Ardentjohn

Worryingly, there are certain bands in the world that could tell you they carry a gun on tour and you'd believe them. When Al Shields, bass player with Ardentjohn, mentions this to The Skinny, something tells us he's pulling our leg.

"We've all shared a double mattress, fuck, we must get on alright." With the release of the band's debut album, When the Time Comes, we find them in comfortably jovial spirits. It's no surprise when lead singer Keiron Mason tells us he and Al went to primary school together on the Isle of Bute. "I hadn't seen him in a good few years. The three of us (including London based guitarist Mark Abbott) were doing a lot of acoustic and open mic stuff. We were trying some different things at that stage... Sometimes I still think we're figuring it out."

And that's when drummer Seth Marron joined. It is he, according to the band, who "brings the noise." The album itself strikes a healthy balance between acoustic balladry and an almost psychedelic experimentation which suggests they're "figuring the whole thing out" just dandy. When pushed on what the band's inspirational forces are, Mason acknowledges "there are bands you could listen to and say we are comparable with... The Coral, Stone Roses, Doves," but is also quick to assert, "we definitely don't sound like any one band. We each bring different influences to the table." "Things are changing," adds Shields, "I never thought we'd be a deeply instrumental band, but we do a lot of that stuff."

If you haven't seen Ardentjohn's name plastered on billboards across the city, it's because they haven't been about Auld Reekie a great deal. "Having a member based in London," Shields explains, "gives us an excuse to get around the country. We've spent a lot of time in London, Manchester, all over." So after a year on the road, how does the band feel the Edinburgh scene holds up against the rest of the UK? The answer echoes the sentiments of many of their peers who have graced this very page in the past.

"Musically it's very healthy. True, there's a lack of good venues but because of this there's a big acoustic scene exploding. You go down South to big cities and everybody wants to look and sound the same. But in Edinburgh there's a lot of variation and it can only be a good thing."

Too many bands nowadays would complain about the tedium of such time away. Refreshing, then, to hear Ardentjohn enthuse that it's "the best part about being in the band. Travelling about keeps it interesting… I miss my own bed and my own toilet, but Edinburgh's a small city, there's only so much you can do without getting away."

However, scooting about the land is not all plain sailing, as Marron points out. "Sometimes it can be a pain, when somebody has to drive home. We played the Wickerman Festival recently, and I had to drive. The van was tiny, no windows in the back or nothing. The thing was shaking all over the road, and all I wanted to do was get hammered!"

The rock 'n' roll lifestyle, eh. Who'd have it?