A GLASGOW band who make “pop music for unpopular people” celebrate their 10th birthday with two gigs over 2020’s leap weekend.
Randolph’s Leap, an eight-piece troupe who match uplifting, folk-inspired melodies to the witty self-deprecation of frontman Adam Ross (above), are taking requests for these one-off, full band birthday dates.
Talented locals Jo Mango and Hailey Beavis will support the band in Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively before Ross heads out on a tour with Broken Chanter aka Kid Canaveral’s David MacGregor, and Moonsoup, the alter ego of Falkirk musician Niamh Baker.
The UK-wide jaunt will see the songwriters, all Olive Grove Records stablemates, perform selections from each of their repertoires as an exclusive live trio. Now with a substantial back catalogue of EPs, LPs and singles – including three Christmas singles – the band made their debut back in 2010; a year, they note on their website, of “coalition government, Chilean miners and Randolph’s Leap’s Battleships & Kettle Chips EP”.
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Ross remembers recording the EP at Glasgow’s Green Door Studio.
“It was actually the first time we’d all been together in a room,” he tells The National from the Asda car park in Forfar, not far from Laurencekirk, where he’s now based.
“It was my first studio experience so I was a little naive about it all but we all have good memories of it.”
Also planned for 2020 is the release of the follow-up to 2018’s Worryingly Okay album, says Ross. Randolph’s Leap, he adds, are still based in Glasgow, where they have been working with Kathryn Joseph collaborator Marcus Mackay at his Diving Bell Lounge studio as well as at the home set-up of the band’s keyboards whiz Pete MacDonald.
“With this new album we’ve kind of thrown the kitchen sink at it, really layering up the different instruments and just having fun with it because we’ve got the luxury to do it,” says Ross, who also notes he’s in the early stages of other projects, including a theatrical production based on Wild Harbour, a 1936 novel presaging the Second World War by Moray writer Ian Macpherson.
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“Since I quit my job last year I’ve been writing loads,” Ross says. “I do feel I am finally finding my feet as a songwriter – and Randolph’s Leap has only just gotten started.”
February 29, The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £8. Tickets: bit.ly/RandolphsGlasgow
Mar 1, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 7.30pm, £8 adv, £10 on door. Tickets: bit.ly/RandolphsEdinburgh
With Broken Chanter and Moonsoup: Mar 27, Puffin Coffee, Kilchoan, Ardnamurchan; Mar 28, Rio Community Centre, Newport-on-Tay. Tickets: www.brokenchanter.com/tour
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