Do you have a Filthy little secret?

It’s amazing what you find and what is introduced to you when you take an interest. Filthy Little Secret are a 4 piece band from Glasgow who’s MySpace profile describes them as Rock/Blues/Southern rock, I suspect this was picked from the list of standard descriptions in a bit of a hurry, as I’m tasting a few more flavours here. From Iggy Pop to the clash, D-Generation, New York Dolls and a few stops in between. Kyle from the band dropped us a line with our 10 Question Q&A, so do yourself a favour and check them out!

Give us the lowdown then. Who the hell are FLS?

Filthy Little Secret are a 4 piece garage rock band from Glasgow.  We’re made up of 4 members, Haj (Vox/guitar), Del (Lead guitar), Kyle (Drums) and Symey (bass).  We got together around late 2005 whilst working together is a call centre.  Haj and Del had been talking about getting a band together for a while, which was frequently over heard by Kyle who lied about his ability to play the drums to get in on the act.  We have since had a few bass player changes until Symey came along.  He was a regular face at most parties and gigs, and for the 2/3 years we knew him, we didn’t have a clue he could play bass.  When we were in need of the slot filled he offered up his skills and the rest is history.

Previously we had been playing pretty much any venue that will take us in Glasgow, occasionally taking little road trips to neighbouring cities, or a bit further south.  In recent times we have been far more picky about the venue and bands we’re playing with.

We have also started up a non-profit record label/promotion company with our friends The Retrofrets, called Rumble Records.  It’s basically a way for both bands to pull resources and help each other out, with any money we make being put back into the label to fund recordings, CD duplication, venue hire, or anything else you can’t normally afford without saving up for a few months first.

Who do you look up to and who are your influences?

Influences come from a wide variety of bands and genres to be honest, and I think that is evident in the performance we give.  It’s really easy to pick out the New York punk influence, the blues influence, even some rockabilly amongst a lot of other things.  I would say that as a band however, we would probably most look up to bands like The Cramps, The Ramones, MC5… bands who started small, worked hard and really carved themselves into the local music scene before taking the world by storm.

Tell us about your best gig so far and why?

We played a gig in a bar called “The Big Red” in London a few years ago.  It was the first time we had hit the road as a band and offstage, the whole weekend was proper unsupervised carnage.  The gig it’s self also went really well, and the crowd were really receptive which fuelled the good vibes as well.  For the first time we were playing to a room full of total strangers who seemed to dig what we were doing, and were pretty vocal about it after the set.  It’s a good feeling to know that people are actively complementing your music, knowing that it’s not just because they need to see you when you get back to work on Monday morning.

Tell us about the gig that you would sooner forget so far and why?

We played a gig with Ginger from the Wildhearts a few years ago in The Classic grand.  He was doing a solo tour and we were to be the second band on stage.  The band opening the gig was made up entirely of members from Ginger’s solo band, but on different instruments.  Around half an hour before kick off, and after hours of them refusing to socialise with us at all backstage, they had decided that they wanted us to open the gig so they could play back to back.  This meant that, the time we had told most people we would be on stage, had now changed by the best part of an hour.
The majority of people who were coming to see us then missed the set, and we played to a mostly empty room.  One of the people promoting the night had also got confused with the time causing us to cut our set short by 20 minutes.

The remainder of the evening involved one of the members of the other band filling the back stage shower with puke, us crashing the other bands party which seemed to have literally no alcohol at it, watching the other band try to wire into our mates, then eventually leaving and passing out in a luggage trolley at the hotel because a taxi took 2 hours to show up.

What is the best venue to play in Scotland in your opinion?

King Tut’s were really good to us when we played there.  The staff were awesomely helpful, we got an excellent cut of the ticket sales, a massive fridge full of beer, and the actual venue it’s self (as I’m sure everyone knows) is tremendous.

What is your bands best track/song so far and why do you think so?

“My Kinda Girl” seems to be a fan favourite at the moment, and it’s certainly mine as well.  It’s a really ballsy, fast paced and in your face rock song.  It’s a lot of fun to play and apparently a lot of fun to dance to, or so I’ve been told.

What do you think is the single hardest thing facing unsigned bands right now?

