Lorna Irvine speaks with an impressive band that continues to make waves.
Flowers In The Dustbin is an exciting Glasgow-based record label. Among the artists on the roster are cheeky emerging young band Andrew R Burns and the Tropicanas, based in Livingston, whose psych-infused dreamy indie pop has been getting a lot of airplay of late, among taste-makers like Tom Ravenscroft, Vic Galloway and Jim Gellatly. Their colourful, acidic visuals are interesting too, evocative of early Primal Scream and The Jesus and Mary Chain and, more recently, New Psych acts Tame Impala, Ariel Pink, Hookworms and Temples.
I made some general enquiries about influences, styles and potential collaborations.
It's fair to say you've got a plethora of different influences. Who did you listen to growing up?
Andrew: The first things I listened to were really stonking bands like Linkin Park and Sum 41.
Joe Murtdog: I dunno, bands like White Stripes and stuff like The Kinks and The Small Faces.
Rudog: My favourite drummers when I was growing up were Samuel Pascal, Jean Bennadine, and of course, Jack De Johnette. Joe White is in Malta, kicking around coconuts and keeping it tropicool, so we can't really speak for him.
Why does Glasgow and Edinburgh keep producing such great artists, do you think?
Andrew: We don't really know. [Glasgow] is one of the biggest cities in [the UK], with lots of people going to it I guess; it's got cool venues, a bunch of big unis, it keeps itself real sexy. Edinburgh is cool too but it's a bit more touristy, more bagpipes in the streets and stuff, but there are still loads of great bands and labels releasing music all over Scotland. Song By Toad in Edinburgh does loads of work with bands all around the UK, so it's not really about what city you're from. Up in Inverness, there's our good friends Lionel, and you've got Neon Waltz coming from way, way up North.
Tom Ravenscroft is a fan of yours. Is there a session in the offing?
Andrew: Tom played our track Coming Down to Erf on his 6Music show. That was awesome, and doing a session for him would be ridiculous. The tune that he played was about a pretty dire nightclub in Livi that used to be called Earth (affectionately nicknamed 'Erf')--it's where all the honeys and babes go.
What are you listening to now?
Andrew: Lots of things really, generally a lot of lo-fi artists who take a sort of DIY ethic to recording, stuff like R Stevie Moore and Ariel Pink. I've also been listening to glo-fi/chillwave artists like Com Truise and Neon Indian. Other than that, bands coming out of the Edmonton music scene have been a big influence like Travis Bretzer and Mac Demarco.
Your artwork and videos have a very strong visual identity. Are there any directors/artists you would like to collaborate with?
Really, anyone who makes stuff for free, we like dreamy shit. I guess it would be really good to work with (French music video/film director genius) Michel Gondry because he has that whole surreal, homemade kind of feel to his work.
https://andrewrburnsbandcamp.com
Get the debut EP Dreamslop at www.flowersinthedustbin.org
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