Rip It Up: Most Influential Scottish Artists

To write the story of music in Scotland from the perspective of the people at the very heart of it, we contacted a few of Scotland's most celebrated musicians and behind-the-scenes influencers to ask them five questions.

Free to answer as few or as many as they wished, we're pleased to report that most of them responded (particularly Shirley Manson, we're really excited about Shirley Manson) answering all of our questions. To make this more manageable, we've broken this down into five features covering the following questions – the question in bold is the one covered here and you can click through to the others easily for continued reading:

1. What Scottish venue played an important and influential role in your musical career and why?
2. What is the most iconic gig you can remember attending in Scotland and what made it stand out?
3. Which Scottish band/artist has been really influential to you/ignited your passion for music and why?
4. What do you think have been the most significant changes in the Scottish music scene since the start of your career?
5. Where do you feel Scottish music fits in on a global scale?

"Recently I’ve been remembering how much I was obsessed with The Associates and in particular the voice of Billy Mackenzie. His version of Gloomy Sunday ripped my heart out when I first heard it and it blows me away to this day. I know Björk has name-checked him too which would have delighted him were he still alive. He was the first 'famous' person I ever met. The first bona fide artist for that matter, and as such his attentions affected me deeply. I was absolutely gutted when he died. A premature, tragic loss of such outstanding talent." [Shirley Manson, Garbage]

"To me, it's The Blue Nile by such a distance it's almost not even a competition for other artists. The level of influence that Paul Buchanan's music, his singing and his lyrics have had on what I've done; their stance on production runs through everything that I do. Nothing else compares to it, in my opinion, on a Scottish level." [Martin Doherty, CHVRCHES]

"They didn't influence me musically, but I'm eternally indebted to The Delgados. They set up Chemikal Underground to release their own music and Arab Strap were one of their first signings when they started branching out. They were the only label whoever responded to us, and if they hadn't liked that wee cassette I sent them I don't expect you'd ever have heard of Malcolm Middleton or me. We weren't the most ambitious young people back then, we were happy just making tapes for friends, and if The Delgados hadn't encouraged us to pull our fingers out and make an effort we'd probably still be on the dole." [Aidan Moffat, Arab Strap]

"Teenage Fanclub were my favourite Scottish band growing up (and they remain a firm favourite). They were peers with Nirvana and Sonic Youth, toured with them, and made unforgettable records that still sound like classics in 2018. And they were from Bellshill! Teenage Fanclub showed me, and many other teens getting into rock'n'roll in the early 90s, that it was perfectly attainable and achievable to be from small-town Scotland and make records that resonated around the world." [Roddy Woomble, Idlewild]

"Orange Juice, Simple Minds, Berlin Blondes, Josef K." [Clare Grogan, Altered Images]

"I was too young to be into it at the time, but a few years after I was massively influenced and inspired, and continue to be so by a host of (particularly) Edinburgh post-punk bands so I’m going to cheat and name a few – The Fire Engines, The Scars, Josef K and I’ll throw in Port Glasgow’s Robert Rental too. They showed me you can do your own thing without being pigeonholed and that doing it yourself is a viable option." [JD Twitch, Optimo]

"The first edition of The Fire Engines introduced Captain Beefheart to James Brown. They delighted me and I couldn’t figure out why or how. But The Associates and Billy Mackenzie made the perfect pop single at a time when there were a few contenders with Party Fears Two and that is the highest accolade possible." [Tim London, Young Fathers co-producer]

"Mogwai for sure – I became a fan of their music in the early days. I remember them playing at The Liquid Room when I worked there in the 90s and I was just blown away by the show. For the last 20-odd years their sound is constantly progressing, they’ve never released a bad record or film score. They’re one of the greatest live bands on earth and every single time I hear a new Mogwai album, or see them perform, it just reinvigorates me and it really reminds me of how much I love what I do, and how lucky I am to be a part of working in music in Scotland." [Gráinne Braithwaite, Synergy Concerts]

"Ossian, I adored Ossian. Billy Ross' singing is outstanding and many unsung heroes from the Scottish folk scene in the late 1970s influenced how I heard music. John Martin was also a big influence, his folk tunings on guitar and soul singing expanded me." [Eddi Reader, Fairground Attraction]

"Ivor Cutler had a massive influence on us [and] The Pastels were important when we were starting out as their attitude seemed to set them apart from the mainstream and we shared a lot of common tastes. When Stephen Pastel offered BMX Bandits the chance to make our first record, it felt like validation as we trusted his group's aesthetic and his taste in what was good music." [Dugas T. Stewart, BMX Bandits]

"God, there are so many. The Beta Band and Belle & Sebastian probably have equal top billing for me. The Beta's sheer approach to making music, that collage of styles, totally blew my mind. They were a band so in thrall to their heroes, they were a musical education in and of themselves – through their mixes, videos and their own records, they fused hip-hop, psychedelic folk/rock, dub, music from around the world (not to mention film), a proper journey that ultimately led me straight to Fence, and making my own music.

