Viva Glasgow

“I was born in East Kilbride on the outskirts of Glasgow and home of The Jesus And Mary Chain. That’s its main claim to fame! It was a very depressed area then, all that drab seventies architecture, and a hard place to grow up.

We might have had the odd gig in a hotel then, like some band playing Stones Roses covers! Since I left university I’ve lived in the West End of Glasgow which is much different. There’s a lot of gang culture in certain areas of Glasgow, but it’s not the murder capital of Great Britain as some TV programmes like Taggart might suggest to people who don’t live here, and we know what places to avoid anyway.
The band considered moving to Berlin or New York for a while, but we decided to stay here. I’m very comfortable in Glasgow where my roots are, except for the weather which has been awful for weeks. It’s become a very modern city, very attractive too, partly because it’s attracted more investment since it was a City of Culture. The area around the Barrowlands ballroom was particularly bad, but they’re trying to revitalise it. There was a serial killer called Bible John who murdered three menstruating women in the late sixties after picking them up at the Barrowlands. They never caught him.
Glasgow is definitely cheaper that Dublin! A pint would cost about £2.80. Some places do a pint for a pound, although you might risk your life going into them. There’s a terrific amount of good music available nearly all the time. There’s always lots going on, loads of music, clubs and so on. Last night, for instance, there were up to 20 gigs that I could have gone to, like Tilly And The Wall, who are from Omaha and have a tap dancer instead of a drummer. They had a gig at King Tut's. Emma Pollock was playing at the university. There were three free gigs, including The Pigeon Detectives at HMV. And that’s just the rock stuff. There are lots of folk and classical gigs too, and Irish folk music still seems to have an audience here. Some of my friends like Irish trad. I think there’s more live music in Glasgow than, say, Edinburgh. And of course we get the big international acts coming as well.
The key venues in Glasgow for Sons And Daughters would include the ABC, which used to be a cinema in Sauchiehall Street. It’s a lovely ornate building, with a big room and a small room for gigs. When it comes to local music heroes, at the moment it would probably be Glasvegas. They’re getting a lot of attention in the Scottish press, and I like the fact that they sing in their own accents. Roddy Frame still plays and has a large following, as do Hue And Cry and The Proclaimers. Idlewild and Foxface also do well.
Xfm used to be the best local radio station for rock music around Glasgow, but not any more. In fact, we haven’t really got a good station in the city, so we have to target the national stations now. There's no shortage of rehearsal rooms and recording studios in the city, with new ones opening up nearly all the time. Some are owned by the bands themselves, like The Fratellis and Teenage Fanclub have their own places. But there aren’t as many record companies and labels as you might expect given the number of bands and gigs. There’s Chemikal Underground of course, and they’ve been here for years. But nowadays most kids in bands just seem to want to do gigs and make their own records, maybe put their recordings on MySpace, so maybe there isn’t the demand for labels that there used to be. It probably now seems almost pointless for most young bands to make an actual CD of their songs.
On the Glasgow food front, anyone who likes spicy food should try haggis. I’ve eaten a vegetarian haggis made from oatmeal and vegetables. They’re generally very wholesome, except for the ones that have a lot of animal fat in them. There are a few urban myths about Glasgow too, and one of them is deep-fried Mars Bars. There might once have been one place in Glasgow that served them, but it’s not something you could order at your regular chippie, let me tell you! It’s like the famous Marianne Faithfull Mars Bar story. Maybe somebody gets paid a lot of money to come up stories about Mars Bars!”

Sons And Daughters' This Gift album is available now on Domino Records

WHERE TO EAT:
Grassroots is a fine vegetarian restaurant in St George’s Road. It serves all kinds of organic food. You can get rice wraps, marinated crispy vegetables and beansprouts and fresh herbs, wrapped in a paper thin rice skin (vegan/gluten free). They also offer a 5-vegetable tagine served with mint and pistachio cous-cous, and flatbread. Prices for main courses are under £7, and they only charge £3 if you bring your own bottle of wine. Another option is the Vegan restaurant West 78 at 78 St Vincent Street.

TOP TIP FOR A DRINK:
There’s a really good bar called Chinaski’s at 239 North Street near the Charing Cross area. It has a heated outdoor smoking area, and serves lunches and evening meals for about £14. The music they play runs from bluesy jazz to Lou Reed.

WHERE TO STAY:
There are lots of good guest houses and B & B’s all over Glasgow. The Hampton Court Hotel at Renfrew Street has rooms from £35. It’s a family-run business with all the comforts of home and close to the heart of the city centre. It’s also within walking distance of Buchanan Street Bus Station and Glasgow Central.

GETTING THERE:
Ryanair advertise flights to Glasgow Prestwick for €19.19.