On the radar: Palace Ballet

Published on Thursday 21 May 2009 15:34

Over the past week there has been an unintentionally recurring theme on this blog: the pros and cons of a music scene.

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Glasgow band Palace Ballet are clear where they stand on the issue. Guitarist Gordon Scobie says: "It can be cliquey, protectionist and is most certainly saturated. There are good bands and people out there but you really have to sift through the rubbish to find them."

The quartet, who formed in 2005 after the demise of their previous band Moment Of My Explosion, were never out for instant gratification: "It was over two years before Palace Ballet was debuted live," Gordon says. "We decided to take the time to ensure the line-up and songs felt right before trying to chart a course through the Glasgow music soup."

Palace Ballet make tight, meticulous indie rock with a list of influences that runs from David Byrne to Devendra Banhart, and Gordon claims that they're not too troubled about how they're perceived:

"It'd be difficult to convince anyone that we are different from any other band out there. I know for a fact that our motives are better than a lot of others in Glasgow, but at the end of the day any credibility is only dependent on our artistic output. What we've done so far is out in the digital world for anyone to make their own mind up about whether it's different, original or more importantly whether they simply like it."

Of the future, Gordon is equally pragmatic: "We're not sure how long Palace Ballet's legs can grow. At the minute, we're making plans to record again at Old Mill Studios and we're talking to friends who have been involved in a proper release and touring campaign to get advice on how we can do such a thing ourselves."

Palace Ballet play a free acoustic show at the Liquid Ship on 28 May, and play support to The Northwestern at the Captain's Rest on 3 June.

• Visit the Under the Radar blog for more new music from Scotland