slessor Gardens, Dundee, September 14

In his ‘day job’ in music, Andrew Wasylyk uses his real name Andrew Mitchell, and possesses one of the least stable roles in rock. As bassist with Idlewild since their 2014 comeback and the following year’s seventh album Everything Not Saved, he’s the fifth person to hold that post since the group were formed in 1995.

Hopefully he manages a more long-lived stint than his predecessors, but either way Andrew is developing a career of his own as a powerful and evocative songwriter whose records have strong concepts behind them.

A singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who used to front Dundee’s the Hazey Janes and play as a session musician with Electric Soft Parade and School of Language, his debut album as Andrew Wasylyk, Soroky, was released in 2016.

Recorded on the Isle of Mull in five days, Soroky is a lush, symphonic record which pays tribute in part to Mitchell’s family history; his stage name is inspired by his grandfather Iwan Wasylyk, and Soroky is the name of the northern Ukrainian town where he came from.

His following record, 2017’s Themes for Buildings and Spaces, is a series of eight compositions inspired by the architecture of his home city, Dundee, and he’s just completed an artist’s residency at Hospitalfield in Arbroath.

“I was born in Ninewells Hospital and have lived in various parts of Dundee since,” says Andrew. “Making music here hasn’t been without its challenges, but as the late Michael Marra once said: “for any artist Dundee is just the perfect place to look at the rest of the world…the last thing you do in Dundee is impress. It’s absolutely not on’.

“I’ve learned a great deal from Michael and his outlook.”

With a firmly held belief that “sometimes your environment naturally seeps in to what you create,” Andrew’s recent work has made him more focused on the changes happening to Dundee than most.

“I’m a fan of Kengo Kuma’s (V&A) design,” he said.

“There have been significant statements of intent and hope (in Dundee), with a tangible shift in the city’s pulse.

“The Douglas area has seen the recent arrival of Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise Orchestra, transforming the lives of youngsters through intensive music-led programmes, and the Creative Dundee community has now really blossomed into something important to the creative welfare here.”

He’ll be playing his own modest part in the changes while onstage tomorrow.

“I’m hoping to play a variety of stuff from both my solo albums, as well as a few new things,” he says.

“I’ll have some wonderful people in tow, a nine-piece ensemble, including a brass section and strings – ideal for a set of my greatest misses!”

Singer-songwriter Andrew Wasylyk.