Plateprat med David Scott

If someone offers to buy you a drink, what do you order?
Campari Spritz or a Negroni.

Describe yourself using at least five words.
Energetic. Creative. Diligent. Hungry. Musiced

Do you have any daily rituals?
Glass of red wine while cooking dinner

If you were to choose a pseudonym or artist name, what would it be?
Francis St Fairlie

If you ever wrote an autobiography, what would the title be?
“Please Don’t Feel You Have to Read This”

What’s your relationship with libraries?
I used to work in Falkirk Library, an old Victorian building next to St Francis Xavier church and near Brockville, home of Falkirk FC.

I was the worst library assistant in history. But when I was a kid my mum and dad would take me to that library every Saturday morning and I just loved it. Libraries are magical places to me – as are bookshops.

What are your five favorite albums?
These are five I’ve always gone back to:

Paul & Linda McCartney: RAM

The Beach Boys: The Beach Boys Love You

Laura Nyro: Gonna Take a Miracle

Burt Bacharach: Portrait in Music

Bobbie Gentry: The Delta Sweete

What are your five favorite songs?
They are often:

Judee Sill: The Kiss

The Beach Boys: Caroline No

The Korgis: Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime

Prefab Sprout: Nightingales

Paul and Linda McCartney: The Back Seat of My Car

What have you been listening to lately?

Not much. I’m recording and writing so trying to avoid over-stimulus.
However in my office at work I have a turntable and often have Morricone’s soundtrack to Sacco & Vanzetti playing in the background.

The other one I play a lot there is Phil Ochs Greatest Hits

Is there an album you think is underrated?
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds

Is there a classic album you've never quite connected with?
Maybe Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. I completely, utterly adore his music but I find Astral Weeks a tiny bit overbearing.

I preferred him as a singer once his voice rounded out a bit.
My favourite Van Morrison period is Common One through Hymns to the Silence.

In the middle of that period is No Guru No Method No Teacher – itself a bit of a thematic nod back to Astral Weeks – and it is my favourite of all his records.

What are your three favorite album covers?
The Pearlfishers: The Strange Underworld of the Tall Poppies (Stefan Kassel)

Marvin Gaye: What’s Goin On

Various Artists: Caroline Now (Stefan Kassel)

Do you collect records – and if so, why?
I don’t collect as such. But after years of buying records, I guess it does become a collection and it sure is hard to get rid of them.

It’s lovely to own and play a record. My copy of RAM is worn but it still sounds great and it tells a story about my relationship with the music via a physical object.

What’s the biggest difference between when you started collecting and how it is today?
It’s more expensive and I don’t just mean relatively. There’s a premium on vinyl – even secondhand vinyl – so it’s harder to come out of a record store with piles of albums at a pinch.

But you can still go into a shop like Europa Music in Stirling and rummage to find some gems.

Favorite physical record store?
Too many to mention. I like the aforementioned Europa but also Monorail in Glasgow and Low Port Music in Linlithgow.

And somewhere like Love Music in Glasgow has been quietly going about its business for more years than most. I’m not in very often but it is fantastic and run by folk who truly do love music.

When I was a kid, it was Bruce’s Records in Falkirk run by one of my great mentors Bruce Findlay who later managed me for a while. Amazing and beautiful man.

What was the last record you bought?
A seven-inch of The Seekers’ The Carnival Is Over. On Columbia records – the black label. Totally heartbreaking song and a gorgeous mono cut.

Where I live, we have an Oxfam charity book and record store, and you can sometimes find gems.
The LPs are usually wildly over-priced and often unplayable, but you can find great singles.

On the same visit I got Val Doonican’s version of Elusive Butterfly. Val has certainly never been hip but that is a really brilliant song and record.

I also picked up a 7” of The Beach Boys It’s Ok / Had to Phone Ya there. An amazing, unique Brian Wilson A & B side.

What’s the best record purchase you’ve ever made?
The original Trunk Records issue of The Wicker Man soundtrack is one. I guess there’s a more exhaustive version that came out later, but the Trunk version was the first and it is such incredible music and by now quite a rare edition.

