The Skinny On... Valtos

What’s your favourite place to visit?
Home. Skye is our favourite place on earth. Although we won’t be telling you any secret spots, those are just for us.

What's your favourite food?
Simple, but I absolutely love my parents' macaroni cheese. Home comforts that I don’t get often enough anymore.

What's your favourite colour?
Purple seems to be quite a strong theme across the Valtos brand. So we must be drawn to that as a pair.

Who was your hero growing up?
I was a huge Foo Fighters fan so naturally it was Dave Grohl. Perhaps not so in favour now, but as a teen I used to watch hours of Foos documentaries, music videos, BTS footage etc, and hoped one day I’d get the stage call up (when they inevitably played Portree Community Centre).

Whose work inspires you now?
We’re both inspired by very similar artists which we think can really be heard across the album, from our trad mates like the Elephant Sessions, Project Smok and Talisk, to dance artists like Bicep, Mylo, Swedish House Mafia and Fred Again.., to more ‘bandy’ influences like The 1975 or Noah Kahan. We both consume vast quantities of music across the spectrum and it really helps shape who we are.

What three people would you invite to your dinner party, and what are you cooking?
Billy Connolly, Andy Murray and Nicola Sturgeon. What a cross-section of the Scottish influence on the arts, sport and politics. You could learn a lot about being successful at that table. I make a good sweet honey chicken dish – ticks off the carbs and protein for Andy! 

What’s your all-time favourite album?
I love the first Coldplay album, Parachutes. I know Coldplay get a lot of hate these days but I truly believe their early work to be great. I constantly go back to this album. Maybe it’s because it’s the first one I remember being played in the car to me by my father but I have a real attachment to it.

What’s the worst film you’ve ever seen?
I recently watched The Rip on Netflix expecting a Damon and Affleck film to be good. I was severely disappointed.

What book would you take to a desert island?
I’ve been trying to finish a big book on the Scottish Clearances for years now so probably that given there’ll be lots of downtime. 

Who’s the worst?
Sutherland and Patrick Sellar. The Highlands would be a different place had those bastards not had their way. 

When did you last cry?
Last year a very close friend made the eulogy at their mother’s funeral, it was heartbreaking.

What are you most scared of?
We both quite often wake in sweats having had nightmares about gigs gone wrong/or no one turning up.

When did you last vomit?
Does the occasional too large a Friday night count?

Tell us a secret?
We were asked to submit our single The Night for consideration as this year's Eurovision entry!

Which celebrity could you take in a fight?
Elon Musk needs brought down a peg or two eh.

If you could be reincarnated as an animal, which animal would it be and why?
A quokka in Australia. They seem to live the perfect, smiley life.

Why should people check out your new album, The Last Light?
We truly believe it to be the sound of a modern Scotland. We’ve taken new voices, old voices, Gaelic, Scots and English and created something we think is truly unique. We believe it to be the perfect cross-section of Scottish society today, combined with our take on modern dance, trad and folk.

What's your top tip for surviving the weekend at a camping festival?
Ha, we’re maybe not the best to ask as we never camp. However, put on sun cream, have a few small beers and go and listen to some new music you’ve never heard before.

If you could programme the ‘legend slot’ at Glastonbury when it returns next year, who are you booking?
What a tough question. They have to tick so many boxes: legacy act, huge generational songs, perhaps not touring. Perhaps, keeping it Scottish-themed, Annie Lennox/Eurythmics. What an absolute icon and she’d tear the house down on the Sunday.

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The Last Light is set for release on 17 Apr via Island Life

Valtos play Portree Community Centre, Skye, 4 Apr; Ptarmigan Station, Aviemore, 17 Apr; Knoydart Village Hall, Knoydart, 18 Apr; Oran Mor, Glasgow, 24 Apr and Barrowlands, Glasgow, 25 Apr

Valtos play the following festivals: The Gathering, Inverness, 30 May; Eden Festival, Moffat, 11-14 Jun; South Scotland Outdoor Festival, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries, 27 Jun; Kelburn Garden Party, Kelburn Castle, nr Largs, 5 Jul; HebCelt Festival, Stornoway, 17 Jul; Folk by the Oak, Hatfield, 19 Jul; Belladrum, Belladrum Estate, nr Inverness, 1 Aug; Between the Trees Festival, Candleston Castle Campsite, Bridgend, 28 Aug; Allen Valleys Folk Festival, Allendale, 25-27 Sep