Neu Divorce

Glaswegian quartet Divorce have a new single out this very week: ‘Wet Bandit’ b/w ‘Dildine’ is the first release for Norwich label Gravy Records. To celebrate, we grab drummer Andy for a quick chat.

Hello Andy. Tell us a bit about about what the band have been up to so far.
Since we formed in 2008 we have released a 10’ EP on Optimo Music, a split 10’ single with Comanechi on Merok Records and a split cassette release with Ultimate Thrush on Milk Records. At the tail end of last year we had a line-up change but we quickly regrouped and the first records we’ve had with the new line-up were both released this month; ‘Wet Bandit’ 7’ on Gravy and ‘Love Attack’ 7’ on Night School.

That’s a fair few releases.
We’ve never felt any major desperation to get a record released quickly, every release we’ve had has been down to the labels asking us. We’ve never went down the route of sending any demos to labels or anything, it’s been more of case of talking to people after gigs that have liked what they’ve heard and wanted to work with us. We’ve also been lucky to have worked with some great labels and we’re really honoured they liked us so much they’ve fronted up the cash to release our music.

How do you record your material? Do you do it yourselves, or do you bring in help?
We’ve had a couple of good friends that have helped us to record our music in the past, but although we’ve not recorded our music ourselves, we do have a pretty clear idea of how we want our records to sound. We’ve always worked fast and kept the sound as raw as we can as we believe that suits the music better.

Are you working on anything longer-form than singles?
We’re not working on anything like an album just yet; as well as the 7’s we’ve just recorded for Gravy and Night School, we’ve got another 7’ coming out later this year on Milk and we have two tracks coming out on Deathbomb Arc’s digital singles club. We hope to start working on an album soon though.

So, how’s Glasgow for music at the moment? Are there any other up-and-coming bands we should be looking out for?
Glasgow has had a good few recent years where strong, inventive music has been getting made by bands eager to experiment and take chances rather than just churning out weak facsimiles of the city’s more commercially successful bands. Bands that come to mind are Ultimate Thrush, Take A Worm For A Walk Week, Ben Butler & Mousepad, Neighbourhood Gout, Holy Mountain, Gropetown, Black Sabbath Black Fiji, Desalvo and many more whose names have escaped us for now.

You’ll be heading out on a UK tour next month - will it be your first headline jaunt? It must be a costly, lengthy process when you start so high up the country?
We’ve toured three times around the UK in the past, most recently it was last September for two weeks with our good friends Comanechi, but this will be our first full tour with our new line-up. It needn’t cost any more than it would a band from London, we just head down the country, play London halfway through the tour rather than at the start or the end, and play some show on the way back north! Also, we keep our overheads as low as we can when we tour; having realistic expectations and a bit of experience of touring in a DIY fashion are extremely useful and keep our heads above water.

Finally: If you had to recommend one of your tracks for potential new fans to listen to, which would you suggest?
‘Wet Bandit’ is as good a place as any to start I guess!

Wet Bandit by divorcetheband

The band will soon be embarking on a UK tour in support of the single, catch them at:

AUGUST
01 GLASGOW - Stereo
07 MANCHESTER (FAT OUT FEST) - The Islington Mill
08 MILTON KEYNES - The Buszy
09 CARDIFF - The Undertone
10 LEMINGTON SPA - The Assembly
11 BRIGHTON - The Green Door Store
12 LONDON (YES WAY 3 FESTIVAL) - The Bussey Building
13 NORWICH - The Crypt - Take 5
14 NOTTINGHAM - The Chameleon