In terms of just sheer luck in stumbling upon something amazing I’d put Bobbie Gentry’s Delta Sweete right at the top. I bought it under the name Way Down South on a UK budget label called MFP. You see it in charity shops all the time. I just thought it was a collection of random tracks as those MFP records often were.

But it was quickly obvious this was a major piece of conceptual art as anyone who knows it will affirm. I’ll never forget that feeling of revelation. In those days it was hard to find Bobbie’s original albums, and it was some years before I realized that Way Down South was a repackaged Delta Sweete…

Which three records are currently at the top of your wantlist?

Lena Zavaroni: Will He Kiss Me Tonight. This is an amazing record, a one-off single with Lena singing two songs (A and B Side) by The Dolly Mixture, produced by Dave Goodman. Quite an unusual milieu but fantastic. I’d love to own the 7-inch but it’s a fortune

The new Paul McCartney album. There are always miracles on his records.

Francoise Hardy: All Because of You. I love this record but have never found a 7” of it. Something about it just needs to be heard via 7” vinyl.

In your opinion, what’s the greatest guitar solo ever recorded?
George Harrison on The Beatles’ And I Love Her. He just plays the tune so beautifully. None of that awful screeching and wailing.

What’s your favorite song in a language or dialect other than your own?
Serge Gainsbourg - Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'en Vais

OR

Anni Frid Lyngstad’s solo version of Fernando

OR

Gigliola Cinquetti’s Si

Who’s your favorite lyricist of all time?
One probably should say Paul Simon, Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell but I’d have to go with Hal David or Smokey Robinson. Both were able to say it straight, say it with poetry, make it relatable and sell it. I had dinner with Hal David one time. Namedrops Keep Falling on My Head as it were.

What’s your favorite movie or TV series?
TV - The Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series – particularly the first two series. Peerless in every respect.

Movie – The Sound of Music. Unbelievable genius and detail in every frame. I just weep all the way through it because of the level of beauty.

Vinyl, CD, cassette, or streaming – what’s your preferred format?
I listen to it all, but vinyl is my favourite. The last Pearlfishers album came out on cassette as one of the formats.

Would you describe yourself as an audiophile?
Definitely not. I like it to sound good but wouldn’t really be able to listen with that particular mindset or expertise

What kind of setup do you use to play music at home?
Usually either Turntable, iPad or Macbook. In the car it is streaming or CD

If you were to create a mixtape or Spotify playlist to celebrate love, which three songs would you include?
Angela Lansbury: Beauty & the Beast

The Cookies: I Never Dreamed

Eddi Reader: John Anderson My Jo.

Robert Burns is thought of as one of the great poets of all time but for me he is a songwriter and very few things describe eternal love like this song.

Which three albums have had the most influence or inspiration on you in the past three years?
CMAT: Euro Country. My head is full of McCartney, Mitchell, Dylan so it’s hard for new things to break through. But I really adore this record, and she talks so amazingly about her process as an artist

Taylor Swift: Folklore. I like most of her records, but this one is like a classic singer-songwriter record. So brilliant.

Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band: Dear Scott. The Pale Fountains are major. And this is further evidence of just how unique a voice Michael is.

Do you have a playlist you’d love to share? What makes it special?
The one I made for my grandkids and we listen and sing in the car. All the hits – Chappell Roan, George Ezra, Jojo Siwa. Taylor. Ed Sheeran.

Also The Pearlfishers haha

Are there any music books you’d recommend, and what makes them stand out to you?

Jimmy Webb’s Tunesmith. A very good hybrid autobiography / instructional. Lots on the story but some key insights on craft

Paul McCartney’s The Lyrics. This was a shocker in terms of how brilliant it is as an autobiography. So many unexpected and beautiful insights

Celine Dion: Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste by Carl Wilson. This is one of the 33 1/3 series. Carl Wilson (not that one) definitely doesn’t love Celine, but this is a beautiful meditation on cultures and why she connected with so many people.

David Leaf SMiLE: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Brian Wilson. Full disclosure – I have an essay included in this book but that’s not why you should read it. This could be the greatest book written about Brian Wilson because it focuses on what was really a pilgrimage – the completion of such a major work after 37 years. No writer knows Brian like David did and it shows.

