Flashback: Rise or Fall founder/muwk guitarist interview 2003

With the upcoming release of Rise Or Fall Records Vol. 1, I grabbed hold of Muwk guitarist and the brains behind the Rise Or Fall outfit Scott to talk about the compilation, his band and bizarre takes on Scottish dialect.

Same old question first im afraid. A little background info on the band if you please. How'd it all come about?

I wanted to start a band and bennets old band split up, so I took bennet and the drummer from that, we played for about 6 months together before realising we were really bad so we split up then me and bennet recruited spencer at the start of this year.

How's this year been for you?

As a general year, pretty poor but as band we learned a lot of things we need to take on board and stuff and use them into next year in becoming all round better

So what are you're goals for the next year?

Record a new cd which is far superior to our first demo, try to play in as many places as we possibly can and to get about a lot more. Go down to England and play as well and generally become better and to meet some more bands and get drunk with them

As long as you get drunk with them then it?s all gravy right?

Surely. Drinkin is the main point, we don?t really wanna be in a band.(laughs)

Good Call. How would you describe yourselves to someone who'd never heard you?

I hate this question I struggle with it all the time.

Well then if you wanted someone to go to a Muwk show, how would you get them there?

Bribes and sexual favours.... from bennett of course

That's swung it for me...

I'm gonna try and answer this. Id firstly explain we aren?t called mueek or muck or mowk...

But in fact glasweigan milk

Yes but if u search on yahoo its in the dundonian dictionary

Really?

Aye try it.

Will do later. Something fun for the boys and girls to try at home.

But yeh er. Id describe us as a three piece punk band who enjoy playing and are influenced by the likes of mike park, ann beretta, the chinkees, potshot, dillinger four, the lawrence arms, SNFU, face to face, mxpx, pennywise and sound nothing like any of them. But we are striving to become better and tighter as a band and take the band as far as we possibly can. We know it?ll take time but we have patience to try to develop naturally, let me point out I sound like a cunt there.

Indeed you do. So its mostly american bands you're influenced by?

Well no not really, we like many British bands, spencer loves skirtbox and being a drummer loves their drummer as well. Although we are influenced by a lot of American bands we definitely do not sound American. There are a lot of good UK bands about the now for example, no comply, 4ft fingers and I like a load of Scottish bands as well, we have many good bands here.

Like?

Scottish bands?

Yeah who would you recommend checking out?

Los Destructos, a close last, my own religion, pencil head, slaphappy, tear jerk, misled youth, no escape, regular joe, the threats, gopherwood im sure there?s more I just cant remember the now.

Its ok .. You remembered the important one, your cheques in the post

haha. Good stuff £50 for xmas

So onto you're other project Rise or Fall Records, whats it all about?

I've been wanting to do something like this for years now and since mike park of Asian man records fame is my idol, well I kinda wanna eventually get something along the lines of that so firstly I thought of putting out a compilation with some good Scottish bands on it, then I thought hey I might as well ask mike if I can put the chinkees on it, and they said yes to my surprise and then I asked more bands and to my surprise they said yes so we now have 11 Scottish bands and 9 others.

You've managed to get some pretty big names.

Yes I dunno how but I did. Like mu330, short round, fabulous disaster, useless ID.. Mu330 I met once in Glasgow and Dan was really sound so I thought id ask them they were cool about it, short rounds Jason is in the chinkees, and they are excellent so I asked them, fabulous disaster and useless id... my girlfriend had interviewed when they were here so I got in touch with them

Its an anti racism benefit right?

Yes, what we make if anything will go to the anti nazi league, we need to break even obviously but anything else we get will go there.

Well I gotta wish you all the best with it and anything that brings together so many bands for a greater good can only be a good thing... in closing do you have anything funny, stupid or downright vulgar that you wanna say?

Haha ud have to ask bennet he?s the rude boy of the band I just sit here at the computer and make my electronic music and fail to spell correctly. But above all Peace and Unity is what I believe in, stop the war in Iraq. Cheesy but true.

Thanks for you're time, its been a very moving experience. That could be the coffee from earlier though

I think it must be, I hope ur happy you've held me back from wrapping presents. If Santa brings my dad nothing now ill send him up to you, he looks like Fred McCauley though so it's alright.

Sorry about that

Indeed yes but I am gonna wrap those presents now man, see ya later.