How To Swim Take a Run at The Mill

How To Swim have been staples of the Scottish music scene for a number of years now, but having released their excellent Littlest Orgasm mini-album on Electric Honey in 2005, things seemed to have gone a bit quiet.

The hiatus, though, is over. A set at The Mill late last month and a double A-side single release (Genesis P & Me / From Here to Dundee) signal a return to stereo and pre-empt an album, pencilled in for an end of '08 release. But things are far from simple. "There are 12 of us now in the band," explains Wilson. "The record has got string quartets and we're trying to get a gospel choir. It's fucking insane! For me as a composer, it's been [about] seeing what we can do with the power behind us."

For bigger, should we read better?

"Well, it's reaching a point where things have to become less complicated because it's quite difficult to get everything on. For the next record we might see what we can do with a more restricted palette. But yeah, we're happier with this single than we have been with anything else we've put out."

With such complications, the need for a leader becomes increasingly important. Unafraid to assume the dictatorial mantle, Wilson steps up to the plate with some gusto. But who does he model his leadership style on?

"I'm a benevolent dictator!" he assures me, "I'm definitely not Hitler or Mussolini. Nor Pol Pot, he was too violent. I'll go for Castro, he has a good health care system and I look after the guys in the band. I always have some plasters and stuff! When you're running a band of this size, it's tough. We have quite a high turnover especially with having a lot of classical guys, they get picked up by orchestras. So I think it's important to have a core of five or six who have been with us for the same number of years, those would have more authority than the periphery."

By the time you read this, Wilson will have already led his band of merry men and women to their debut performance at The Mill, which all kicked off in August with performances from Juno! and Thomas Tantrum at Oran Mor. Read the full review on this very page.