The crêpes of Goth

Showcase: Fat Goth

Published on May 13th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

“Hello there. My name is Fraser Stewart and I sing and play guitar in Fat Goth.”

“Hello Fraser from Fat Goth, whose “Surf’s Down” was recently one of Rocksucker’s singles of the week. Let’s get to the showcasing…”

How would you describe your music, if pushed?

I would say it’s interesting and engaging punk/metal/weird rock music that would appeal to people who already enjoy that kind of stuff. That said, I’m sure there are plenty of folk who view it as complete and utter shit. You’re not going to please everyone.

We’re big fans of music in general and we draw influence/steal ideas from a whole variety of different sources. People are welcome to listen to our stuff and draw their own conclusions. For what it’s worth, we think it’s good and worth checking out.

Where are you based, and what do you use to record with?

We’re based in the city of Dundee. Mark and I are from here while Kevin originally hails from the nearby town of Carnoustie. I own an old digital 8-track and we use it to record our practices, which is extremely beneficial when it comes to working on new material and creating demos. We just rehearse the material to death and head into a studio whenever we’re feel ready.

Ross McGowan of Chime Studio in Glasgow recorded both the Mindless Crap and Stud albums along with the DOLPHINS!!!!!!!!!!!!! EP, whereas we worked with Robin Sutherland on the “Willy Wonka and The Charlie Factory” single and Graeme Watt for our most recent release, “Surf’s Down (live)”.

All three are excellent engineers and helped us in capturing a decent representation of what Fat Goth sounds like in a live context, which is what we always aim for when it comes to recording.

Are you signed to a label? If so, how did you come to their attention?

We’ve always released everything ourselves. I’m not entirely sure about the relevance in labels nowadays. We’ve had one or two offers from small indies in the past, which has always been flattering and certainly tempting but we don’t see the point in other people dealing with our affairs when we’re perfectly capable of handling them ourselves. DIY or die, etc.

Ultimately, any money generated by our music through album sales, PRS royalties, playing shows or merchandise comes directly to us and we don’t owe anyone anything. We’re a long way off from quitting our day jobs but happy and comfortable with the fact the band is more or less self-sufficient at this stage. Long may it continue and improve!

Is there a full album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it? (Feel free to be as abstract as you like…)

Stud was recorded a year ago and most of the subsequent practices has been spent working on new material. I reckon we’re around halfway through writing album No. 3 and although nothing is finished yet, we already know the new stuff will eclipse our previous efforts. The music is retaining its identity but we’re becoming increasingly better songwriters and a better live band, which is reflected in the new material.

Every artist should strive to better themselves and feel as though they’re constantly progressing and perfecting their creativity. Otherwise, what’s the point? It was either Scott or Steve from Neurosis who said in an interview I read recently, “The album of ours I’m most proud of is always our latest. If you don’t feel as though you’ve outdone what you did before, you’ve failed.” Makes sense to me. If all goes to plan, we’ll be recording again before the year is out and have something new to release around the start of 2014.

Where can we hear your music online?

Everything we’ve recorded is available from our Bandcamp page – and with the exception of ‘Stud’, everything is free. Stud is going for a cool £5 and is also available from all the usual online outlets and streaming sites.

We’ve yet to release any of our music in a physical format but hopefully we’ll have the cash to put something on vinyl at some point in the future, unless we spend everything on coke and high-class escorts instead, which is something we consider doing on a regular basis.

Which have been your most exciting gigs and/or overall moments so far?

We practise hard and really focus on our performance. It’s always extremely satisfying whenever we feel we’ve played well and the audience have enjoyed themselves, so there have been plenty of ‘victorious’ moments in that sense. That said, some stand out for sure. Our first festival appearance at last year’s Wickerman Festival, our first radio session for Vic Galloway’s BBC Scotland Introducing show and our recent UK tour have all been worthwhile and enjoyable experiences.

Being featured in publications and online media has also been extremely encouraging and somewhat surreal. Seeing ourselves in Kerrang!‘s long-running Pandora comic strip was certainly a bizarre moment and one I suspect will take some beating! Needless to say, we’ve been very fortunate since Stud‘s release and grateful for all the nice things that have come our way.

Got any more coming up? (Gigs, that is…)

Our next live appearance is supporting the formidable NoMeansNo at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus on 28 May, which will no doubt prove to be a phenomenal show! Following that we return to Go North Festival in June up in Inverness, then The Wickerman Festival in July to perform on the Solus Stage while hopefully being invited do a few of the other summer events. There are always shows being confirmed and Mark keeps it all up to date through our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Are there any obscure and/or up-and-coming acts that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?

Scotland has a great wealth of talent just now. In Dundee there are the likes of The Sparrowhawk Orkestrel, The Hazey Janes, The Shithawks, Mass Consensus, Little Anchors along with loads of others. Edinburgh has Vasquez, Black International, A Fight You Can’t Win, Ultimate Slaymaster and Hagana.

In Glasgow there’s United Fruit, Hey Enemy, Rungs, Cuddly Shark, Honeyblood and also the promise of forthcoming releases from the currently inactive Lapsus Linguae – one of the most exciting and original bands to have ever come out of Scotland! Finally, Aberdeen boasts the likes of Carson Wells, Min Diesel, Cleavers and Forest Fires.

Finally, if you were forced to spend the rest of your days in solitary confinement, but were allowed to bring the entire works of five different artists along to tide you over, whose would you choose?

Hmm, always find stuff like this difficult. Off the top of my head I’d go for The Beatles, Melvins, Blur, Bjork and everything Mike Patton has been involved with. The last one is perhaps cheating slightly but at least it would be a varied body of work and would hopefully keep me busy.

Fat Goth, thank you.

Stud is out now on EmuBands.

You can buy Stud on iTunes or on Amazon.

For more information, please visit Fat Goth on Bandcamp.

Fat Goth - Stud

Artists: fat goth

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.