Genaro interview
Genaro are an excellent band from Carluke, Scotland, which is kind of halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Their music is kind of a cool mix of shoegazy My Bloody Valentine-like ambiance and Joy Divisiony songwriting. I’d originally interviewed them for a New Music Monthly piece I just completed on Scottish bands, but thought this might fit better here. Their debut, cleverly titled Genaro (Benbecula), came out in the U.K. today. You can check ‘em out on MySpace here. Drummer Dominic Dixon was kind enough to answer some questions the other night just before bed.
Why do you feel Glasgow and its surrounding areas have produced so many notable band?
Music has always been a big part of Scottish culture, and there’s also a lot of venues/promoters putting on bands around Glasgow, so I guess with it being so easy to get gigs, people are more inclined to get together and start making music.
What Scottish musical groups have influenced Genaro most?
We all have pretty diverse record collections but it’s probably safe to say that we’ve all been influenced in some way by Cocteau Twins, Jesus And Mary Chain, Boards Of Canada, Mogwai, and even ’60s psychedelic artists like the Incredible String Band and Donovan.
Why do you feel each band seems to have its own sound?
I think if you put any group of musicians together their sound will be different from the next group, due to each person bringing in their own influences and styles of playing, although strangely enough, it seems to me that the bands who achieve the most commercial success these days sound very similar.
How did Genaro’s members meet each other before forming?
We all went to the same high school, although I’m a few years older and didn’t actually meet them until a year or two after I left school. Craig and Derek were already playing in a band together when Daryl introduced me to them, a few months later their band split up and the four of us started Genaro.
How has being located in Carluke affected your band? Do you travel to Glasgow or Edinburgh much?
There isn’t really much to do in Carluke so I guess living here has given us a lot of time to get together and write songs. We rehearse in Glasgow and Carluke doesn’t have a record shop, so we tend to go there quite a lot, Edinburgh not so often, although we’ve played a few gigs there, and our label Benbecula is Edinburgh based.
Have you gotten much support from any other Scottish musicians?
We definitely have, bands are generally quite supportive of each other here, there’s also a scheme for unemployed musicians, which Craig and I have both been on. They offer advice for people looking to get into the industry from other musicians and people already in the industry. Last week for instance, I went to a lecture about music business by Francis MacDonald, who used to be in Teenage Fanclub. It’s pretty cool to have that kind of support available from people who know what they’re talking about.