Which novel has left a lasting impression on you, and why?

Paul Gallico’s Love of Seven Dolls. It started as his short story called The Man Who Hated People, was adapted for the film Lili (with the famous song Hi Lili Hi Lo), and then he created this novella-length version.

There are certainly elements of the book that would be considered problematic now and the redemption story is somewhat glib, however there is so much humanity, emotion and magic all the way through it.

I picked up a vintage copy in the Oxfam bookshop a few years ago just because I loved the cover so much. I read the whole thing on an airplane going on holiday and was in tears at the end of it. The goodness and innocence of the Mouche character is unbelievably beguiling and wonderful. You want to know her. I visit with this book often.

What non-fiction book would you suggest, and what makes it worth reading?

Derek Taylor: As Time Goes By. It’s my favourite book of all time and I read it over and over. Stylistically unique, playful and unconventional.
Lots of very short chapters that pack an entertaining punch and a sense that you are getting an insider view of interesting times. Longer episodes too - the chapter on Paul McCartney going to record the Black Dyke Mills Band in 1968 is funny and very moving.

What’s your favorite quote?
When one is tired of Falkirk one is tired of life.

If you could assemble your dream band, with musicians from any time, who would you choose?
The ultimate Pearlfishers line-up. Jim Gash on drums, Dee Bahl on bass, Stuart Kidd on acoustic guitar and vocals, Gabriel Telerman on electric guitar, Brian McAlpine on keyboards and Becci Wallace on vocals.

Which concert will you never forget?
I was at the first night of Brian Wilson Presents SMILE.

Sat just behind Van Dyke Parks. That was really extraordinary in terms of the music but also just the story and the legend of that music.

What’s your favorite festival?
None of them. I’m with Edwyn Collins on that one.

If you could travel anywhere to experience music, where would it be?
I’d like to go back to Collioure and experience the Basque music and dancing as Margaret and I did – stumbled on it really – one dusky evening some years ago. Really magical and quite dreamlike.

What’s your dream job now, and how did it compare to your dream job when you were 13?
My dream job is always making music in the recording studio or on stage. I don’t think I had that language when I was 13 but I did know I wanted to create things. Nothing compares to that and it is endlessly surprising and fulfilling.

Besides music, do you have any other hobbies or interests?
I make art. I went to Glasgow School of Art in 1984 but left shortly after when I got a record deal. But I still make some work, primarily little films for The Pearlfishers under the moniker Oscar in Venice.

How do you think your friends perceive your taste in music?
Most of my friends have pretty adventurous taste in music – certainly much more up to date with new artists and releases. I’m not so they probably would think – justifiably – that I’m a bit of an old fogey

Is there a music genre you wish you had explored more or gotten to know better?
I do have a folk background, but I’d like to have a deeper understanding of the tradition. There’s just not enough time for everything.

How old were you when you "discovered" music, and what made you fall in love with it?
Probably always but seriously around 13/14. Key thing for me was understanding you could write songs and record them. In my case that was two portable cassette recorders and bouncing between them to make multitrack arrangements. Mindblowingly exciting.

What kind of music did you listen to during your teenage years?
The same as I listen to now. When other people were listening to The Ruts, I was pretending to listen to The Ruts and putting on my dad’s cassette of Burt Bacharach’s Portrait in Music

Has your taste in music evolved over time? No

Which album can you still listen to when you're tired of music?
RAM. It is so playful and unpredictable – even after listening to it for 40-odd years – it just surprises and lifts every time.

Do you consider yourself nostalgic?
Definitely. It sometimes feels like one shouldn’t be but so much goodness flows from nostalgia.

Is there something you'd like to learn?
I’d like to speak Italian – I have lots of Italian friends who indulge me for one minute then start talking English

Who do you think is the best-dressed musician?

My pal Ricky Ross. Beautiful man. Beautifully turned out.

Do you consider yourself vain?
Well, I’m a musician so isn’t the obvious answer yes?

Would you be willing to show us a tattoo?
If I had one I would! My friend Duglas Stewart once showed me his new tattoo – of Serge Gainsbourg – live on stage during a Serge Gainsbourg tribute show we created. Good tattoo!

