He Slept On 57 video stopped traffic
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Inverness three-piece He Slept On 57 have played Scottish guitar-led, indie-pop-rock since 2008, and though they feel they stand alongside bands like LightGuides, The Winter Tradition and Make Sparks, they also hve been compared to bigger Scottish bands like Twin Atlantic and Biffy Clyro.
With frontman Stuart Nelson’s brother Kevin now joining Stuart and drummer Kyle Campbell as the latest in a short series of bass players, the band follows up their last EP and video Childsmile last October and November with the release of their video for new song Katy, Bar The Door.
They also play two North dates in Thurso and Inverness over the weekend. Below, frontman Stuart Nelson talks about the band’s latest projects.
Q The phrase Katy, Bar The Door has been around for ages and has a Scottish history connection and means "trouble in store". Can you explain how the song came to be called that and when you actually wrote it and how it developed?
Stuart Nelson: We wrote the song last winter as we took some time off to write. It was one of those songs that came about by good old-fashioned jamming. Katy, Bar The Door is a saying that – I’m pretty sure – means there’s trouble ahead. Or I hope it does otherwise it doesn’t really work with the song itself!
Q Why did it seem a good song to choose to make a video for? And can you talk us through choosing who should direct it and why. And also where the location is?
S: We shot it down at Whiteness, near Inverness, beside the Moray Firth, as a spur of the moment thing. We really left the music video to the very last minute to figure out. Paul Macdonald filmed and edited it and he managed to make it look really good – he did a great job.
Q Someone on Facebook was asking how you managed to stop traffic interrupting you as the band is set up on a road all through the video? Did you film at 6am in the morning or something?
S: No we set up on a Saturday and there were a few cars, but we just had to stop and let them past. The majority of people wanted to walk their dogs, so just went somewhere else. Nothing dramatic I’m afraid. One day we will close a road. Maybe the Kessock Bridge!
Q What has the band been up to in the last few months apart from the song and the video. And what are your next moves likely to be?
S: We are releasing our next EP spring 2013, it’s going to have four tracks including Katy, Bar The Door. We have been recording and writing. That and being a dad.
Q Gather you became a dad, Stuart. Maybe there’s not much "He Slept" going on at all these days? Will there be songs in the set on Saturday about the fatherhood experience to look out for?!
S: If you listen hard and over-analyse some lyrics you might.
Q What has 2012 meant to you so far and what has been the biggest high?
S: Personally becoming a dad is by far the proudest moment of my life, let alone the year. But as a band we really haven’t done too much this year. I got a phone call from a producer of Britain’s Got Talent asking if He Slept would audition for the show. I respectfully said no, but found it quite funny we were asked!
He Slept On 57 play the Newmarket, Thurso, on Friday and Mad Hatters, Inverness, on Saturday, with Last Summer Effect and Toastie. The music video for the new track Katy, Bar The Door is now on YouTube. The track will be available to download free for a short period of time followed by the song appearing on their four-track EP planned for next year.
