The band that became Nightshift formed in 2019 in the ecosystem of Glasgow’s current indie scene. The city’s fertile and creative group of musicians have been committed to pushing the boundaries of and blurring the lines between DIY, punk, experimentalism and indie pop for decades now; a home to bands like Shopping, Vital Idles, Current Affairs, Still House Plants, Richard Youngs and Happy Meals as well as forebears like Orange Juice, Teenage Fanclub & Yummy Fur.
With new album Zöe due late February on Trouble in Mind, Glasgow’s Nightshift have shared second single “Power Cut” along with a video made by Rob Alexander.
The video is premiering on Stereogum, who say of the track, “[Power Cut] reminds me of when Yo La Tengo stretch out and tap into a vibe, except trippier and more avant-garde, with shades of Cate Le Bon and her pals Deerhunter… The way this breathes and flows, you’d never guess they weren’t in the room together.”
Nightshift – Power Cut
https://youtu.be/LK4PRgbzWPs
1. What made you want to pursue a life in music?
Andrew: Delusion, and obsession.
Eo: I am predominately a visual artist, so never really saw myself pursuing a life in music. I always admired my community that made music and just appreciated it from a listening side. Both music and art is super hard to survive off. I have always worked alongside. Well, in-fact we all work in other ways to support our practices. I was drawn to music as is way less pretentious than art. I remember my first gig playing and I said into the mic, this is so much more fun, all surprised. It’s hard to have fun in art sometimes. When there’s always the prospect of someone ripping you to shreds or asking, so what? You are just doing it for the joy of doing it and that is magnetic.
Georgia: I didn’t really, it’s just always been a big part of my life. My dad passed on his love of music to me. He had me jumping on couches to Bob Marley from the age of 3 or 4, taught me the appropriate volume to play Led Zeppelin at in the car, and it all snowballed from there.
Chris: Learning about 70’s punk rock made me think I could at least attempt playing an instrument in a band. Me and some friends got into playing together at high school which kinda evolved into our social life and I’ve continued from there… I also got interested in the technical side of things and made a living sound engineering for a while.
Dave: There was no moment of conscious decision – music listening & making is something that I’ve been surrounded by since I was born. My dad played in skiffle and jazz bands in Scotland in the 50s/60s & my whole family had a voracious appetite for music & sharing tapes and having John Peel’s show on in the kitchen. My whole education was originally aimed towards being into some sort of painting malarkey but I found it quite isolating in contrast to when I realized through meeting like-minded folk & starting to form bands, that this form of expression that I’d just enjoyed for its own sake doodling around on a guitar in my bedroom, suddenly blossomed when playing with friends… just through a lot of chance encounters with some special people I’m still playing 30 years on from my 1st bands.
2. Can you tell us what you’re working on right now that most excites you?
Andrew: Wedding preparations. More Nightshift.
Eo: Editing the live stream of our digital gig, ha. I am continuing to work on solo sound performance art stuff and other writing alongside the band. I’ve also been making these textile tapestries/wall hangings. (Maybe they will come out sometime as a banner when we eventually get to play a gig!)
Georgia: I’m writing a dissertation about teaching mathematics… it’s more exciting than it sounds! Cooking new recipes has become my poor substitute for travel, getting outside for walks and fossil hunting with my partner is fun too – I want to find a trilobite! Of course, I’m also looking forward to making more music with NIGHTSHIFT.
Chris: Social care. Making more music. Screen printing colourful stuff. I’m also building a studio in the basement.
Dave: Being in love, making music with Nightshift, learning about & drawing plants on an RHS Horticulture course, learning to code in Ruby & trying to combine all these into one wonderful melee of life-enhancing experience haha… while staying safe & looking out for friends’ well-being…
3. Who are your biggest influences?
Andrew: My friends Steven Warwick and Adam Bainbridge.
