An Heart to Heart chat witt Murray Macleod the lead guitarist from The XCERTS- Coming out January 19, 2018
Interview took place January 16, 2018
By Daniel Locke
The Xcerts were originally formed by 13-year-olds Murray Macleod and Jordan Smith after meeting in the headmasters room at their school in Aberdeen. When school friend Ross McTaggart joined on drums, The Xcerts went on to record two EPs at the local recording studio Captain Tom’s.
In order to progress, the band moved to Brighton in 2006, where Macleod went to college with future Architects vocalist, Sam Carter, and would later become roommates with Architects bassist Alex Dean.
Shortly afterwards, The Xcerts parted ways with their old drummer McTaggart. A replacement was found in Tom Heron, originally from Exeter, who was living in Brighton with a mutual friend and had also become close friends with Murray and Jordan. With the newly formed trio created, the band began writing the songs that would start to spread the word of The Xcerts nationally.-Wikipedia
The XCERTS on stage- FB
The Xcerts were formed by 13yearolds Murray Macleod and Jordan Smith after meeting in the headmaster’s room at their school in Aberdeen. When school friend Ross McTaggart joined on drums. Tell me about your background. How did you get interested in Music?
Murray Macleod: My parents are music lovers so I was brought up in a household where music was playing constantly. My dad has an encyclopedic knowledge of rock and roll and he introduced me to The Beatles when I was incredibly young, the first album he played me was Live At The BBC and I was completely blown away. I’ve been obsessed with music ever since.
What was the music scene like in Aberdeen?
When we were growing up the music scene was incredible. There were so many bands around at the time and they were all so supportive. We were incredibly young when we started playing shows / engaging with the scene in our hometown so the fact that the more esteemed bands wanted to help us out was incredible. There used to be a venue called Dr. Drakes in the city centre and they would put on shows pretty much every day of the week. They would also put on a matinee show every Saturday which was perfect for us as we’d get to hang out there for pretty much the entire day. I still joke around with my mum and tell her that’s where I got my real education instead of school.
Was this the first band any of you guys were in?
Pretty much. Originally the band was called Fade and featured 3 other members but I didn’t think they were good enough so I subsequently kicked everybody out. Of course that left me without a band so I roped in Jordan and Ross and renamed the band The XCERTS.
Your Facebook page lists books, crooks and dirty looks as Band Interest. Why?
We are well read punks.
Who are some of the bands you have opened up for?
We’ve opened for the likes of Manchester Orchestra, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, Motion City Soundtrack, Nothing But Thieves, Biffy Clyro…
Tell me about some of your first headline tours?
The XCERTS relaxing after a show
We were young and naive and couldn’t believe we got alcohol for free! Those tours were so much fun because we had no idea what touring was like so we’d just get in the van and go. It all felt very fast and exciting. No one came to our shows but it didn’t really matter! The camaraderie between the 3 of us was on another level and they were incredibly informative and educational years but most importantly they were carefree and fun.
You started playing music in 2006. How have your tunes changed over the years?
We’ve definitely honed in on the craft of songwriting and our songs have become much more lean, focused and to the point. We’ve worked incredibly hard on melodies as of late and developing that side of things has really elevated the sound of our songs.
What direction is music in the UK heading?
I think it’s pretty similar to what’s happening in the States if I’m honest with you. Pop, grime and hip hop are pretty much ruling the airwaves at the moment but there is still an awful lot of love for bands with amplifiers. Royal Blood are killing it, as are Nothing But Thieves. The 1975 and Arctic Monkeys are releasing record this year also so I think it’s an exciting time all round. Music is now consumed in such a way that I feel like people are dipping their toes in different genres and opening their minds more and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFPF7y05z8U
What can you tell me about your new record Hold On To Your Heart?
It’s a record about selfworth and knowing you’re worth more than the pain life can sometimes throw your way. It’s an incredibly personal record to me and the boys and we are so proud of the thing. We really hope people listen and feel invigorated by it. We wanted to capture the feeling you get when you watch the last scene in the Breakfast Club. Life can be tough but it can also be really beautiful.
Did you have anyone special helping out with the record?
Dave Eringa (Eringa has worked and played on albums by artists including Manic Street Preachers, Idlewild, Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltrey , The Who, Gyroscope, BB Brunes, Calogero, Kylie Minogue, Tom Jones, 3 Colours Red, South and Nine Black Alps), who has recorded 2 of our previous records recorded the band at Rockfield Studios and Gary Clark who was the lead singer of Danny Wilson produced the record. He was there pretty much every step of the way in fact, from the pre-production to writing to additional production. He’s our spirit animal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GceSA-DiesA
Out of the three videos release so far from your new LP. Which video was the most demanding to make?
Daydream for sure! I spent all day running and running and running and running and running and running…..you get the picture. It was very arduous but I’m in a band, I really have nothing to complain about!
What is you’re feeling about Vinyl?
I love vinyl and I’m glad it’s making a comeback. My dad has a huge vinyl collection so I grew up with it and was always incredibly fascinated by records. I recently got a new record player setup and it’s absolutely incredible. There is nothing like buying a record from your local record store, coming home and dropping the needle. It’s real life magic.
What are some of the some of the bands that have influenced your music?
Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Replacements, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Hornsby, Ryan Adams, The Cure….Again, the list is endless.
Who would you like to open up for? Being alive or dead.
Murray Macleod from The XCERTS- FB
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and……Taylor Swift.
I see you are planning a UK tour. Any plans to play outside the UK?
Absolutely! We plan on trying to get to as many places as possible this year. We have a European headline tour before summer and hopefully we will be in the States this year. It’s being talked about an awful lot so i’m confident we’ll make it out.
Is your instrumentation on tour different than in the studio?
We’re only a 3 piece so unfortunately our sound is somewhat scaled back when on the road. When recording, the possibilities are endless and that’s something we really embraced whilst making Hold On To Your Heart. We experimented a lot in regards to the additional production with synths, keys and drum loops which is something we had never really done before. We pushed ourselves and it felt liberating.
What is the biggest crowd you’ve played for?
We recently played in Amsterdam with Nothing But Thieves and that was a sold out show to 6000 people. Arena rock dream come true!!
What music is on your phone right now?
Right now I’m on a huge Thin Lizzy trip so I’ve been delving into their back catalogue. ‘Prisoner’ by Ryan Adams has been on heavy rotation since its release last year, ‘Stranger In The Alps’ by Phoebe Bridgers is incredible and I’ve also been listening to ‘About U’ by Muna a lot.
If you could be any cartoon character who would it be and why?
Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I used to be obsessed with the Turtles and he was always my favorite character. To this day I still relate to him!
What music do you put on to relax?
Last year I delved into the world of jazz and since then I’ve become a big fan of the Bill Evans trio. Early Tom Waits records are also great for relaxing times, as are Sigur Ros.
Thank you for taking the time to interview with Unratedmagazine.
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