The band from T T in the Park town

ON THE one hand they could be described as new-folkies; on the other they’re just a great pop band who play traditional instruments and write brilliant songs in a folk-pop style.

Whatever the description, Sienna are just a quality band who are on the cusp of something really good.

The Kinross six-piece, formed in the shadow of T in the Park – actually at the local high school nearly three years ago – are the first local band to have performed at the legendary festival, where they packed out the T Break tent, following in the footsteps of fellow Scots Biffy Clyro, who are this year’s Friday headliners.

Their debut EP Give Me Your Love, released last year, received huge support from Amazing Radio and In Demand Scotland whilst they sold out Glasgow’s King Tut’s twice and also supported Nina Nesbitt.

The band also performed at This Feeling Club Night in London and have also starred at a headline show at Camden’s Proud Galleries.

Not a bad CV so far for a band that only formed in fifth year at school before heading off in their separate ways, some to uni, others into jobs and some across the world.

A couple of line-up changes later and the band really shifted into gear last year, with the nucleous of Danny McAtear, Ross Mathieson and Andy Clarke intact, they’ve since added drummer Calum Anderson, Ben Watt on bass and Ian Dunnet on saxophone and gained a strong guiding hand along the way in the form of manager Melvin Ryznar.

Danny explains: “Me, Ross and Andy were just jamming together and doing a few gigs in Kinross and Melvin saw us playing and saw something in us, he pretty much does everything in Kinross, putting on events, promoting stuff.

“He’s become our manager, he’s a lovely guy who doesn’t get enough praise for what he does.

“He’s the reason we’ve done anything at all.”

Ross adds: “He’s driven us up and down the country, got us gigs and made sure we get to them in time.

“He’s given us a lot of help, driving us up and down the country and getting us in touch with people in the industry. He brought the band together in essence.”

Under Melvin’s guidance, Sienna have grown to become a fully-functioning sixpiece band in 2014.

Last year they were invited guests on the T-Break stage, packing it out as the first and only Kinross-based band to play in their own backyard at Scotland’s biggest live music festival.

“We were guests along with Nina Nesbitt,” Danny says. “Before that I said I’d wanted brass in the band.

“I think I just wore them down, Ross was

first to come round and once he did the others just gave in I think.

“So we got Ian in on sax, that was just a week before T in the Park, it was brilliant and he’s now a permanent member of the band.”

Sienna toured extensively last year, also releasing a couple of singles, a relentless schedule that left them feeling burned out towards the end of 2013.

“We decided then to pull back a bit,” Danny, a third-year law student at Dundee University said.

“So we stopped gigging and we just jammed around together and had some fun, we were together every day and wrote loads of stuff.

“We decided after that that we had some cool songs and so we started booking out the studios and taking ourselves seriously because we thought at the end of the day, we needed to lift it up a bit. “It’s just developed from there.” Sienna start their Scottish tour at PreProduction at Clark’s in Dundee next Thursday before heading to PJ Molloy’s in Dunfermline the next night, then Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness before they head down south.

They also release their new single, Wandering Star, which has already been getting some extensive airplay on XFM Radio.

It’s an evocative track demonstrating their signature upbeat rootsy playful nature, with influences ranging across the spectrum, from singer songwriters such as Ryan Adams, Laura Marling, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Neil Young to the 60s rock and roll of The Beatles, with a songwriting maturity that defies their teenage years.

It’s a sound that has seen them being asked to play at This Feeling again and they’ve also just been announced for this year’s Heb Celt festival, with more exciting news to come.

“There’s a few more in the pipeline,” admits Ross, who studies engineering at the same university, but he says they are sworn to secrecy until things are confirmed.

Danny adds: “I’m feeling really excited about things, we’ve got a new EP coming out in late summer as well and we’ll be doing a lot of gigs around that so I’m looking forward to that. We recorded the single at the Tea Pot Studio with Robin Wyn Evans, and that was mastered by Dave Paterson.

“We’re recording the EP at Gardyne Studios with Mike Brown and Dave is going to master that as well.

“That’s the plan for the year then, we’ll keep gigging and playing festivals, hopefully everything will come off. We’re looking forward to a summer of music.”

Sienna play Pre-Production at Clark’s on Thursday, doors open at 8pm and tickets are available at the bar now, or on the door.

Sienna.