ballboy @ The Mill

They seem to have been about forever, but November sees local indie favourites ballboy make their debut at The Mill with a much anticipated double header. Songwriter in chief Gordon McIntyre spoke to Finbarr Bermingham about recent developments in ballboy's world.

Feature by Finbarr Bermingham | 30 Oct 2008

Who are ballboy?

As if you didn't know. Perennial indie favourites ballboy seem to have been about since The Skinny was in short shorts. Well, since 1999 anyway. We spoke to singer, songwriter and guitarist Gordon McIntyre upon the release of their new LP I Worked On The Ships and found him suitably pleased with himself. “I'm mostly over that initial rush of having written a set of songs that a number of people like. Mostly over, but not entirely!”

The band's first album, A Guide For The Daylight Hours was released on SL Records in 2002. That the band find themselves putting out their latest effort on their own imprint, Pony Proof, is indicative of the DIY direction local Scottish music has taken of late. It's a move McIntyre and his band seem more than pleased with. “Pony Proof is the long term alternative. It's straightforward enough - if you want things done properly then do them yourself. It took us a while to learn that, but we did and we now we do.” Indie status secured!

Perhaps key to their durability has been the relative fluidity of ballboy's line up. Says McIntyre: “The only change since we started putting out records has been Alexa (Morrison – keyboards) replacing Katie (Griffiths) and although any new band member means things change, I think Alexa has fitted in fairly seamlessly. She's a bit mouthier than Katie though and she's always trying to get us to save the world, but we cope with that okay.”

Much of the band's earlier exposure can be attributed to a glowing endorsement from John Peel. “He was a huge help,” admits Gordon, “no John, no national exposure for us – no longevity. That's how I see it. And on top of it all - the fact that he liked our music on a personal level is something very precious to all of us.”

What do they sound like and where do they fit in?

Their new album is, as mentioned in last month's Skinny, a “delicious long player”. The band's transition to Pony Proof has been relatively seamless. “I'm becoming more of a hippy!” Gordon quips when quizzed on his musical influences. “I have become a lot more abstract in what influences the music over the last wee while. Environmental sounds, city sounds and the occasional thing that resonates with you. A word or the rhythm of a sentence are really feeding in to the things I am doing now and will do in the near future.”

Home for ballboy is Edinburgh. (“Why would anyone live anywhere else?” begs Gordon, perhaps oblivious to the force nine winds now taking up residency in the capital.) However, he thinks ballboy have always fallen outside of any musical clique. “Glasgow has always had a much stronger musical community than Edinburgh - you can feel it when you are in the city. But fortunately for us our Glaswegian cousins have always been kind enough to allow us in despite us parading around and going commando in our fur coats.” Unsavoury imagery aside, McIntyre openly admires the likes of Zoey Van Goey and the Fence Collective. He would also like to assure us that he is “not just saying that because Johnny helped with the setting up of Pony Proof”.

What are the band up to at the moment?

Now on album number five, this lot ain't too tricky to track down. I Worked On The Ships is now available on the aforementioned Pony Proof imprint. Recorded in a cottage down in the Borders, it's their first independently released LP. The album is “quieter and a little more acoustic” than ballboy's previous work, but doesn't sacrifice the “full band sound”. In keeping with their new-found DIY ethic, McIntyre has taken complete ownership of the release, from recording and producing to distribution. By and large, he is pleased with the initial feedback, given the responsibility he assumed in undertaking the production.

“I don't always like to explain the themes,” says McIntyre when pushed for some insight. He isn't being enigmatic, he assures us, more fearful that he may sound like he's “disappearing up his own arse!” The title of the album, though, is something he's more willing to discuss. “This gets a bit arty farty,” he warns us. “the album is supposed to sound (on some level) like a weathered old boat - musically, not lyrically. I had struggled to find a title to fit and one night during discussions about band things Nick (Reynolds - bass) said something like ‘we used to do that when I worked on the ships’ and it just connected with me and with the album. It was what I had been looking for and so I grabbed it with both hands.”

As wily veterans, what would ballboy change about the Scottish music scene if they had a chance?

“I would wave a magic wand and have the same number and variety of good venues in Edinburgh as their are in Glasgow and I'd give every small town a dedicated 100-200 capacity gig space funded by the Arts Council.”

Besides making music, which other interests do ballboy pursue?


Gordon has co-written "Midsummer” [a play with songs] with the playwright David Greig. Midsummer opened in the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh last month. According to lastfm, Gordon likes listening to The Mountain Goats. The last great movie he saw was the new Batman (“even though Batman has a funny voice in it”) and the last great book he read was Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin. The last good contemporary one was We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Not only are the band content in making sweet music together, ballboy even enjoy each other's company! So much so, in fact, that Gordon's ideal dinner party guests are his three bandmates, Nick, Gary and Alexa.

The band have just completed their “most enjoyable tour ever”, but they've still got enough gas left in the tank to play a double header at The Mill in November.

I Worked On The Ships is out now via Pony Proof.

Ballboy play The Mill - Glasgow on 19 Nov and The Mill - Edinburgh on 20 Nov.

http://www.ballboymusic.com