K&A with The Recovery Club

Next in line for a Kowestion & Answer session are the delightful The Recovery Club. Having already supported one of my favourite bands, The Hidden Cameras, they recently signed to Glasgow's Antimatter record label and have their debut single "Rest and Be Thankful" coming out on the 5th of July. So without much further ado, here's what they had to say about themselves...

Kowalskiy: Who are The Recovery Club?
The Recovery Club: We are Amy Rafferty (vocals), Dochan MacMillan (guitar/banjo/mandolin/lap-steel/etc.), Allan James (guitar/vocals), and Graham McCarey (vocals/guitar).

Kowalskiy: How did the band, and the band name, come to be?
Graham: Potted history: Allan and I (Graham that is) were previously creatively involved through the band theoceanfloor - Allan met Amy at a party and fell in love with her voice, this led to us starting a side project centring on her vocal talents which then became our main thing when theoceanfloor imploded - we met Dochan at our first proper TRC gig, he liked what he heard and before long had hopped on board too. There is a real Recovery Club somewhere in the east end of Glasgow. It’s a social club for drivers of recovery vehicles, I believe. It seemed to be a good fit for us as at least one of us seems to be recovering from something or other at any given time.

Kowalskiy: Who/what are your main influences?
Graham: Hmm.. musically, there are far too many to mention and probably some we don't even realise. We're definitely inspired by bands like Low, Lambchop and Red House Painters, and comparisons have been drawn to the likes of Mazzy Star and Madder Rose. But really, we all have such broad tastes that I'm sure we're drawing on far more than that.

Kowalskiy: You're releasing your debut single "Rest and Be Thankful" on the 5th July. Can you describe it for us?
Graham: "Rest and Be Thankful" was one of the earliest songs we started working on together, and has become a real favourite with our audiences. There seems to be something about it that really touches people. It's quite a gentle, fragile song about moving on positively from a crisis situation, with a heart-stoppingly beautiful vocal from Amy. The title track is backed by two demo recordings of our songs ''Weird Weather'' and "DNA", both of which we think help to give a broader sense of the essence of us as a band.

Kowalskiy: What would your ideal gig be?
Graham: In the real world.. would love to play venues like Barrowlands and The Queen's Hall in Edinburgh, in the fullness of time. And in the realms of fantasy, I could see us going down well in a Greenwich Village coffeehouse in the early '60s, with support from Judee Sill.

Kowalskiy: Which bands/artists are you listening to just now? Any tips?
Graham: Old favourites such as The Handsome Family and Bonnie "Prince" Billy seem to be in frequent circulation just now, but also newer music by bands like Field Music and The Low Anthem. I've also personally really been enjoying the first album by Kitty, Daisy and Lewis which sounds like it could have been recorded in 1930s America but is actually the work of three young siblings from present-day London.

Kowalskiy: Aside from the single, what else can we expect from The Recovery Club in the future?
Graham: Well, we'll be lining up further gigs both far and near just now to promote the single. We also have a further single pencilled in for after the summer, and work is underway on our first album. We have a large backlog of sturdy material to choose from, so we just need to whittle that down to make what we feel to be the best opening statement we can present to the world.

Kowalskiy: Keep your eyes peeled folks! So, any interesting facts about someone in the band?
Graham: Amy makes an appearance in the original movie version of 'The Wicker Man'. Really..!

Rest and Be Thankful

"Rest and Be Thankful" is released through Glasgow-based independent record label Antimatter on the 5th of July.