Exclusive Studio Report: The Vaselines

Further to news earlier this year that Scottish indie rock progenitors The Vaselines were in the process of writing new material to bolster their 19 song catalogue, Eugene Kelly recently discussed the status of the band’s planned recordings in the run up to their appearance at Homecoming Live: The Final Fling this weekend.

“At the start of this year we didn’t have any plans, we just thought we’d write some songs – or see if we could write – and get the rough demos together before we did the American tour to promote the reissues which came out this year. Now we’ve got 14 tracks we’re recording and we’ll have those mixed soon for a new album,” reveals Kelly. “We haven’t got a record company or anything; we’re going to record and see what happens in the New Year. We want to start it on a positive note.”

Lining up alongside Kelly and original songwriting partner Frances McKee, the latest incarnation of the band includes Belle and Sebastian’s Stevie Jackson and Bobby Kildea as well as Michael McGaughrin from the 1990s. “We’ve done all the backing tracks and they’re all away up the road,” says Kelly. “So it’s just me, Frances, our producer and engineer. We’re getting the guitars down, singing every day and getting there bit by bit. We’re pretty much on schedule to finish by the weekend.”

Reflecting on the 20 year distance from their last recorded material to the present day, Kelly suggests a slight departure is afoot for the band. “There’s no way we could go back to the sound we had in the 80s – especially not live – I just don’t think people would accept it. You can’t pretend to be naive in what you’re doing when you’ve moved on so much. You want to fill out the sound.”

Providing some insight into how the album's taking shape, Kelly is characteristically modest. “Frances and I got a bit acoustic with our solo stuff there for a while, but we’re not doing anything like that, we’re just trying to sound like The Vaselines; still primal drumbeats, rock guitars and solos. Somebody was listening to the new stuff last night and said it sounds like a mixture of the Velvet Underground and the Incredible String Band, that’s probably down to those folky voices and harmonies of ours. I’m just about to do a guitar solo that needs a Robert Quine touch. I'm not sure I can pull it off!“