Scottish indie pop trio Acting Strange released their debut album 'TALK TALK TALK' in 2017. Their latest single 'Hollywood' was released on July 7 and lyrically tackles the recent Hollywood sex scandals.
Who are you?
I'm Ali, I play the bass live, sometimes acoustic in Acting Strange. 'Hollywood' is one of my tracks so I sing lead on this one. Scott plays the lead guitar and sometimes synth/keys, and he also sings lead on his tracks too. Ruaridh plays the drums - and a bit of rugby.
Tell us something about yourself and how you came to be where you are today?
Scott and I are both from East Kilbride, a satellite town of Glasgow and have been best friends since we were about 10/11. We always jammed as kids but never really got together musically properly until we formed Acting Strange, kind of a Ross and Rachel 'will they won't they?' thing.
I cut my teeth playing bass in an originals band called The Imagineers, we also did bar gigs for cash on the side, played a lot of shit holes in my time. Coked up boxing fans understandably not wanting to hear a cover of 'Mrs Robinson' during the big fight. Scott had a band called The Abstract with some of our mutual pals in East Kilbride, he also played bass in an indie band called Skinny Villains. Ruaridh's from Paisley and was in a 60s style Mod band at some point.
Give us an idea of your musical style and influences.
We're into it all really, there's something to be learned from the cheesiest of pop to the left field arty farty stuff. Help yourself at the buffet, just don't fill up on bread.
Explain the production and writing process behind your songs.
Scott or I usually write our songs on an acoustic and then we discuss what kind of vibe the tune needs. On the last album we put a glammy/garage jacket on a lot the tunes, this time we're being a bit more adventurous messing about with auto wahs for the bass, stuff like that. Listening to a broad range of music and taking production ideas from everywhere is healthy.
Tell us a little about your new single.
'Hollywood' is about sex for career favours in the entertainment industry. I take the character of a studio head
warning a potential movie star to conceal their sexual identity to be more marketable to an audience as well as offering them a head start for sexual favours.
It's in the vein of what's been happening recently with the likes of Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein. The veil of mystery in Hollywood is coming undone in the digital age, so this song is the before to that. It's the first track we've taken into a studio to record rather than on our old 8 tracks.
Can we catch up with you at any forthcoming live shows?
Nothing on the cards right now, we're in writing/producing mode. Be cool to do something before Christmas though. We went on a tour with our pals the Rottenrows a couple of months back - check them out if you get a chance.
How's the rest of the year looking, plans-wise?
The rest of this year will be mostly writing and producing new tracks - we've decided to make another album. We'll likely have more people on stage when we start that campaign, we think we've done all we really can with the three-piece garage band set up on stage. Bit more texture would be cool.
Where can we hear more of your music?
Spotify, YouTube.
What social media platforms can we find you on?
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