K&A with Dead Boy Robotics

Now that all the end-of-year formalities have been dispensed with, let's get back to some long-overdue posts.  First up, the final K&A of 2011 saw me pose a few of my usual, deep probing questions to one of Scotland's finest up-and-coming electronic bands, Dead Boy Robotics.  Here's what they had to say about their recently-released debut album, their plans and tips for 2012, and why they've been hanging around old railway tunnels at one in the morning.  Before that though, have a wee listen to their previous single, and one of the many standout tracks on the album. 

   Gatherer On The Threshold by Dead Boy Robotics

Kowalskiy:  Who are Dead Boy Robotics?

DBR:  Dead Boy Robotics are an alternative electronic three-piece from Edinburgh. Otherwise known as Gregor, Mike and Paul.

Kowalskiy:  Is it true you chose the name as it's an anagram of both 'Octet Rabbi Dodos' and ''Sordid Bobcat Toe'?

DBR:  That is untrue. We're actually cyborgs sent back in time by Skynet to terminate Sarah Connor.

Kowalskiy:  You've just released your debut album on the back of the fantastic recent singles Ever and Gatherer on the Threshold. How does the rest of the album compare?

DBR:  'Ever' and 'Gatherer' are the two guitar and bass driven songs on the album. 'Ever' is the louder, faster, riff heavy of the two, with a big chorus and meandering proggy structure. 'Gatherer' is slower with haunting vocals and a more conventional song structure. The other album tracks contain a mixture of vintage and modern synths invoking a cinematic Sci-Fi feel.

Kowalskiy:  Might just be me, but the album has a 2-parter kinda feel. Is that the case? If so, is there a story to it?

DBR:  Yes it definitely has a two part feel but that certainly wasn't our intention. We went into the studio with only eight songs completed but hoped to add a couple of instrumentals later on. We felt a 10 track album of about 40 minutes was better than a mini album of eight songs. Because the songs are sequenced with track five '//', an instrumental track, the album feels like it has two definite sections.

Kowalskiy:  So what's this I heard about recording parts of it under a railway bridge at 1am??

DBR:  After all the vocal parts for the album were recorded in the studio we took them to Innocent Railway Tunnel in Holyrood Park, played them back the down the tunnel and recorded the reverb. If you listen closely to 'Gatherer on the Threshold' you can hear water dripping on the ground from the roof of the tunnel.

Kowalskiy:  I may have missed the boat on this one, but are there future plans to hit the road and plug the album?

DBR:  We'll hopefully do some sort of UK tour next year but haven't got anything confirmed as of yet. However, we do have gigs planned for Edinburgh and Inverness of the end of January.

Kowalskiy:  What'd be your ideal gig?
DBR:  Curating a day of All Tomorrow's Parties as that's possibly our favourite UK festival.

Kowalskiy:  It's getting to that time of year, so what bands would you tip for 2012?

DBR:  Lady North, Paul our drummer's other band, are fantastic live and very entertaining and will hopefully make some new recordings next year. Miaoux Miaoux is always coming out with catchy tunes and banging remixes. Edinburgh band Machine Room are working with Tape to record an album after fantastic recent single 'Camino De Soda'.

Kowalskiy:  Last one... what can we expect from DBR in the new year?

DBR:  We're hoping to play some festivals next year, tour and will be writing new music.

   Ever by Dead Boy Robotics

Ever, my favourite track from their eponymous album is streaming above, and the album can be bought from the band here in CD form, or downloaded from iTunes here. 

Upcoming Gigs
Friday 20^th Jan - The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
Friday 27^th Jan - Mad Hatters, Inverness