2013 According to … Deathcats!

After the excess of Kid Canaveral’s Christmas Baubles at the weekend, we return this evening to 2013 and the thoughts of James McGarragle of the excellent Deathcats on the year gone by.

Your Own Music

 Your own musical highlight of the year?

We’ve supported so many great bands this year and played all over Scotland which was a new experience for us. We’ve met so many new friends in loads of other cities. The highlight probably has to be going up to play in Shetland in August. Having to take a 12 hour ferry ride to get to a show made the whole thing feel pretty crazy. Plus we met the guys from Fuzzkill in Shetland and they are putting out our new release, they are our new bros for life!

Favourite performance of the year?

Every gig has went pretty well but we played the Future Glue 7″ launch a few months back in Glasgow. We played really tight and the lighting was crazy. Performance wise I would say that has been our best.

What’s the one thing that went wrong in 2013 you’d like to fix?

We took way too long putting out a new release. We gigged so much and wrote loads but it’s taken us ages to get this new EP out and we’ve been sitting on the tracks since June. Laziness on our part and a few other we technical problems held it back. It’s out now though and folk are stoked so all in all there are no regrets. We regret nothing!

What you gonna be doing next year?

We’re kicking off 2014 with a headline show in Tuts with Secret Motorbikes, Kill Surrrf and Garden Of Elks followed by a trip to Dundee and Aberdeen a week later. Then we’re going into record our debut LP at Green Door Studio in February which will be released for summer. We’re determined to put it out on vinyl even if we have to do it ourself. We’re in the initial stages of organising a UK tour with our bros, Pinact for March and hopefully a few festivals in summer. But basically bring out and album and gig the hell out of it!

Others’ Music

3 songs or LPs you’ve listened to the most in 2013?

Fuzz – Self Titled. That’s some heavy shit. Ty Segall is a machine. I’m a big Sabbath fan so I’ve been really rockin’ out to that record. Only 8 tracks as well, classic Sabbath length!

Splashh – Comfort. We’ve supported Splashh twice this year. The album is the perfect summer record. The first time we played with them they hadn’t released the album and the second time the album had dropped and I’d had it on repeat for a month so it was awesome to see the songs live again after getting to really know them. They re-recorded quite few of the songs and it gave that wee bit extra life. I own it on blue vinyl, it’s so lovely!

Beach Fossils – Clash The Truth. This album came out pretty early on the year and I haven’t listened to it for a while but I had it on constant in the car when it first came out. It’s about a 30 minute drive to my girlfriend’s house so this album was the perfect length for the drive which I do like three times a week. I pretty much knew this record inside out after a week. It’s so much more in your face than the first album which Dustin Payseur done as a solo effort. Having a proper drummer on this record made a massive difference and totally developed their sound. The guitars sound amazing.

Best gig attended?

The PAWS Halloween gig was insane. It kind of had a Lord Of The Flies vibe as it was BYOB and there was no security. I hurt for about a week after it!

Biggest surprise of 2013?

The Walkmen went on a indefinite hiatus in November. I love that band so much. They are probably my favourite band who are (were) still active. The fact that I might never see them live again got me pretty upset. I didn’t see that coming as the last record was so good and when I saw them in Manchester last year they seemed like a band at the top of their game, it was probably the best gig of my life. They aged with grace, always suited themselves and it seemed as though they’d never run out of steam.

Biggest letdown of 2013?

Secret Motorbikes not bringing out their album. I’ve been waiting patiently for it. The stuff they released in 2012 was phenomenal and could have been an album in itself. Sort yourself out lads!

Who should we be looking out for in 2014?

Halfrican, Pinact.

 Anything and Everything

Event of 2013

I went on tour with Halfrican in Spain in October. That was like the biggest party of my life. Everything else pales in comparison. It wasn’t even my band, ha!

Hero of 2013

My Papa died in October. He was the raddest person in my life. He made my life really easy and also bought me my first guitar!

Lowpoint of 2013

Same as above.

Villain of 2013

Assad is a bit of fucking dick, isn’t he?

Favourite book of 2013

I haven’t ready any books released in 2013. I read Our Band Could be Your Life near the start of the year and it totally changed the way I look at things and motivate me to do more. If you are in a band you have to read that book. If it doesn’t inspire you then go get a real job.

Favourite film of 2013

Filth. James McAvoy made me want to become a bad cop.

Something to look forward to in 2014?

World Peace!

Deathcats have just released their ‘The Raddest’ e.p. on Fuzzkill Records and here is the lead track:

Thanks to Andy Wood for his help with this feature!