Sinderins release their eponymous album on 27 May 2016 on WestWynd Records, preceded by the single ‘Fayre’ on 29 April 2106. The band’s name is taken from a confluence of roads in the band’s home town of Dundee. Very appropriate this is too, since this band is truly the result of a meeting and a meshing of talents and minds. Like the tree that features on the artwork – inspired by the music and created by Dundee artist Dougie Harley – the members of Sinderins are made up of disparate elements but they form one whole, and they share the same roots.
And the roots of this band run deep. The members of Sinderins first jammed together in the spirited and convivial atmosphere of Thomson’s pub, Dundee. Over pints, the songwriters would exchange songs and try out new ideas. Initially known as Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward & Fisher, that has now changed, and Thomson’s has closed down, but Sinderins have gone from jamming informally to regularly selling out 400-seat venues around Scotland. The band is now David Webster, Stevie Anderson and Gavin McGinty, the primary vocalists and songwriters, augmented by Billy Fisher and Tom Barbour, the rhythm section.
With the new name came a new direction and a more cohesive direction. Working with Producer Matt Lawrence allowed the band to capture the essence of what makes the music special, distilling not only the foam and the energy, but also the eeriness and otherness that sits at the heart of their sound. This is traditional songwriting with a twist; everything on the record would work on a solo acoustic at a Folk Club but the band have taken the sound further, deeper, and really taken time with the lyrics.
The ‘Sinderins’ album itself evolved over a year that was spent writing and road-testing new material before recording at Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire. The band went on to master the record at Abbey Road, a venue that seems suitable for a band with such a place in their hearts for history and tradition. Sinderins know the right way to make and record music, which is what makes them such a compelling live draw – with four members who regularly take on lead vocals, hearing one track is not the way to experience the band, getting to a show truly is.
With hundreds of gigs already chalked up – and the schedule for 2016 filling fast – don’t doubt their commitment. On the single, ‘Fayre’, David Webster hits and sustains a high note across four bars. Initial attempts to record this fell short so, channeling something he had read about Thom Yorke leaping into a fjord, Webster asked his band mates to douse him in ice water before he ran to the mic. That first take is the one that was used on the final record…
With ‘Sinderins’ the band have created something that draws on tradition; the tradition of the Folk scene, sure, and on their own personal histories, of course, but it is a record for now. It is where ideas, techniques, traditions and friends – old and new – come together. See you there.