SCOTS sensation KerriWatt seems to attract allsorts — from Wet Wet Wetpop king Marti Pellow toGary Powell, the drummerfor bad boy rockers TheLibertines.The lads may come fromopposite ends of the popspectrum but both haveplayed key roles in helpingKerri make th big time.The Glasgow girl releases herdebut EP Who’s Lovin’ MeNow? on Gary’s relaunchedlabel 25 Hour ConvenienceStore later this month.And she wouldn’t have hadthe confidence to chase thedream without a pep talk fromClyebank’s finest. Marti.She raved: “Gary is a greatguy, I got introduced to him ear-lier this year when he came toone of my gigs.

Wants it tobe a family

“He was so friendly andhands on. After seeing me afew more times, he offered mea deal and is very passionateabout his label.“He wants it to be a family,where the acts are all support-ing each other.“So many people give youadvice at this stage, some ofthem are musicians and somearen’t. But to have Gary givingme guidance on the musical sideof things is invaluable — heknows what he’s talking about.”But Kerri wouldn’t have evenbeen around to get a deal if itwasn’t for Pellow.The two worked together inthe musical theatre world. Kerri,24, explained: “He was one ofthe first people who gave methe confidence to pursue mymusic. I was working in theatreand I wasn’t feeling very pas-sionate because I wasn’t able tobe creative.“I worked with Marti forabout 10 months so we had lotsof time to speak.“He listened to the first cou-ple of songs I ever wrote andgave me the confidence to gofor it. Coming out of Scotland,

he did it. It’s very inspiring.”Two years on, Kerri has her tar-gets, and everything is runningto plan.She said: “It was about twoyears ago, I played my firstopen mic. I just went out inGlasgow to test the waters.“My first year was doinglots of gigs — I did about150. Then I got managementand this year has been aboutfocusing on writing. I’ve alsohad to build a team around me.“It’s blown my mind howmany other parts there are to it,

other than writing a nice song.”Now she’s based in London andis buzzing to be on the verge ofher first release with Who’sLovin’ Me Now?And Kerri — with Gary’shelp — has the next fewsteps planned out. Sheadded: “If the EP is success-ful, we’re ready with the sec-ond EP and single. It’s abouttrying to engage with as manypeople as possible.”Q Who’s Lovin’ Me Now? is releasedon September 29, watch the videoand pre-order it at kerriwatt.com

WE WERE HUNTEDWHO: Ryan J Muir (vocals/bass),David Upward (guitar), BenjaminKay (guitar/vocals), Iain Alexander(drums).WHERE: Glasgow.FOR FANS OF: We Were PromisedJetpacks, The 1975, FrightenedRabbit.JIM SAYS: What is it with beards?We Were Hunted are yet another

emerging band sporting some fabu-lous facial hair. It does make me feelrather inadequate. Much as I’vetried, it’s never going to happen. Per-haps I just don’t have the patience.Iain joked: “A lot of folk, including

yourself and Vic Galloway, havecommented on the amount of ‘beard-age’ in this band.“Ryan originally grew his massive

beard in order to shave it off for char-ity, but after getting it shaved offdecided that he missed it too muchand grew it back again.“I guess the rest of us just wanted

to try and look as beautiful as him so

followed suit!” Aside from the beardenvy, We Were Hunted provide glori-ously catchy rock with a Scottish lilt— it’s no wonder comparisons havebeen drawn with Biffy Clyro andTwin Atlantic.Iain added: “We

couldn’t argue with that.We all grew up listening tothose guys and they’retwo of the most successfulbands to come out of Scot-land in years.“Twin actually rehearse

in the room next to ourrecording space but wecan testify that we haven’tbeen stealing any of their hooks.”It’s only a year since the band got

together, but they’ve alreadyreleased three singles. You KnowMe Now and Settle Down were fol-

lowed recently by Safe And Sound.Iain said: “Safe And Sound wasreleased a couple of weeks ago.“We filmed the performance part

of the video on the roof of TheGarage nightclub.“It was during the Com-

monwealth Games. Wehad tourists walking pastfilming us, clearly thinkingthat bands playing on roof-tops is a regular occur-rence in Glasgow.“The rest of the video

features wrestlers fromICW fighting in the base-ment of Box on Sauchie-

hall Street. A lot of folk felt that thestyle didn’t really fit with the soundof the track but we wanted to dosomething different, rather than thetypical idea of us walking around

town at night looking all sad, whichhas been done a million times!”The video may have its detractors

but the overall response to the songhas been positive.Iain said: “The general consensus

is that it’s a real progression fromour last singles, which is what youwant to hear.”Comedian Kevin Bridges even

tweeted a link to the video to his800,000+ twitter followers.Iain explained: “Our pal big Kev

eh? Ha ha. Our guitarist Ben’scousin is good friends with Kevinand recommended us to him soafter enjoying our video he decidedto share it.“It helped us spread the word so

we really appreciated it.”We Were Hunted play Broadcast

in Glasgow on September 20.MORE: facebook.com/wewerehunted

ByCHRIS

SWEENEY

We’re Hunting down hits

ON

E2W

ATC

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Listen to the band atthescottishsun.co.uk

ONE2SEE

JIM presents Drivetime onXFM Scotland, Monday toFriday, 4-7pm. xfm.co.uk.jimgellatly.com

NEW MUSIC BY JIMGELLATLY

GIVE EM WATTFOR . . . Kerrihas had help

from Martiand Gary

AZEALIA Banks is something else. The NewYorker has slagged off the likes of IggyAzalea and Rita Ora, had numerous Twitterwars and made some X-rated videos.

So her gig at Glasgow’s 02 ABC onSeptember 15 — the first of her longawaited European tour — won’t be a dullaffair. Tickets at azealiabanks.com

YOU’D think Chvrches would have beenbusy enough with the global success oftheir debut album. But they’ve still launcheda record label. The next release is fromAussie band Mansionair on October 13which has already had five million viewson YouTube. Hold Me Down is a gem —check it out at facebook.com/Mansionair

ONE2HEAR

BEARDAGE . . . band like a bit of face fuzz

Friday, September 5, 2014 571S