Band Interview: Ugly Clinic
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life are pleased to bring you an interview with rock and rollers, Ugly Clinic!
1. How did you get started as a band?
We come from Aberdeenshire in the North of Scotland, which is a pretty remote area. There’s a limited number of like-minded musicians with the necessary talent, energy and ambition available – and a lot of them are already in other bands. It’s not like London, where there are thousands of other musicians around you can potentially work with. Pete (rhythm guitar) and Davie (bass) worked together previously in a Punk revival tribute band. But both of them are songwriters and had plenty of original material of their own. And they thought that the material they were writing was as good as anything they were hearing around them, so they started looking around for like-minded souls. It took a while to find Jed (drummer), Richard (lead guitar) and Chloe (vocals), but since we started working together, progress has been pretty swift.
2. How would you describe your sound?
Well first and foremost we are a Rock and Roll band. That might sound unadventurous – maybe even a little old-fashioned – these days. But we don’t agree, we think there’s plenty of mileage left in the classic guitar/bass/drums format, if you do it well and offer a fresh take on it. We don’t consider ourselves as revivalists, because we don’t copy anybody, or any specific era or genre. But as a group of individuals, our personal tastes tend towards the Punk/Metal/Classic Rock/Goth side of music.
3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?
The Damned, Buzzcocks, AC/DC, Blondie are all in there somewhere!
4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?
Unsure. On one hand, it makes it easier to put into practice the old punk ethos of ‘’get out there and do it for yourself’’. But on the other hand, there’s just so much material out there, it’s difficult to get yourself noticed without the help of a record companies marketing department working on your behalf.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
Not a lot! Music is pretty much everyone’s hobby, even out with Ugly Clinic. We are all known to enjoy a pint or two down the pub, but keep that to yourself.
6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?
Next up for us is to start work on Album number 2. Album number 1 hasn’t even be released yet, but we are constantly writing new material and besides – the devil makes work for idle hands. And after we’re all allowed back outside to play again, gigs, gigs and more gigs.
