PAGES. are a Scottish-based three-piece indie-rock act that absolutely blew our socks off when they released ‘Black and Blue’ towards the end of last year. Since then, they’ve also unleashed ‘Snow’, another killer tune that showcases the new musical direction the band is going in. Chatting to us about how they first became a band, how their unique name came about, and what song they’d steal if they could, please give a big welcome to PAGES..
Welcome PAGES. – we’re so excited to introduce you (again) to our ever-growing audience today! I love discovering bands still in their relative infancy, at least in terms of their discography. What brought the three of you together and could you tell us a bit about your musical journey up until now?
We all went to the same school and that’s how we met, but it wasn’t until we were all at a mutual friends party that the idea of a band started to float about. The three of us didn’t really have any idea when the band started what sort of music we wanted to make and how to make it! We wrote some (looking back at them now) bad songs, eventually wrote some better ones, and played a lot of gigs around Scotland, mainly in our hometown of Aberdeen. Right before the first lockdown, the future of the band was uncertain but during that lockdown is when we decided on the direction we wanted the band to go. There’s been multiple lineups, members, genres, instrument swaps etc. but the three of us (Matt, Jack and Ali) have been in the band since the start.
So, as I’ve mentioned to you guys many many times, ‘Black and Blue’ was undoubtedly one of last year’s stand out tracks for me. I just loved everything about it! I know you described it as “a new direction for the band”, and it’s certainly very different to your debut single ‘Bubble Brain’, but what led to the “change of direction” decision?
Thank you very much, Jeremy, we appreciate it! We decided we wanted to make music that sounds great played loud and live (not that ‘Bubble Brain’ doesn’t). ‘Bubble Brain’ has more of a pop feel to it and we’re still proud of it because it’s the best we could’ve done at that time. However, now we want our songs to have a big impact when we play them on stage and hopefully get that same energy across on the record. That was the catalyst for our new direction.
Staying with ‘Black and Blue’, the track is nearing 20,000 plays on Spotify! How does it make you all feel to know that so many people have been listening to and, most importantly, enjoying your music?
It’s amazing, knowing people are enjoying and taking the time to listen to our songs is a bit of a stretch to get our heads around.
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It’s a feeling that never gets old. We’re great at having, let’s say “realistic expectations” and don’t try to get over-excited about releasing new music. We make music that we would like to hear, and if others enjoy it then that makes it even sweeter.
You recently released another new single called ‘Snow’ and honestly, it’s another absolute cracker of a tune! You’re fast becoming one of my favourite acts! There – I said it! How proud are you of ‘Snow’ and what does it ultimately mean to you all?
We are very proud of ‘Snow’ and we think it’ll be one of the more impactful sounding songs when we play it live at the gigs we’ve got planned later this year. It’s got all the elements that we want our band to sound like. Big guitars, smashing drums, heavy synth bass and catchy vocals.
OK, now I just have to ask, how did the name PAGES. come about? I’m always intrigued by artists who decide on uppercase or lowercase lettering, MGMT, or will.i.am for example, but you’ve taken it a step further with a full stop as well. Help us understand.
I think the name came from someone that our lead guitarist Ali used to hang around with. We had a hard time naming ourselves and we thought at the time when we were naming the band that PAGES. didn’t sound too out there so the name stayed. You wouldn’t believe what the other options were and I’m too embarrassed to mention them! The all caps and full stop was initially done so searching our name on social media would be a lot easier. I wish there was a more exciting story behind it!
Every band obviously has a different creative process than the next, and we love finding out more about how bands take an idea and turn it into a finished product. Could you tell our readers a bit about your creative process?
I think when we started the band there wasn’t a set way of creating songs. There’d be a scattering of ideas and then eventually, a Frankenstein’s monster of a song would be formed out of it. However, during the lockdown, when things were eased a bit, Matt and I would meet up and discuss what we’d been creating and show ideas. If something we thought had potential we’d work on it, send it to Ali who was in Glasgow at the time and then he would put his input into the song(s). Since then that’s pretty much how the songs have been written. We have a lot of finished songs that have been left on the cutting room floor. They’ll maybe see the light of day in the future.
I know that acts like Muse, Royal Blood, and Arctic Monkeys are all huge influences for you, but who else would you put forward for having shaped your overall musical soundscape? Who did you guys listen to while growing up?
Jack: I had a wide range of influences growing up and still do now. My dad would normally have music playing around the house so I was exposed to a lot of Eagles, Jackson Browne, and Van Halen when I was very young. Then it got progressively heavier listening to Rush, Metallica etc. Nowadays it’s all over the place, one day it’ll be Rage Against The Machine and the next it’ll be Kacey Musgraves. Matt is and always has been a big U2 fan, and that’s something I’ve inherited from him. He’s someone I’d say that doesn’t have a lot of favourite artists but is influenced by a lot of different music. He’s got a really good ear for finding things in other songs that would work well for us. Ali is a big Beatles fan and I’m impressed by his knowledge of being able to pick up a guitar and play a large percentage of their back catalogue perfectly. I know he also takes influence from artists like Tame Impala, Pink Floyd, Rex Orange County and more.
What would you put down as the band’s biggest achievement to date?
To be honest I’d say our biggest accomplishment is staying together.
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I think a lot of bands in our position who have been going on as long as we have would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. We think we have something good here and I know we’re getting better and better the more songs we write and the more shows we play.
OK, guys, if you could, as a band, ‘steal’ one song in the world and claim it as your own, what would you go with?
That’s a very tough one because there are so many songs that would be amazing to own, but I think ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers would be the one as a band that we would pick. The main reasons are that it’s incredibly written but it’s also a song everyone knows. Having an arena or a stadium singing those lyrics back to you must be an incredible feeling.
What would being successful in the music industry look like to you as a band? And is it something that you place a lot of importance on, or do you see it as more of a “cherry-on-top”?
Being successful would be being able to play and create music full time and make a decent living off of it. We think that’s a big goal that’s been in the back of our minds for a long time. If we keep getting a positive response to the music that we’re releasing hopefully that’ll be a possibility in the future.
Einstein famously said, “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician.” If you were not musicians, what would each of you be?
Jack: Funnily enough, none of us are musicians by trade. I’m an audiologist, Matt’s in his last year of uni studying law and Ali has just graduated. Like I mentioned before I think we’d all be very happy if we could make music our full-time career.
If you were allowed to collaborate with one musician or band, who would you choose and why?
Jack: Right now I think Olivia Rodrigo would be a great option. She’s bringing back the honest rougher side of pop-rock music that was popular in the late 90s and early 2000s. I think it’ll be a trend that’ll continue for a while. I think our styles would merge together well if we miraculously ever got the opportunity to work with her.
What can we expect next from you fellas? Perhaps an EP? Or dare we dream of a full album?
We don’t tend to plan that far into the future and we take things as they come but for now, the idea is to keep releasing singles until we have enough of an audience to justify a full-length album. We have material that’s ready to go.
Maybe expect another single announcement in the near future.
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Make sure to connect with PAGES.
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We added PAGES.’s ‘Snow’ to the playlist of all the artists we interviewed so far.
Don’t be shy to give it a listen!
