1) Who are you, who is in the band, who does what in the studio and on stage?
We are Victorian Trout Conspiracy, we consist of Fraser Fulton (main vocals, guitar), Calum Mason (bass, vocals), Robin Brill (drum kit, percussion), Craig Huggan (cornet), Jay Sloan (tenor saxophone), Gerard Sykes (baritone/alto saxophone), Izzy Flower (trombone, vocals), Claire Campbell (keyboards, vocals).
2) How would you describe what you do – in a nutshell – to someone who’s never seen you before?
We are a high octane explosion of fast-paced alternative rock/pop/ska/funk. Our songs are danceable, fun, catchy and accessible; however, we are determined to maintain progression, experimentation, artistic integrity and originality within our sound.
3) How long have you been writing and performing in this way?
3 years, however our sound and writing process constantly changes and evolves. For instance, our new single ‘Birds and the Bees’ is definitely a new direction for the band. It is more dynamic and vocal-driven than our usual brass-heavy, riff-based, driving rock.
4) How exactly do you work / write / record?
We would like to say that we have a process, but in fact it is completely case-sensitive. Sometimes songs are fully written and realised pieces of work by the songwriter before they’re even given to the band. This often makes the creative process much quicker. Other times we all butt heads in the rehearsal studio, batting ideas left, right and centre until we come to some sort of consensus. This can take much longer (sometimes even months), but doesn’t necessarily produce lesser results. Some of our most unique and interesting songs our 8-headed monstrosities.
5) How do you feel your studio/recording style informs the way you perform your music live (or vice versa)? Does it make it easier or harder, better etc…?
We’ve never really had a problem with our live performance, predominantly because our fans enjoy simply how much fun we’re having up there ourselves. It is so much more about reflecting the energy and spirit of our music – of which we have plenty – than aiming for perfection (however, we’d love to achieve that too). In the studio, the difficulty is attempting to reproduce the energy of our live performance through speakers. There are innumerable ways to get the perfect version of your song recorded, but the real trick is maintaining the human element, and giving the track life. More recently, we have realised that it’s better to leave all the little idiosyncrasies and mistakes (especially happy accidents) in order to emulate the reality of live performance.
6) What’s been happening lately and what’s new with you?
We’ve really just been trying our hand at the Glasgow scene, which has been going very well. Glasgow folk certainly love and support their local music. Having said that, we’re equally humbled by our Edinburgh fans, and are extremely excited to return to our home this Limbo!
7) When was the last time you played Edinburgh (and where)?
We performed at the Counting House where we put on our own Hogmanay event. For obvious reasons, we don’t remember too much, except that it was an awesome night!
8) If you’ve played Limbo before, what did you like/rate about the experience? If you’ve not played Limbo before, what have you heard about it?
We heard that the ‘Young Fathers’ consider it 1 of their 13 ways to truly experience Edinburgh, based on a recent blog/article we read. They used a photo of our poster of the upcoming Limbo event to compliment it, which certainly made us chuffed.
9) What’s next, coming up after this gig, for you and what are you generally looking forward to right now…?
We’re launching our new single ‘Birds and the Bees’ at Limbo. Those who attend will get an exclusive free download of the track. We’ll also have a new official music video to coincide with the release. We’re extremely proud of the song, and look forward to sharing it with everyone!
10) If you have any other passions/opinions you’d like to share, if there’s anything else you feel strongly about, pls feel free to tell us about it here…?
We always wondered if we would have been as popular if we were called the ‘Edwardian Mackerel Scandal’… Probably not.
