Sam McTrusty, vocalist and guitarist from Twin Atlantic recently took some time to answer some questions for us. Here’s what he had to say….
PT: Hello, give us a quick introduction of who you are and what you do in Twin Atlantic.
Iâm Sam I play guitar and sing in Twin Atlantic.
PT: How are you all doing today?
Everyone is great right now we have a few tour cuts and bruises and we could all probably do with a proper meal but aside from that weâre fine.
PT: Where are you and what are you doing at this precise moment in time?
We are in Brighton waiting to play here for the first time everâŚI donât think any of us have even been here before never mind trying to pull a crowd here but we are just happy to be out on our own!
PT: How would you describe the Twin Atlantic sound for someone whoâs never heard you before?
Loud rocking music. Distorted guitars, Scottish vocalsâŚsongs that are honest.
PT: Up until about a year and half ago, you were all previously in different bands. How did you initially get together?
Ross and myself went to school together and have always been good friends since then so it has kind of been a natural choice that we would make music togetherâŚwe donât really know why we didnât from the start to be honest? We met Craig and Barry through knowing the Glasgow music scene and from being in bands before. You know we had a common understanding in what a band should be and how we wanted our band to sound. It was all a big coincidence really thereâs no mystical forces at work.
PT: Is there a story behind the band name?
Yes and no. the name itself has no significance to anythingâŚyet. Thatâs why I chose it. We didnât want any pre-conceptions as to how we might sound. 9 times out of 10 the first thing you hear from a band is the name and if itâs predictable like âdevil metal kisses to the deathâ then you tend to shut off. Basically we want the story to the band name to be affiliated with us in the future so that we can know that we made something new. As inâŚwhen you hear the words Twin Atlantic you can only think about our music.
PT: The last year or so has been pretty busy for you. Youâve been on the road with some amazing bands like Finch, Say Anything & Funeral For Friend. What have been the highlights of the last 12 months for you guys?
Itâs really hard to pick. We have been completely spoiled since we started touring. I mean our first tour was main support to Circa SurviveâŚthatâs ridiculous!!! But we feel like we have learned from every band we have toured with this year. A personal highlight is touring with Biffy Clyro and seeing that they are supportive of our band. For our age and where we are from they are always going to be what we are unfairly compared to so to know that they are on our side is cool. Or bands like Oceansize or Aerogramme that we have put up on pedestals for musicianship giving us positive feedback when we played with them. There are honestly too many high points to choose from. The guys from FFAF singing along to our songsâŚthatâs a bit of a headfuck. Or getting to hang out with bands like MeWithoutYou or the LostProphetsâŚthat can be fun.
PT: You were also personally requested by Smashing Pumpkins to support them at the SECC. How did you react when you found that out?
Honestly? We just laughedâŚ.probably because we weâre shit scared. We had only played to maybe 300/400 by that point and to be faced with the reality of playing to 5000 was quite daunting. But we were extremely honoured to be picked out from so many great bands. A very flattering experience and one that we will always remember. It still feels like we never playedâŚthat show was a bit of a swirling day dream. Ha-ha we actually supported the Smashing PumpkinsâŚalso ridiculous.
PT: Youâre out on your first headline tour now I believe. How have the shows been going so far?
This sounds maybe a bit weak but itâs honesty when I say that every show has been incredible. We have learned so much about being a band from being out ourselves. Every other tour we have had people to guide us or people to look up to but being able to stand on your own feet is a big moment for us and we are trying to soak it all in. Fair enough some of the gigs south of the border for us have been a little bit quiet but we have never been to any of these places before. We were pleasantly surprised by some places though which is cool to know that people pay attention to bands who are genuinely trying to be heard. Scotland has completely superseded our expectations though. Our home show at King Tuts is completely sold out by pre-sale and a lot of the other Scottish dates followed suit. I mean we thought that they would be busyâŚish but for them to sell out and to have people singing our songs back at us and going insane was incredible.
PT: You recently secured the main support slot for the Subways tour, which resulted in you having to cancel a few headline dates of your own. Was that a tough decision to make?
Yes and no. we knew that some people would be disappointed in the cancellation of some of the shows but we knew that if they cared about us moving forward they would understand that this is a massive opportunity for an unsigned band like us.
PT: Aside from touring, youâve recently secured a deal with King Tuts Recordings, with âWhat is Light/where is laughterâ being released through them next week. Is this going to be a one off with them or are there plans in the pipeline for future EPs/an album?
Like I said we are not singed. The King Tuts recordings release is a one off thing by them. Itâs great though they are really helping people to take us seriously and to get to work with a legendary venue that we all look up to like King Tuts is very cool. As for future releases we are recording our debut album in January which we are all excited about and you can hope to hear it spring/early summer 09!! All we can ask of people who have heard us and want more is to be patient with usâŚwe donât have some big business guy throwing money at us so we are moving at our own pace. For now , Ha ha!
PT: âWhat is light where is laughterâ is having a physical release and a digital release. With the internet becoming more and more important for bands to spread their wings, how much emphasis do you guys put on using myspace/itunes/facebook/the internet in general to get noticed?
I think the internet really helps new bands get noticed and to help build their profile and we certainly have utilised it in that way to spread word about shows or releases. But its also one of the few places where people will open up and tell you what they really think of your music so it helps us in that way that we get feedback. However I would say thisâŚit also helps a lot of shit bands get noticed. Itâs all well and good having cool graphics and 236124 friends on Myspace, but you still have to play good music and tight live shows or at least with some passion. Some people get deluded by it is what I mean.
PT: Thanks for your time, anything youâd like to add?
Thank YOU for helping spread the word about our band and thank you to anyone who came out to see us on this tour it means a lot. We love marmalade and check out our touring buddies the xcertsâŚand hopefully we will see you at one of the Subways dates!