Rising stars’ 2020 vision
Four-piece have had their best year yet.. and can’t wait to see what next 12 months brings
THE most exciting band in Scotland right now are The Dunts.
The Glasgow four-piece are a fast and furious blend of punk and jangly indie – think The Clash, Buzzcocks, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand.
Rab Smith (singer/guitar) Colin McGachy (singer/guitar), David McFarlane (bass) and Kyle McGhee (drums), all 23, are from Glasgow’s south side and have had an incredible 2019 – playing one of TRNSMT’s highlights, a gig at the SXSW festival in the US and rounding it off with a UK tour. They will finish their best year yet with a December gig at Glasgow’s Garage.
Here, Rab gives the lowdown on a band who are about to go supernova:
How has your year changed?
It seems there are quite a few young people getting into us, down at the front at festivals and gigs. That’s a good sign and we appreciate it. It does give us a confidence boost.
You develop and grow and get better as you go. It gives a natural confidence knowing you’re well practiced and sounding good in rehearsals. So that, and the growing crowds, give us a wee confidence boost.
How did you guys meet?
The other three went to school together and played music there, just jamming and stuff and maybe talent shows, too, I’m not too sure. I bought a guitar at the age or 18 or 19 with student loan money, like a lot of people do, and just started learning from there. I met the boys at a house party I was invited to by a mutual friend. And I met Kyle when he joined us on the drums.
Why did you choose to pick up guitars rather than become bedroom DJs producing faceless beats?
I think maybe the shift to grime and R&B happened just as I was approaching 18. A lot of the music we listened to back then was guitar music so I think it’s natural that we are a guitar-driven band.
Why is Scotland enjoying such a golden age of music with Lewis Capaldi, Gerry Cinnamon and The Snuts?
I’m not sure why it’s all happening. I think, as a country, we have lots of people who are enthusiastic about music and gigs. We also have lots of good cities with lots of good, different-sized venues. It means that we’re a country that is actually able to efficiently create and support the rise of megastars. We’re just going to keep working and I’m sure we’ll get there.
Are you annoyed The Snuts’ name is a bit similar to The Dunts?
We don’t think it sounds too similar, not at all. We were speaking to them at TRNSMT and they were sound as.
How was TRSNMT?
It was class. Class weather for it, amazing crowd and the people were buzzing – what more could you ask for? We would love to do it again on the main stage next year.
You have an EP called Self Proclaimed Council Punk – is that your sound?
I think more accurately it depicts how we felt at that point in time. During the writing and production of the songs on that EP, I’d say that was the vibe that was being felt by our team or at least something we had felt which we wanted to attempt to kind of infuse into the music.
Your early songs like debut Dimitri in 2017 sounds like Arctic Monkeys – are they an influence?
I’d say when we were starting out, we sounded almost like early Arctic Monkeys – just in terms of the rawness and the composition of the songs. But as we’ve progressed, we’ve found our own sound and that sound is evolving and getting better the longer we go.