Falloch Metal Hammer Interview

Here’s a reprint of my interview with Falloch that ran in Metal Hammer last month. Their album is ace so check it out.

Fresh Meat

Falloch

Formed in 2010, Scottish duo Falloch release their debut Where Distant Spirits Remain on September 26 and it’s a genre straddling opus that effortlessly captures the rugged beauty of their surroundings. Naming themselves after the Falls of Falloch in Crianlarich in the Loch Lomond area, musicians Andy Marshall and Scott McLean employ atmospheric metal, folk and post-rock sounds to tell their nature and nostalgia inspired stories and from the very first strains of nine minute album opener We Are Gathering Dust it’s clear that the band march to their own beat.

“Our main inspiration was to make an album that we felt conveyed atmosphere and emotion,” begins Andy. “We weren’t bothered about genres-it was the overall feeling we were interested it. We were listening to music ranging from Alcest and Deftones through to Yann Tiersen and Jeff Buckley during the recording of the album and we aimed to create a record that appealed to music fans across the spectrum.”

Opting to complete their album before going on the hunt for prospective labels, Falloch managed to dodge the usual delays that dog other new bands’ debuts by having their finished opus recorded and ready to go.

“From previous experiences with former groups we’ve been in, we have always felt that you end up wasting so much time doing things that don‘t really benefit the band,” he offers. “Overall the making of the album was pretty relaxed. We wanted to enjoy the process while making sure everything we were doing was as good as it could be.”

Produced by the band and mastered by Ulver and King Crimson studio wizard Ronan Chris Murphy, Where Distant Spirits Remain is a record that’s greatly influenced by the Scottish landscape. While Andy won’t be drawn on specific lyrical details, he does admit the band’s sound owes much to his surrounding and they plan to push these influences even further in the future.

“Yeah, the lyrics are definitely inspired by the Scottish landscape,” he agrees. “Whenever we’re on a road trip through the highlands, staying at my cottage in the Isle of Skye or just walking through the forest near our homes we always feel really inspired. There are also other themes such as nostalgia and sorrow in the lyrics which are influenced by personal experiences and a longing for the past. I think everyone sees different meanings in lyrics and I would rather someone read ours and took something that was personal from them than us going into meanings behind them. The landscape/nature, traditional music and art of Scotland has a huge role to play in our sound. We also have a huge admiration for the Scottish Gaelic language and we’ve discussed possibly using some on our future material.

At the moment though, the band’s main focus is on their debut and now that the record has a release date they’re ready to enter stage two of their plans-recruiting some live players and booking some gig

 “Our main aim is to find a full live line up and practice with that,” he says finally. “At the moment things work really well with the two of us but in the future we would love to make Falloch into a more traditional band. We just want to make sure we have the right people to do that with.”

EDWIN McFEE

Who Are They?

LINE-UP: Andy Marshall (vocals, guitars, bass), Scott McLean (piano, keyboards, drums)

SOUND LIKE: A melancholic and nostalgia influenced metal-based musical melting pot served up with a side order of Scottish-ness.

CURRENT RELEASE: Where Distant Spirits Remain (Candlelight)

WEBSITE: www.falloch.com.