Spotlight On... Count Florida

Glasgow queer indie-pop three-piece Count Florida are Mel Whittle (vocals, guitar), Isobel McKenna (bass) and Argo Scott (drums). They released their debut album Choose Your Own on 2 February and we are smitten by their ability to write instantly catchy, sub-three minute indie-pop gems that linger on the ear for longer than most. Desperate to shine a spotlight on these apparent newcomers on the Glasgow scene, we catch up with bassist Isobel McKenna to find out more.

You describe Count Florida as old friends, but a new band, so how did you three actually meet? What’s the secret to such a long friendship?
We all know each other from playing in bands in Glasgow when we were in our 20s. I played in a band with Mel (California Snow Story) and then we started playing in our own band (The Hermit Crabs). Around this time Argo and Mel met organising a feminist music festival and later Argo joined the Crabs too. The secret to a long friendship is probably not really seeing each other much over 15 years! 

Why do you think now is the right time for you to be making music together?
Having 15 years is a good time to grow as people and I think we really love each other and can be open about how we feel and be supportive of each other and encouraging. This band is a real blend of pop and noise and I think that reflects the years of different musical experiences we've had informing the writing and arrangements. 

What was the inspiration behind the name Count Florida? I assume it’s a fun play on Mount Florida, an area of Glasgow I still can’t believe really exists, but a friend asked if it was maybe in reference to US vote rigging, so please tell us more.
So, the name can really mean anything you want to attach to it. Mibby Glaswegians will have a laugh because of Mount Florida, but it could have those meanings of the importance of Florida in terms of electoral practises, or it could be a retired vampire who lives in Mount Florida like Count von Count. 

Image: Count Florida by R.C.

What would you say the general themes are running through Choose Your Own and how did it all come about?
The general lyrical themes running through the album, in the first instance, could be divided into the songs Argo writes and the songs Mel writes. For example, Mel’s Big Fat Ginger Cat is more narrative-driven, as is Blake, which is like a user’s guide to the band Jawbreaker.

Argo’s Another You, which opens the record, looks towards optimism, acceptance, authenticity and autonomy to change yourself, and Be Free hints at the possibility that through this we could be powerful and free.

Musically, it’s a big blender. We are all able to play multiple instruments so once we got guitar, drums and bass down, we would play lots of extra parts, some would be cut and others buried in the mix. The idea was at all times to keep the power of the songs as a centre and keep the album poppy and short.

Now that the album's out, what are the rest of your plans for 2022?
We’ve got CDs and cassettes of the album coming soon, and a vinyl run when we can. We have a split cassette with Owls of Now that was recorded by our pal Chas from Dragged Up coming out too. 

We've got gigs at Mono, BLOC+ and The Hug & Pint in the diary and are up for more; we'd especially love to play a festival or two in summer, so get in touch please!  We have seven or eight songs ready for the next album and hope to start recording this year – and there is another album of stuff that is not really all that poppy that will come out as Count Florida After Dark.

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Choose Your Own is out now, available via Bandcamp: countflorida.bandcamp.com

Count Florida play BLOC+, Glasgow, 2 Mar; Mono, Glasgow, 17 Mar; The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, 19 Apr