"Quite a cacophony" is how Gary Lightbody of The Reindeer Section, describes the sound of the indie-supergroup on stage. Formed by Lightbody (himself the lead singer in Northern Irish band, Snow Patrol) from disparate members of bands like Mogwai, Arab Strap and Belle and Sebastian, their debut album has won plaudits from critics across the board.
Lightbody explains that the band came together at a Lou Barlow gig. "We were all out drinking one night and I had the idea of starting a band. I went round everyone drunkenly asking them, they probably thought I'd forget about it – but I didn't." Indeed, far from forgetting about it, Lightbody soon had all the players in the studio cutting the record. Recording an album can often be a lengthy process, let alone with in excess of ten people involved, but the Snow Patrol man insists it was a smooth ride. "It was really, really easy. I wrote all the basic songs and then put down my bits. Johnny from Snow Patrol and Gareth from Astrid and myself rehearsed through it. We were the only people who rehearsed. We put down the basic drums, bass, guitars, vocals and then the others came in and did their bits over the top of it. It was really easy. One or two takes in almost every case."
The ease with which the group came together is something that comes clearly across on this natural sounding record. As Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap says, "It was very easy for me, all the work had been done except they didn't have any vocals. I walked in, did about two or three takes and left. It was a very quick job." His contribution to the album is a haunting melody called 'Nightfall'. "It's the usual nonsense I write about. It's about a girl I used to go out with. I split up with her and then we used each other for sex. It was a very stupid thing to do."
The band recently performed a set of already legendary gigs called 'The Mystery Bus Tour', where the band travelled about Northern Ireland playing impromptu songs for people. "What the f**k is going on?" was the local kids' reaction to the bus tour according to Lightbody. "It was a brilliant day out. It added to the insanity of the whole thing. At one point we bought 87 people fish and chips."
Reindeer Section's live show has been attracting great reviews and Lightbody feels this is because of the way the band function on stage. "It works really well, better than the actual recorded record. It's something to think about the next time, maybe do it a little bit more live than we did it this time. There are over ten people on stage. We well beat Belle and Sebastian, which was kind of the objective to start with." Aidan Moffat obviously enjoyed the live performances as much as the audiences have. "It went very smoothly, surprisingly smoothly. But I had to write the lyrics down and tape them to the amp."
One of the traditional problems with supergroups has been there inability to stay together for any length of time, but that is a not a problem envisioned by Lightbody or Moffat. Lightbody guarantees that there will be another album next year "unless I spontaneously combust or get eaten by a shark" and Moffat confirms that he would be happy to do it again, "as long as I've got the time."
The band are playing live in Ireland this month and, if Lightbody's performance with Snow Patrol at Witnness is anything to go by, music lovers are in for a real treat. "Playing Witnness was brilliant. Playing to all those people on the main stage was pretty damn special." The Reindeer Section appear to be in it for the long haul, with the promise of a new album next year and continuing live commitments. Moffat assures their Dublin fans that the gig will be special and describes the experience of having several guitarists, bassists, and two drummers on stage thus: "It's funny seeing everybody on stage at the same time. It's really just a big excuse for a party and that was Gary's plan all along."
John Raftery
The Reindeer Section play The Limelight, Belfast on 21 September and The Ambassador, Dublin on 22 September supported by The Last Post.