Dealing with “promoters”.  We have been having increasingly less to do with them of late.  Getting random gig offers from people you have never heard of, who want you to supply the full back line, never respond to emails, change the offers they made you at the last minute, putting you on bills with bands that sound nothing like you, not promoting the gigs, blah, blah, blah, blah…. Everyone knows how it is.

Band in Glasgow just now (of which there are a helluva lot) face a massive problem with pop-up promoters taking advantage of them, expecting them to do literally ALL of the work involved in organising and promoting the gig, and giving them nothing back for it.  They also mash indie bands next to metal bands or rock bands, acoustic acts… whoever they can get to fill the bill.  Then wonder why the place seems to empty when the indie band have finished and the metal band takes to the stage.  They then turn around when you go to collect your earnings saying “here’s £6.00 for ticket sales.  It was a 50/50 split for every ticket sold after the first 30, and you sold 32”.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a couple of good guys out there, however they seem to be few and far between, and greatly overshadowed by the scumbag promoters.

If venues could do 3 things to make it better for unsigned bands, what would they be & why?

1: Promote the gigs they have put on.  Although a lot of this responsibility lays with the band or the promoter, putting up some posters, regularly updating their social networking site etc would go a long way to help.  The 13th Note prints of a couple of billboard sized posters every month with their up and coming gigs, as well as a booklet they put out in the bar.  And this is from a venue that is free to hire.

2: Have a good backline.  A good, basic backline can be a solid investment for a lot of venues, especially if you charge to use the place.  A couple of amps, decent PA system, and a basic 5 piece kit is all that’s needed.  Most struggling musicians don’t have the means to transport all this gear to a venue and then get it home after midnight when the show is finished.

3: Show a little bit of appreciation.  If it’s a free gig, give the guys a couple of beers, or if it’s been busy and the tills are stacked, bung them a £20 for their effort.  It’s a really small gesture that has gives a good impression.  Our friends The Acid Fascists are from Edinburgh and play through here a lot.  We played a gig with them a while back, it was put on by a student as part of his course so was free entry.  He chucked each bands £20, and for the AF that was the difference between breaking even, or playing for a loss.

If you could play in support of any band or artist, who would it be and why?

Supporting Motorhead would be amazing to get some road experience with.  I think you could learn more about life on the road from those guys in the space of 1 gig, than you could with many others in a whole tour.

Where do you realistically see yourselves a year from now?

On the road promoting our album.  We have an EP due out very soon.  We’re planning to use sales of that, and money raised through gigging etc to get the rest of the album finished, duplicated and taken to the country.  Would be good to do a tour of all the major cities across the UK, and get the name out there a little bit more.

Is there anyone you would like to acknowledge as supporting you band so far?

Of late, Mainy (ElDiablo from the itsaxxxxthing blog) has been a massive help.  The guy has a wealth of knowledge about both the Scottish music scene as well as music in general and knows just about everyone worth knowing around these parts.  He’s taken a liking to the show we put on, and has been truly excellent in helping promote the band, and put us in touch with some people we would never have met otherwise.

Also, Ian who used to run Podboy in Glasgow.  He helped us out massively when we first started, got us our first bunch of gigs and gave us a little bit of direction. Without him there at the beginning, who knows where we’d be now.

what do you honestly think of the X-Factor and similar shows and what it says about the music industry?

Shows like the X-Factor have their place I suppose.  Some people with some real talent have been brought to light through them, and that may never have happened otherwise.  The bigger picture though, is that it shows very clearly that someone can be successful, just because one man in the position of power wants them to be.

The pop/RnB scene is all about money, and finding new ways to generate more of it for the people at the top.  Those with the talent get forgotten about in a few years, with only a few exceptions.  Shows like the X-Factor serve the industry as just another way to generate fast revenue.

Where are your next few gigs?

8th April with Bunny and the Misshapes – The Common Rooms – Byres Road (Glasgow)

22nd April with the Ghosts of Progress – Captains Rest

7th May with the Retrofrets – Cake – Rose Street, Inverness

Check out the links below and lend your support to Filthy little secret!

FLS website HERE

FLS MySpace HERE

FLS Flickr HERE

FLS Facebook HERE

FLS Last HERE