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Head of the Mull Historical Society, flamboyant Scottish
dreamer Colin McIntyre, takes time out from recording
new tracks in his Glasgow studio to talk us through
last year's colourful pop classic 'Loss' track by track.
With everything from the Isle of Mull to the London
Underground, classic movies to Coronation Street, Alex
'Hurricane' Higgins to George Orwell and Olivia Newton
John, don't go expecting your average teenage heartbreak
record by a long stretch.
Public Service Announcer
"That came to me stuck on the London Underground. It
was really busy and everyone was getting impatient.
I had this idea for a song I already had called 'Narrow
Escape At 2000ft' which was about this air traffic controller.
This day on the tube the announcer kept making apologies
even though he could do nothing about it and that's
where 'Public Service Announcer' came from. I always
do stuff down in London even when I'm miles away from
a guitar or piano because you do get a lot of time to
think down there."
Watching Xanadu
"I definitely came up with that in London too. I thought
it was just a bit throwaway, which I suppose it is,
it's just a pop song. I was after a kind of Phil Spector
sound and wanted it to sound big and liked the bells.
I did a remix of the song for the single and it was
funny listening back to the tapes again, because it
was so throwaway we did it one take and I was shouting
the arrangements out to my drummer, it was all over
the place, but he's so good he managed to follow me.
The idea was about a homeless couple, she's called Xanadu.
They're sat in the doorway of a TV shop and they're
showing the Olivia Newton John film 'Xanadu'. It's a
bit confused really."
Instead
"That came totally from Turner Classic Movies,
the cable channel. I was watching a film called 'The
Shop Around The Corner' with James Stewart. There's
this woman who walks into the shop and likes this guy,
it's one of those 1940s romantic things, but they pretend
they don't like each other. She says 'instead of a heart
you've got a lead balloon'. And I suppose musically
I wanted choirboys on the album, that was one of the
prerequisites I had, and I got them on that song."
I Tried
"just a really straight sentiment and I found myself
singing it over and over again in the chorus. It's a
struggle in a relationship. The idea for the single
cover I wanted to use, but it was going to cost a grand
so I couldn't was of snooker player Alex 'Hurricane'
Higgins when he won a championship in 1982 I think.
It's this great picture of him holding the cup and the
photo just says 'I tried'. I was obsessed with him when
I was a kid."
This Is Not Who We Were
"It's about people as products really, a factory
that churns out people, there's an almost George Orwell
'1984' theme to it. It may be a single and I really
hope it is because I've got such ideas for the video.
It's quite simple really, just about people being suppressed
in some way."
Barcode Bypass
"Again that's one with a pretty straight story, I can't
really remember where the original inspiration came
from, but it's kind of about this corner-shop owner
trying to tell his wife they can't compete with the
supermarket, which is a 24 hour shop. And basically
he gets his dogs, walks off and has a heart attack.
I remember watching Coronation Street when Alf Roberts
was having his shop taken over by Better Buys or something.
Now I'm not a bit Coronation Street fan! But it's basically
about Alf Roberts syndrome."
Only I
"That's about bereavement really, just about trying
to deal with it and how it doesn't have to be all negative
or a terminal thing, you can turn it around. And that's
one I wanted a big brass sound for. Sometimes you write
something and you don't really know what it's about,
but then in retrospect you do, you figure it out. For
me that's the way I do it sometimes and I suppose that
was one."
Animal Cannibus
"It's really just about escapism, not following the
crowd, not being dictated too about what to wear or
do. It was originally just an acoustic guitar but then
I decided to make it sound much bigger. It's supposed
to just be a really uplifting song, hopefully that's
the way it comes over."
Strangeways Inside
"It's supposed to be a romantic tale about 2 escaped
convicts, a couple of people on the run just before
fate catches up with them really, set in this honeymoon
period they have. It started off life about 3 years
ago, I think the more experienced you get you realise
exactly how you want a song to sound. A bit slower and
melodic, that one came together really quickly in the
end."
Mull Historical Society
"I am from Mull, yes, but having named the band after
that song I get asked about it every day of my life!
But I just liked the words and when coming up with a
name it was definitely more interesting than my own.
And it doesn't sound like a band. There is actually
a real Mull Historical Society, I basically just saw
their poster, took some of the text and rejigged it
into a song. They were apparently on the record company
website trying to get a copy of 'Barcode Bypass' to
play at their annual dinner, so I don't think I pissed
anyone off. I've kept the theme going too, I've got
a new song called 'MHS Lady' which is me imagining meeting
the woman who runs it, kind of a romantic tale, but
I think she's probably 65 or something!"
Paperhouses
"Which started off life called 'Animal Cannibus' believe
it or not, and it's along the same lines of not giving
into people or style or fashion. And I was thinking
animals don't need uniform, or to dress up, they're
all the same. I suppose they have chains of command
as well but maybe they've got the right idea and we
should learn from them. At the end of it I put on the
ferry announcement from the Mull ferry to finish off
the album as if that's the end of your journey."
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Relevant Sites:
www.mullhistoricalsociety.com
Mull
Historical Society Bio
Crud Magazine© 2002
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