Front centre, a profile spot illuminates a messianic banshee with a voice like a cathedral: it sounds like it should be echoing from the top of a mountain on some undiscovered planet. Stage right, you see a guitarist at work evoking nocturnal rumblings and celestial chiming from his array of gadgets, the tone of his Telecaster slicing through so finely that it could split your eyelashes. Stage left, there is a harmonium lying on a bed of silk and muslin, in front of which is a velvet fouton, with what appears to be a modern-day Artful Dodger sitting on it. His face flits between grin and grimace as coaxes some chords from the antique instrument. These curious characters are David Webster, Stevie Anderson and Gavin McGinty, the primary vocalists and songwriters of Sinderins.
The coruscating, ethereal landscape created by the downstage trio is suddenly joined by something altogether more earthbound; in the lush valley through which the banshee’s voice wanders, there appear strange rock formations, forests and swamps. Sizeable though it is, the drum-kit does not look large enough for the floor-tom to be issuing forth such a martial, thunderous sound. In their dialogue with the warm, systolic sound of the bass guitar, the drums sound like they could be the collective heartbeat of a stampede of caribou. This upstage engine room of the band is the domain of Billy Fisher and Tom Barbour, the rhythm section of Sinderins.
The member of Sinderins first jammed together in the spirited and convivial atmosphere of Thomson’s pub, Dundee. Over pints, the songwriters would exchange songs and try out new ideas. Thomson’s has since closed down, but Sinderins have gone from jamming informally to regularly selling out 400-seat venues around Scotland. Earlier this year, they completed the recording of their eponymously-titled debut album at Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire, and went on to master it at Abbey Road.
Due for release in early 2016.