A ROCK band which set out to explore the idea of telling Glasgow’s “radical history” and untold stories through song has begun its first tour “outwith” the city.
The group of academics, artists, and musicians have set out to explore the question of if a rock band created music around the history of Glasgow, what would it sound like, and more importantly, would anyone listen?
For The Tenementals the answer to the last question is a resounding yes, as they are now touring their music across Scotland, including a trip to Belfast, following a successful debut album launch, Glasgow A History, Volume 1 of 6.
Described as Leonard Cohen meets The Clash, the eight-piece aims to breathe fresh life into the city's past by retelling the “radical history” of Glasgow through punchy riffs and self-proclaimed “banging” lyrics.
Including songs about the statue on the Clyde dedicated to the people who fought in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, the 1820 radical republic uprisings and the famous trade union activist Jim Reid, the band aims to tell some of the most important working-class stories from the city.
“The response that we've had to the tunes and to the concept of that idea, if you like, is amazing,” said singer and professor of political cinemas at the University of Glasgow David Archibald.
“People are interested in what the answer to that question is, and we know that because when we do gigs, lots of people come.”
Archibald said one the reasons he wanted to create the band was because he believes it is important to spend time with the past but not “live” or “fetishise” it.
From suffragettes to worker strikes, these are the political and cultural stories which are woven into the city’s past and are the radical stories the band want to tell.
“We're interested in 1915 when workers and women organised the rent strike, which changed legislation,” Archibald said.
“We're interested in moments like that, we're interested in moments when the workers occupied the shipyards in 1971.
“Because in these moments, these are moments of radical possibility where they show you that the world was different.”
The singer went on to say the band wanted to treat these memories with care and share them with people across Scotland, adamant they shouldn't be just for the history books.
“We're interested in blasting these moments of possibility into the future, because as much as we're interested in radical pasts, our goal is radical futures,” he added.
Archibald (above) said the band will never be short of source material for more songs due to Glasgow's rich history.
He said his ethos stems from the saying “digging where you stand”, which originated from a movement in archaeology in Scandinavia in the 70s, and that he is interested in making history where he’s from.
However, Archibald isn’t interested in just telling the more well known history of the city; he wants to champion the unheard voices too.
He said: “Who gets remembered and who doesn't?”
Archibald added that you just need to look at Glasgow’s architecture and you can see it favours the wealthy and that decisions like the contemporary rebranding of Merchant City are a “disgrace”.
Archibald said: “The city should be ashamed that it has parts of the city named after people who made their money in slavery.
“Why is it that these people are celebrated and others are forgotten?”
He went on to explain he wants to ”disturb" people through his storytelling with the band's lyrics, but in a positive manner to help people understand Glasgow’s past can have implications for the present.
“We want to tell new stories, or we think that if we tell it through song, then you create a new history, that you create it in a different way,” he said.
According to Archibald the band's songs have resonated with the people of Glasgow as they have played in packed out venues across the city.
Despite only playing a handful of gigs the singer said he has started to notice more people singing along to his tunes, confirming to him that there is an appetite to hear Glasgow’s rich history through song.
But Archibald is now raising the next question, will The Tenementals music resonate with Scots outside Glasgow?
The band were able to get an answer to their question as they played to packed Harbour Arts Centre on Saturday night in Irvine.
“I met someone who had travelled up from Dumfries to go to Irvine to see us singing songs about Glasgow, which was kind of weird, but lovely,” Archibald said.
He added he was “absolutely delighted” with how the evening went.
The singer said the crowd, who travelled from all parts of Scotland, were amazing as the band kicked off the first night of their Outwith tour.
Next month, The Tenementals are playing at Portobello Town Hall and are taking comedian Zara Gladman (below) along with them.
“We find out how the songs go down there and whether people will come and what kind of response we get, and we're looking forward to that,” Archibald said.
Along with a gig in Dunoon, the band are also travelling to Belfast for a one-off show.
“There's all sorts of connections between the city of Belfast and the city of Glasgow,” Archibald said.
He added: “It will be interesting to say the least to go and play in Belfast, we’ve no idea what will happen.”
The Tenementals will play Greenock on April 26, Glasgow May 2, Portobello May 3, Edinburgh May 17, Belfast May 31 and Dunoon June 28.
You can listen to the band’s music here and you can watch The Tenementals' music video.
