Falkirk musician to unleash new album material at Stirling gig

Falkirk's very own renaissance man, singer songwriter and film maker, Adam Stafford will unleash his creative vision in the city of Stirling next week.

Falkirk musician Adam Stafford, frontman of Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo

The multi-talented musician, the driving force behind critically acclaimed outfits like Y’All is Fantasy Islands and Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo, is performing songs from his most personal album to date at the latest Strange Behaviours event in the Tolbooth, Jail Wynd, on Thursday, August 30.

Adam himself describes Fire Behind the Curtain as having sections where “choirs yelp and screech, beatboxing courses through cosmic k-holes and guitars sound like saxophones trapped deep in the wasp machine”.

A Strange Behaviours spokesbloke said: “Adam is a peerless creative juggernaut, blending a capella experimentalism with an unusual sway for melodic, hook-laden pop choruses, always unique and always catching you off guard.

“He is known for his intense live performances which incorporate soul-pop and post-punk with layering of vocal loops, textural soundscapes to dizzying effect. Usually performing solo, this show will be a rare opportunity to catch Adam with a bassist/keyboardist player in tow as he promotes Fire Behind The Curtain.

“It’s a critically acclaimed double album of Neo-Classical compositions and avant-garde instrumentals, written over an eight-year period and inspired by Adam’s love of Meredith Monk, Michael Gordon and US minimalism.”

This solo venture for Adam is just one of the high points of this artistic force of nature’s extremely prolific career in music and film – he has directed a music video for the Twilight Sad, and has played alongside that band and a host of other big names including King Creosote.

From his 2006 debut LP In Faceless Town’s Forever, released under the Y’all is Fantasy Island banner, through his work with Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo right up to this year’s Fire Behind the Curtain – which saw him collaborate with another acclaimed Falkirk songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Robbie Lesiuk – Adam has always experimented with new sounds and approaches to music.

The recording process for Fire Behind the Curtain started in October last year when Adam and Robbie enlisted the help of The Pumpkinseeds and Modern Studies cellist and arranger Pete Harvey and a nine-piece choir and brought to life an emotive piece of music which referenced Adam’s ongoing struggle with depression.

Joining Adam at next Thursday’s Tolbooth gig will be PAWS frontman Phillip Taylor, who will be playing an acoustic set, giving fans a chance to hear new PAWS songs stripped back to their bare essentials.

Rounding out this Strange Behaviours line-up is Death Bed – or songwriter Innes Nolan, as he is also known – playing an acoustic set for the lucky punters.

The music starts at 7.30pm.