Ambulances: A Strange Arrangement

Fife’s new down-tempo sensations are riding high on a wave of credibility after the release of their exceptional debut album, The Future That Was, in the latter half of last year. The sextet - comprising lead vocalist Sara Colston, guitarists and vocalists Scott Lyon, Graham Jack and Chris Miezitis, bassist Stephen Oswald and drummer Al Fraser - have a solid collection of heartfelt anthems for the disenchanted under their belts and they are moving forward with insatiable vigour.

Citing Kate Bush, Tom Waits and Neil Young among their chief influences, it comes as no surprise that they enlisted the services of legendary producer Mark Kramer – who has worked with everyone from Galaxie 500 to GWAR – to sculpt their debut release. It's Kramer's work with Daniel Johnston and Jeffrey Lewis in particular which marks him out as a logical choice to document Ambulances' mastery of storytelling with song. Accordingly, The Future That Was is an album full of warm, fuzzy guitars and sincere boy/girl vocal harmonies to captivate fans of high standards like Teenage Fanclub and The Beta Band.

In conversation with Colston, you could be forgiven for thinking she's constantly trying to take the piss, as every question is met with another, or a mischievous response that you just can't validate. When asked to explain why they chose to name the band after an emergency service, Colston simply replies: “Because we are simple.” Of course, there's an irony insofar as the band's charming alchemy is anything but simplistic.

Prompting Colston to elaborate on their formative days only elicits more uncertainty. “The answer is multiple choice,” she says. “Please let your readers decide whether Ambulances formed in unfortunate circumstances at a swingers club or when [drummer] Big Al put an advert in the East Fife Mail looking for sand for his grankid’s sand pit.”

Whatever their origins, Ambulances have become the perfect model of DIY indie at its finest. The band not only sought out an exceptional producer from the other side of the Atlantic to produce their debut, but also managed to ensure that it was sold in the most reputable of music merchants in the country. Not bad for six wind up merchants from the east coast of Scotland.

However, despite the relative payoff in going it alone, Ambulances are still willing to discuss the possibility of signing a record deal, so long as it’s on their terms. “We would be happy for a record company to pay us to keep doing things ourselves,” says Colston. Until David Geffen comes knocking, it seems the spirit of independence is alive and well in Fife.