The first single from the forthcoming second album ‘If Destroyed Still True’
Edinburgh-based artist and producer Marky Wildtype has unfurled his fury by way of the new single “Tell Me Again” and we are there to ask him all about the scene back home, his home studio, artist influences, and if tough times are finally over. Beginning with buzzing guitars and synth notes descending chromatically, we are given a heads-up for what’s coming next. With spoken word simplicity, Marky Wildtype explains his situation,
“They say that you should always keep it in mind
That everybody struggles so try to be kind
But every now and then somebody’s so full of sh/t
Reminds me that a rule is proven by exceptions to it”
Whoa!!! We love it! The unleashing of wrath and fury is masterfully executed, woven seamlessly with captivating hooks and melodies, transforming it into an extraordinary indie rock anthem that serves as a cathartic outlet for personal frustrations. This is precisely what resonates with me about artists – their ability to channel their inner struggles into music and lyrics, providing a mirror for us to reflect on our own emotions in situations that are often universally relatable.
The bridge is absolutely genius. Within the dreamy, sweet sounds of the bridge, sounding almost like a church hymn, we hear Marky sing with a harmonizer, “You can go and f-ck yourself”… and then the song ends appropriately with the chromatic walk downs in heavy guitar, and we LOVE it.
Our interview with Marky Wildtype:
SBN: We are a Brooklyn-based online magazine and loved hearing that you were in Brooklyn recently. Did you catch any live music shows while you were here? What was your impression of good ol’ BKLN?
MW: I was over for Christmas and there didn’t seem to be much live music on over the period I was there, unfortunately. I would have loved to though, I will have to come back! I don’t really like to talk in terms of ‘vibes’, but Brooklyn felt like a kinda perfect place for creative people. Vibrant, inspiring. I wanted to move there and start a band!
SBN: We read that you are from Edinburgh, what an amazing city with a castle on the hill, we went to New Year’s a while back to enjoy the live music scene there. Are you part of an indie rock scene in Edinburgh, or do you prefer to write and record solo?
MW: Edinburgh is a beautiful and inspiring place to live! Glad you’ve had the chance to visit. I’m part of a little scene in Edinburgh, though I don’t know if it’s really the ‘indie rock’ scene. It’s more just a big pool of musicians who all know and support each other while making wildly diverse music. Acts like SHEARS, The Jellyman’s Daughter, Kultura, Dara Dubh and the other band I play in – an instrumental heavy rock/folk band called The Jig Show.
SBN: Tell us about your home studio. Do you have an elaborate setup with fancy mics and gear? What DAW did you use for your recording?
MW: I’m not sure how gear-nerdy to get here! I have a dedicated little room at home with a Focusrite Scarlett i18i20 interface and an OctoPre, plus a decent collection of mics that allows me to do full-band location recordings. I’ve been accumulating bits and pieces for years. Most recently I saved up and got myself a fancy SSL control surface for a birthday present so I don’t have to move faders and knobs with a mouse anymore, which is much nicer! I record primarily in Pro Tools, though the majority of non-acoustic extra instrumentation is done in Logic Pro X. I do all the mixing in Pro Tools.
SBN: We love your lyrics! It sounds like you are ‘over it’. Do you write music to help express emotional feelings that you cannot verbally express to someone face to face? Or as a final wrap-up after an emotional time is over?
MW: Thanks! Haha, I’m over *some* of it…! In other cases I’m definitely still processing things and asking questions. I’m an introvert, so some of the songs I write are absolutely expressions of feelings that I don’t have any reasonable outlet for, or that wouldn’t necessarily make sense or be comfortable to communicate to other people. And some are me telling myself things that I forget when my mental health isn’t doing so well. Some are reflections on past experiences, negative and positive. And there are the odd few that are me trying to process things I see in the world that I don’t understand or find frustrating or upsetting or enraging.
SBN: We are big fans of the iconic Scottish group Belle and Sebastian, are they a band that inspired you? What other artists from Scotland do you find inspiration from? Mogwai? Jesus and Mary Chain?
MW: I adore Belle and Sebastian. Stuart Murdoch is such an interesting and playful songwriter. The albums ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ and ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’ were pretty seminal for me. Mogwai are a band I dip into and out of, but the way they texture their sound and their dynamics is definitely something that I refer to often. There was a massively underrated band called Aereogramme who split a while ago who melded that textured sound with really emotional (as opposed to emo) lyrics and vocals, but also got HEAVY at times. They were absolutely brilliant, and one of my favourite Scottish bands. And of course there’s Biffy Clyro. I was a huge fan for their first 4 albums, then dropped off a bit. That said, for me, their most recent one ‘The Myth Of The Happily Ever After’ was a big ol’ return to form.
SBN: Do you tour the UK or stay local for performances?
MW: In my solo capacity, I’m not really doing much in the way of live performances for the moment. I’ve done a lot of it in the past with various original bands and I just find it really hard. I’d like to put together a band to do some shows at some point, but it has to be worth it – grinding around the tiny venue scene hustling for attention takes a lot of the joy out of it for me. I’d rather focus on being creative and building something that way. That said, I’m still out there gigging a lot with The Jig Show!
SBN: Do you produce other bands and artists?
MW: I do! Producing, recording and mixing is the thing I love most after making music myself. I’m currently working on an EP with an artist called Aww, which is really cool melodic grungey stuff. And I have a couple of other projects bubbling away too, though I’m always keen to do more. I’d also love to write for/with other people too. The music I write is fairly stylistically diverse, there are plenty of directions I’d be open to exploring.
SBN: What are you listening to on your personal Spotify playlist this week?
MW: There’s been a few albums on rotation lately – The new Grandaddy album ‘Blu Wav’, Lil Dicky’s album ‘Penith’. Albums by Spiritbox and Architects. Maybe just a smidge of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Individual tracks I’ve been loving: Aurora – ‘The Conflict of The Mind’, Marika Hackman – ‘I Follow Rivers’, Renée Rapp – ‘Not My Fault’. The soundtrack to True Detective: Night Country has thrown up a few absolute beauties!
Love them all! Thank you so much for chatting with us today : ) Love that you listen to a smidge of Taylor, ha!!!
