Interviews

The Boy Who Trapped The Sun

• 29th May 2010

I caught up with Colin MacLeod (AKA The Boy Who Trapped The Sun) shortly after he came off stage in Glasgow last night. Looking relaxed and contented, he chatted over a whisky.

Hi Colin, That was my first time seeing you live and I really enjoyed the show. How did you think it went?

Thanks. It was good, I really enjoyed it. I’ve got a couple of guys playing with me now that I haven’t done too many gigs with before. This is our first tour so Jamie, the sound guy, is still trying to get things sorted out a bit, but it’s all coming together really well.

I’m sure everyone asks you this, but where does the name come from?

Well, somebody just picked it out the sky one day! I liked the sound of it and so it stuck. There’s no great story.

How would you describe your music?

I guess it’s kind of acoustic based. I’ve been playing myself so it’s always been just me and an acoustic guitar, and then it’s quite easy to call it acoustic and be done with it. But now I’ve got a band together and we’re doing different things. I’d like to think it was adventurous folk music.

I thought the cello added something very different?

It definitely does. Myself and Stacey have been playing together for years – for a long time it was just me and her. We spent a long time getting to know each other and how we play and matching our voices as well.

What are your musical influences?

Dylan obviously. He’s the basis of why I started to play acoustic guitar. I always liked the pickers, John Martyn, Nick Drake and that kind of folky, bluesy picking style.

You used to sing in thrash/punk bands. What was the musical journey from there to here?

I started out playing rock in covers bands. When I was about 16 or 17 I started playing with guys in Glasgow and got into bands like Fugazi and some of the nineties punk bands. But I always wrote songs and saw myself coming back to the acoustic stuff eventually. And that’s what I did.

Your debut album, Fireplace, comes out next month. What are your hopes for that?

I don’t really know. It’s just nice to have it finished! It took quite a while to get it out. The actual recording process was pretty quick, just a couple of weeks. The whole idea was to have it raw and rough, no more than three takes. I did some of it in my bedroom and then finished it off with my friend Julian Gallagher who has a residential studio. He really helped me a lot.

What are your plans for the summer – are you playing festivals?

I’m doing T in the Park, that’s really cool. I’m doing a few festivals down south too. I got a list through the other day of all the stuff, and promptly for got most of it. But it looks like I’m playing pretty much every day through until September!

Where is home at the moment?

Well, it’s pretty much wherever I sleep each night! Whenever I’m not on tour or gigging then it’s back on Lewis. But that doesn’t seem to be too often at the moment.

Thanks very much, Colin and good luck with the album!

Not at all – cheers!