DALE BARCLAY PRESENTS "AND YET IT MOVES"

Being the frontman of a band is a dream for many – for Dale Barclay, it was more of an inevitability.

His old band, the Amazing Snakeheads, split in February in dramatic circumstances, just days before they were set to tour the UK as part of the NME Awards tour.

In their short time as a band the Snakeheads put together an album that was terrifying, captivating, unorthodox and most of all, incredibly exciting.

Having made it into the final shortlist for the Scottish Album of the Year Awards, as well as receiving endorsements from modern rock’n’roll heroes such as Jack White and Alex Turner, their debut record, Amphetamine Ballads, was never going to be an ordinary affair.

Now that chapter of his life has closed, their notorious frontman and driving force Dale Barclay is about to embark on his next project.

We met Dale earlier this week, the fearsome frontman as confident as ever, where he told us about his plans to set out on a solo venture, well, kind of solo. Playing as Dale Barclay, backed by a full band, the Glasgow musician has started writing material, with a few demos already recorded and stored away in the vault.

At a regular haunt of his just south of the river in Glasgow, Dale told us that although he still loves the Snakeheads’ sole LP, he is not going to sit around mourning the death of the band.

“Amphetamine Ballads is f*****g superb, it was a real high-water mark in my life, even just getting to record an album... that alone was enough for me, just getting to cut a record,” Dale said.

“That album I’ll stand beside till the day I die, but it’s just a Polaroid, a snapshot of a certain time and place in my life, and it’s gone now.

“The new stuff is going to be different, it has to be different. There always has to be a progression in sound, and there will be. You’ve got to be moving forward.”

Starting writing when he was fourteen, Dale always craved a life on stage. However, it took many years for him to finally meet his two bandmates, Jordan Hutchinson and William Coombe.

Barclay, who was also working as a stone-mason at the time, was the only member with previous experience playing and writing, and as they found their feet as a band, they found a sound which went on to become synonymous with the Glasgow trio.

Committed to progressing musically, Dale insisted there is no direction he is aiming to take the band in, instead planning to just let the musical process happen naturally.

“I don’t know if the new stuff will be aggressive as the Snakeheads... I kind of hope not cause I was just getting rid of a lot of stuff then.

“I don’t really know what it’ll sound like but I know it’ll be music that I dig. That’s always been the way, I make music that I love, what becomes of it I don’t necessarily give a f**k about. It’s a special thing making music.”

“I’ve got some recordings, a few demos done... which are f*****g good,” he said laughing.

“You have to be honest, there has to be a truth in what you’re writing. You can’t cheat it, if you’re writing or being creative you can’t cheat it. If you start writing a song you don’t like you’re f****d.”

While it will be impossible to escape the legend which he created while sneering at the crowds, scaring journalists and captivating audiences as the Snakeheads frontman, Dale still insists his previous venture was a dream come true.

Despite being one of the most notorious live bands about, Dale and the boys were full of trepidation going into the Green Door studio. They recorded the album in just two weeks, becoming more comfortable each step of the way.

“I’ve put the Snakeheads behind me ‘cause I had to,” Dale said. “There will probably always be a bit in the back of my mind wondering what could have happened.

“I hope that anybody who seen the Snakeheads knows what the deal was. The Snakeheads were about war, we were going to war every time we played. It took a lot out of me. The music that I make now there has to be a progression, cause I don’t want to live my life like that, in a state of war.”

So as he perfects his craft with his handpicked band, Barclay is getting ready for his first live show, confirming there will be some on the horizon.

No releases have yet been planned – well, if they have, they certainly haven’t been alluded to, but the thousands across Scotland who were lucky enough to have experienced the Snakeheads live are likely to be breathless with anticipation.

Through his previous band, Barclay set himself the highest of standards, only time will only tell if he can raise the bar once again. I certainly wouldn’t bet against it.