We met Randan Discotheque three months ago to record this session. Due to some scheduling problems and technical difficulties it’s taken us till now to get it on the site. Forgive us. It’s been worth the wait though.
We met singer and guitarist Craig, percussionist Doug and mandolin/guitar player Olly at the Edinburgh College of Art, where by some miracle we got access to a couple of places we really shouldn’t have. We got two songs, both stripped down to bare bones folk songs, completely changing the tone from their electric versions which the band play at gigs.
The first song, “Heather The Weather” was recorded on a balcony near the top of the new Art School Building, giving us a lovely view of Edinburgh Castle from an angle which most people don’t get to see. We were told a story about shady businessmen and buildings changing hands, but we won’t go into it here. “Heather…” is tribute to cheery Heather Reid who presents weather reports on BBC Scotland. Fittingly, the Scottish weather showed its true colours, with rain looming and wind causing us to worry about the recordings. Poor Doug looked a little crestfallen as his percussion setup was stripped down to the quietest possible to avoid it drowning out everything else.
Heading back downstairs to less wind and less vertigo, we were taken to the Sculpture Court in the main building. The sculpture court is a lovely, echoing chamber of light, where casts of the friezes from the Parthenon line the walls of the corridor. With art school types wandering past, barely noticing that a band was bellowing out songs in the midst of this otherwise quiet hall, we recorded “Let’s Call It Dirt”. Actually untitled at the time, this song, even more than the last, is a very different take from the version that can be seen at normal Randan gigs. The echo chamber effect of the hall adds a totally different dimension to the song, and we feel lucky to have caught it
Randan Discotheque – Off the Beaten Facts
- Randan Discotheque is actually a four piece normally. Hugo de Verteuil normally plays guitar and keyboards, but couldn’t make it.
- The new single, “Daily Record May 18th 1993″ is out 31st August as a limited edition 7″ on The Bonjour Branch label
- The band’s name came from an old sign which singer Craig stumbled upon in a small Italian town. Honest.
- There’s all sorts of art type stuff going on with Randan and Craig himself. Check out their site for more.
- You can find them on Myspace