Are you a maximalist or a minimalist?
In terms of music? I think both. I spend lots of time adding ornate arrangement ideas and almost as much time taking them off. It’s good to keep adding bit also to keep editing.

Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?
Probably a bit of an extrovert with introverted moments

How old do you feel mentally?
Eternally 37

What excites you?
Feeling a new song coming through. It’s always been the greatest thrill

What are you afraid of?
The way people talk to each other now. The way that is heightened and enabled by the language of people like Donald Trump. People with no decorum or good manners. It’s not just tonal or performative – it is used as a way to liberate forces that are not for the common good.

Have you had any interesting dreams lately? What were they about?
Always lots of recurring dreams. I wrote about one in The Pearlfishers song Basking Shark

What’s your favorite sport?

Football. I support the mighty Falkirk FC

Do you have a relationship with religion?
I write about it a lot. Kind of at right angles. Once a Catholic etc.

If there is a God, what do you think He would say to you when you meet?
Well, there is a God and I wouldn’t presume to put words onto their mouth

What would you want Him to say?
I’d want him to say Davie; you tried your best son.

What is your relationship with music journalism? How do you keep yourself updated on music?
That’s a great question. Obviously, I love music journalists when they say nice things about my music. But equally when they say negative things I go ‘oh God they are absolutely right I can’t fucking sing’.
Great music journalism – I’m thinking about Bill DeMain or Pete Paphides – can be such an inspiring lens through which to discover stories.

Do you have any connection to the record industry?
Not like I used to have. I was very much major label for the first part of my career, and I didn’t make the most of the opportunity sadly.
But my first big publishing deal with Virgin actually sustained me financially into the period where I was able to settle into a more independent phase. I’ve loved all of it.

Are there people who have influenced your taste in music?

One of my best friends is Duglas Stewart and we’ve made lots of music together. But Duglas has fed me with interesting music all the years we’ve known each other and that has made an impact.

Who is your role model, or a mentor from whom you’ve learned something special?
A few people spring to mind. I mentioned Bruce Findlay earlier but probably the main one would be the late Stewart Cruikshank who was a producer at BBC Radio Scotland. Not only was he a huge supporter of my music but he got me started as a radio presenter which has been one of the main parts of my life on and off for years.

He was such a kindly, enthusiastic person and even though he could seem a bit chaotic he was incredibly focused on details. He taught me so much about telling stories and about how important it is just to help people. People of my vintage in the Scottish arts world would know Stewart and would know what I’m talking about.

What’s your favorite instrument?
The human voice.

Who is your favorite producer?
As an auteur-type producer I’d say Brian Wilson in his pomp. Prince would be up there too but not quite the same league.
In terms of just a ‘single job’ producer it would have to be George Martin. How he helped shape and direct the brilliance of The Beatles hasn’t really been matched in terms of cultural or musical impact.

What’s your favorite studio?
Abbey Road is pretty great although I’ve only mastered there. If I could go back in time I’d make more music at Palladium in Edinburgh with John Turner. I loved that place and feel I could use it better now.
Paul Haig, Prefab Sprout, The Cocteaus, The Bathers, Friends Again would be in and out of the place.
Nowadays I predominantly use La Chunky in Glasgow and now and again Chem 19 in Hamilton.
Different kinds of spaces but great gear and great people.

What’s your favorite record label?
It must be the incredible, beautiful MARINA. Such a special thing to be associated with them and they’ve added a lot to my art. Along with them I’d mention Creeping Bent – another label that cares about artists.

What’s the best or most beautiful song for a funeral?
The Lord Is My Shepherd. Nothing else will do. I love the version sung to the tune of Crimond but there is also a gorgeous contemporary version created by Howard Goodall

Is there a musician or band that you think has received far too little attention?
Scritti Politti. Green Gartside. He’s not helped himself by only releasing a handful of records over, what, 47 years. But I think every single one of those records is unique and major and he is one of the truly extraordinary singers.

Maybe it’s a good thing there are so few albums. The other one is Paddy Macaloon. Far more widely known than Scritti but certainly cut from the same cloth and a writer that is up there with the true greats.

Who do you think I should have the next record chat with?
How about John Douglas of The Trashcan Sinatras?