Eo: I would have to say in my immediacy, my partner Rachel Aggs. Rachel has influenced my music-making and that’s undeniable, just being with someone that lives for music and keeps telling you you can do anything, until eventually I did start to play drums, then sing. Many people in the UK DIY music scene, the groups I’m a part of here in Glasgow, like SPITE HOUSE that puts on gigs. The venue I used to work in Rotterdam called WORM, they also have an amazing synthesizer residency program and they’d just let me book it out for free to experiment and make my weird radio plays. I grew up loving Laurie Anderson, Nico, The Raincoats.
Georgia: Not sure; I feel like I’ve listened to, absorbed, and forgotten more music than should fit into a lifetime. My closest friends through the years loved music too so introduced me to great bands and expanded my sonic horizons, from post-punk to jazz and black metal. I didn’t have the confidence to play with others until I started jamming with friends in Glasgow on a weekly basis, maybe around 7 years ago. My buddy Rob encouraged me to play clarinet; it was the first time I picked it up since my high school marching band days so I thank him for that! As a guitarist, I am in awe of Sonny Sharrock because his playing style is so raw, textured, and uniquely beautiful. He said something like trying to imitate others is bullshit (I’m paraphrasing) and I’m of the same mind.
Chris: My family and friends.
Dave: Growing up with my family’s eclectic music tastes before finding my own via listening mainly to John Peel but mostly the amazing music my friends have made & keep making over the years, friends I’ve made through making music are some of the smartest, most humorous, kind, thoughtful, self-deprecating & talented characters… the rest of Nightshift are all ridiculously talented & prolific but exceedingly humble…
4. What was your favourite live concert and why?
Andrew: Sonic Youth in LA 2003, was utterly insanely rocking.
Eo: Hard to pick, so many have been many favourite ones. I’m going to say Ravioli Me Away at the Supernormal festival in 2019. Why? Every second was magic and the crowd was in euphoria. It was in an old barn, juxtaposed with the music, it felt really wild. RMA is everything when it comes to music and maximum life energy and this gig was full of it. They performed a ‘bunny remix’ of their THE VIEW FROM BEHIND THE FUTURISTIC ROSE TRELLIS opera by Ravioli Me Away and friends. It’s very inspiring not only to hear the cosmic music but to see their costumes, sense of humour and politics on the stage. And lots of collaboration with others helping in their community, also supporting neurodiverse musicians. It was really joyous and the music took you on a journey, is the kind of music that is hard to describe as its everything in one and its so free. Buy the record it is amazing!
Georgia: Hmm, maybe Bardo Pond at Terrastock in Louisville in 2008. The flute was so heavy and Kawabata Mokoto played with them – I was mesmerized. The whole festival had a great atmosphere and I loved the music; it was an unforgettable, sunny day involving a 7-hour road trip with my friend Brian. More recently, I loved Crack Cloud in Glasgow. They played a sweaty, basement gig that knocked my socks off and made me dance like a maniac. Also Massicot in Glasgow for similar reasons. So I guess that’s three… I’ll stop there… I really miss gigs!
Chris: At the moment the memory of seeing Michael Hurley in Kirkcaldy in 2018 stands out. I thought it was so unique that he was playing a gig in Kirkcaldy (a relatively small town on the east coast of Scotland). It was a fun day trip going to see him play. We ended up in the front row and he was staring back at us. He sounded just like his records. It was really cool.
Dave: Every time I’ve seen my pals in Trumans Water play! Toured with them quite a bit so seen them play about 70 odd times… still full of energy & fizzing with melodic ideas & invention but in the most simple stripped-down plugin & play/no-fuss way… just the way punk was intended but with, er… more fucked up riffs haha! Saw them arrive really late to a gig once at the exact moment they were meant to headline & they walked through the packed crowd carrying all their gear, plugged straight in, turned up their tatty looking amps & tore the place apart & everyone was grinning from ear to ear… But also I concur that Massicot & Ravioli Me Away are two of the most exciting bands I’ve seen in recent years…
5. What would you like to say to your old/new fans?
Andrew: I hope you are safe, take care.
Eo: I hope to meet you one-day in-person very soon. Take care x.
Georgia: Always back up your hard drives.
Chris: Glad you found the music.. peace out!
Dave: Don’t let the bastards grind you down! Listen to grindcore!