The Second Hand Marching Band are a phenomenon, to say the very least. A band of 22+ people, so just getting everyone together for a gig is a task in itself! They play untraditional folk music with a mixture of dance, pop and post-rock influences. The band came together in the autumn of 2007. Pete moved to Fife at the end of 2006 and, with lack of access to a car or pals, spent time writing some songs and buying old instruments. By the end of summer there was a set of songs, which he passed round, then put on the web. Those that got back to him became the Second Hand Marching Band. Their sound is folky, featuring accordions, ukeleles, mandolins, brass, saxophones, clarinets, flutes and glockenspiels amongst other instruments. It has been compared to Beirut, Sufjan Stevens and other ensemble folk bands. The music is often influenced more by Glasgow’s post-rock crew, such as Mogwai, with the songs building up in layers, albeit with acoustic instruments and not distorted guitars. All the songs can be played anywhere, using acoustic instruments and marching drums.
The band’s first record, an EP called “A Dance to Half Death”, is out now on the Chaffinch Records label. Chaffinch is a small but perfectly formed label from Wishaw, which has previously sported releases from King Creosote, Anthony Reynolds, Sancho and Lucky Luke. It is available through myspace.com and from Avalanche and Monorail records in Glasgow.
The SHMB started performing in December 2007 and have in the last year been up and down Scotland playing venues, tea houses, parks, festivals and fields. They have an EP coming out on Chaffinch Records called ‘A dance to half death’. Band-members also play variously in other outfits, most notably including Eagleowl, Q without U, Dananananaykroyd, Lula Maes and How to Swim. Due to their size, the SHMB are often spotted practising in car parks, outside pubs or in fields. You have been warned.
‘A communal, swaying magnificence caught somewhere between the roughshod Balkan folk of Beirut and the mass instrumental oomph of Arcade Fire… a mighty strength and depth of emotional punch indeed….live they’re blossoming into something big and beautiful’ (The List)
‘Slotting nicely into Scotland’s blossoming alt-folk scene, they won’t outnumber their audience for long’ (The Skinny)
‘Dance To Half Death is a tune that Vashti or James Yorkston would be proud of. Similarly, We Walk In The Room with its boy-girl vocals could be enough to reunite Richard and Linda Thompson, a song they’d be proud to have written. This lot could be going places – and I’m not just talking Glastonbury or Cambridge’ (Is This Music?)