"Belle & Sebastian, too, wear their influences on their multiple sleeves – they are that perfect combination of music for fans, created by music fans. The way they communicate with their audience, releasing stand-alone singles and EPs, putting on events in strange locations, whilst retaining a sense of mystery, particularly in those early days – that was really exciting to me. Both of these acts have made a distinct effort to create their own world, to stand apart from everything else, and I always deeply admired that." [Johnny Lynch, Pictish Trail & Lost Map Records]

"I would say Shirley Manson. Growing up as a teenager who loved Garbage and now, as a grown-up woman, it's even more clear to me how important she was, to music and to women in music at that time. The way that she sings and the way that she performs is so powerful and so feminine but so androgynous at the same time, and I like that it took the concept of a girl in a band and just gave it the middle finger at that time. I do think that without women like her or Karen O or Sleater Kinney that it probably wouldn't even have occurred to me that you could be in those kinds of bands, and I feel like her legacy is really important." [Lauren Mayberry, CHVRCHES]

"That’s a really hard one to answer – too many to mention – but in high school I became a massive fan of Simple Minds and listened to their albums whilst getting ready for school. On moving to Glasgow to study in 1989 I became aware of the Bellshill scene and started listening more to bands like Teenage Fanclub and BMX Bandits. The Trashcan Sinatras (Irvine) were of particular importance to me though – their second album I’ve Seen Everything (1993) was just brilliant. Great songwriting and production." [Emma Pollock, The Delgados & Chemikal Underground]

"Aside from King Creosote who was my main musical mentor as a teenager, I would say Liz Fraser, singer of The Cocteau Twins. The first song I heard her sing was a cover of Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren with This Mortal Coil. I don’t know how long ago that was, but it was a long time! Heaven or Las Vegas was my first proper album I bought myself, and I’d never heard anyone sound like that. She has this incredible, ethereal voice that transports you, and doesn’t sing in a known language half the time. I loved that she was from Scotland and sounded totally other-worldly. The Cocteau Twins are still a band I always look to for inspiration." [KT Tunstall]

"Emeli Sandé and Paolo Nutini. I love how they both had their own songwriting style. It was so real listening to the stories they'd share in their songs and it inspired me to make sure I always sang about things that I had experienced. They've been hugely successful pop artists and I'd love to emulate their successes." [Charlotte Brimner, Be Charlotte]

"I first saw Primal Scream play in 1986 in what is now known as Espionage and then covered them in my fanzine. They formed part of a Scottish indie boom which included The Jesus and Mary Chain, Shop Assistants and BMX Bandits, which then gave rise to Teenage Fanclub and Belle & Sebastian. I think their capacity for reinventing themselves kept them fresh for almost two decades, although I have never seen them perform live as well as they did that first time." [Olaf Furniss, Born to Be Wide & Wide Days & Under the Radar]

"The Skids showed that Scotland could produce a band that could not only compete with London and Manchester’s finest punk combos, but could actually wipe the floor with most of them. I remember seeing them open for The Damned and having one of those hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-the-neck moments. Stuart Adamson – may he rest in peace – was truly gifted beyond his years." [Ronnie Gurr, Music Industry Manager & Book Publisher & Rip It Up Exhibition Consultant]

"I watched Teenage Fanclub take flight with the release of Bandwagonesque, while I was studying for my exams at university and trying to feel philosophical. (I had helped record A Catholic Education with them but had decided to keep studying rather than sell my soul for rock'n'roll). It seems like they were the first people I knew socially to travel in a splitter van, pay themselves per diems on tour and sell actual merchandise like T-shirts. But they were also grounded and down to earth. That combination was probably quite inspiring; being feted nationally and internationally while remaining 'one of their own.' I think that made a lot of people from Lanarkshire, Glasgow or Scotland dare to be ambitious." [Francis Macdonald, Teenage Fanclub]

"I’d have to say The LaFontaines, whom I manage. Not because I manage them but because they make me more excited about live music than any other act on the planet. I’d never had any aspirations to be an artist manager – in fact, I still don’t know how I ended up here, but my belief in these boys is all-encompassing.

"I remember meeting them when the late Charlie Murphy was doing a show at the ABC (and I was about two bottles of wine down) and being convinced that night to go and see them live a few weeks later supporting 3OH!3, purely down to frontman Kerr Okan’s constant pestering! From the moment I walked into that room, I’ve been their biggest fan. I’ve never seen a better live band – they give it everything and more, and are also genuinely some of my favourite people in the world." [Aarti Joshi, DF Concerts]

"Optimo's Twitch and Wilkes stand out to me as these amazing beacons of how you can be esoteric to the point of oddness, never perform as you're expected to, and yet cause such feelings of joy to swell from audiences by using unlikely materials. I know they are 'national treasures' but it can't be said enough how authentic and incorruptibly brilliant they are. That's just their DJ performances, never mind the platform they have given for so much amazing music through their record labels.

"If there's one live musician that inspires by being consumed by the power in music when he's performing, it's Dale Barclay – I don't think anyone else has his raw energy. He's also the performer most likely to give you either a scary look or a sweaty hug." [Nick Stewart, Sneaky Pete's]

"I love The Pastels and I love The Cocteau Twins, and it's no secret I love Belle & Sebastian. I could tell you I hated Belle & Sebastian, but nobody would believe me. The Belles were a massive influence on me, though, and not just because Stuart produced our first record." [Tracyanne Campbell, Camera Obscura]

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Click the numbers to continue reading the answers to Questions 1, 2, 4 and 5

Photo credits for lead image: Lauren Mayberry by Eoin Carey; Aidan Moffat by LUCUSj Photography; Johnny Lynch by Beth Chalmers; KT Tunstall by Piper Ferguson; Emma Pollock by Jannica Honey; Nick Stewart by Holly Brown; Tracyanne Campbell by Anna Isola Crolla