Bronto Skylift: In Bronto We Trust

"At the first practice, we knew we had a beast on our hands." The frank words of Niall Strachan - one half of two-man crew, Bronto Skylift - speak for themselves and could not be any more true. The Glasgow-based duo are an experiment in monstrous noise and big dirty jams - which could be likened to the primal, sluggish batterings of heavier Nirvana with the experimental bent of Helmet - that are both obnoxious and intrusive enough to bore their way into your skull like a drill to the brain. When you go to see a band where one member is breaking down jazz-influenced drum fills and the other is piledriving his guitar (which is plugged into both a guitar and a bass amp) into a wall, it's definitely something you'll remember.

The idea that some may be startled by the noise Bronto Skylift create and perhaps not quite get it, or better still, be scared, doesn't seem to phase the band, as drummer and other half, Iain Stewart explains: "If we’re playing a small venue and people have to leave because it’s too noisy or loud, that’s definitely a success. Most people seem to appreciate the energy, even if they’re not into the music." Echoing the sentiment, Niall agrees: "We've found we do get quite extreme opinions on Bronto. People either get into it or pretty much hate us, which is great. As long as we're stirring something inside we're doing it right."

They both hail from more northern territories - Orkney for Iain, and Inverness for Niall - and the band were introduced by mutual friends. After the seemingly epic first practice, a band was born. Though initially featuring a third member on bass, the band was promptly trimmed down to two which, according to Niall, seems to have worked out for the best. "For our first gig, a couple of years ago, we had someone else in, but they were too concerned with how much drink they could have rather than concentrating on the gig, so they got ditched and we just played and enjoyed it so much as two piece that we went with that." It would also appear that there are no plans to change this any time soon. "We get quite a lot of requests from bass players to join," Niall says, "but we don't want to mess with what we've got."

Besides the rigidity of their line up, the intentions and influences behind Bronto Skylift seem organic and fairly improvised. "We usually just jam whatever we have in our heads," says Iain. "It may subconsciously be influenced by something we’ve been listening to, but we definitely don’t aim to have a certain sound." The band both come from fairly normal yet slightly different musical backgrounds, with Iain being involved with school orchestras and jazz bands, alongsinde the odd garage effort, and Niall spending most of the time penning songs whilst holed up in his bedroom. Regardless of background and influence though, the importance lies on the band having its own identity, according to Niall. "I think it's far more exciting and liberating to find your own sound, rather than simply saying 'we must sound like a combination of our favourite bands', which can work, but I think that would limit a band like us."

Alongside touring plans and playing with other bands - Iain is a member of three others - the duo are readying themselves to record a debut full-length later this year. With this much activity in the pipeline and speculation, perhaps even reputation, growing, you'd best prepare for the imminent and noisy invasion of Bronto Skylift.