Marina Records - Young Picnickers Press Release

The Pearlfishers are currently putting the finishing touches to their, as yet, untitled third album. The band emerged in 1991 with a string of E.P.s released on their own "My Dark Star" label which gained widespread radioplay in the UK. After a long period of gigging and radio sessioning, their debut album "Za Za's Garden" was released on Iona Gold records in 1993, and established the band's reputation for quality songwriting, musicianship and production. However it was the release of the second album in 1997 that saw the band literally explode onto the international stage. "The Strange Underworld Of The Tall Poppies" was the result of four years of rethinking, rewriting, rejigging, re-everything... A mixture of vocal harmony, 12 string electrics, real strings, church bells, glockenspiels and above all, great songs, the album charmed everybody from The Independent to the Melody Maker to The Herald where David Belcher called it "The great lost album that The Beatles, Roger McGuinn, Brian Wilson and The Lefte Bank never got round to making together one sunny afternoon in 1966". "Tall Poppies" was released by Marina Records in Europe and the UK in Feb 97 and was favourably reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine, who featured the song "Even On A Sunday Afternoon" on their free CD.... this led to the album being picked up by SONY music in Germany who promptly gave the album a major release and sent the band on a two month promo stint round Germany. It didn't end there either...in April 1998 the album was re-released in Japan by POPBIZ records with extra tracks.

The brand new album sounds as fresh as the morning milk, a fact that songwriter Davie Scott puts down to the success of "Tall Poppies": "When you've made a lot of records that have done Okay-ish and then one really takes off, especially in a different country, it feels like, "well, I was right after all" and it's a huge relief. You get so much confidence. Also, I really worked hard on my music during the period between the first two records. "Tall Poppies" was the result of a lot of soul searching and decision making and I definitely broke free from a lot of things on that record. Now I'm writing songs in a much freer way." The album features a collaboration with Duglas T Stewart of BMX Bandits, the gorgeous "You Justify My Life": "Duglas and I have been pals for ages, first and foremost through our Brian Wilson / Serge Gainsbourg obsession and we've put on quite a lot of shows featuring those artists' songs. Anyway, Duglas is always turning me on to great music and I really credit him with helping me get my act together for "Tall Poppies". I don't know whether he did it consciously or not but he gently pushed me in certain directions, musically. He gave me lyrics for a song that eventually appeared as "Brazilian Boat" on an album of songs without words ( "Songs For Marshmallow Lovers", Marina 1997 ), so I ended up using it for something else and it's one of my favourite tracks".

Davie also spends time as musician in residence at East Kilbride Arts Centre where in the past year he has produced records by Alex Chilton, BMX Bandits, Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub and many others. He is also resident piano player on The Fred MacAuley Show, presents Radio Scotland's "Soundcheck", and acts as a travelling musicologist giving workshops on songwriting, arrangement and production: "I've ended up with three or four jobs because when things are kind of lean with the band I tend to throw myself into doing whatever musical work I possibly can. I think it's amazing to be able to get paid for making music." The other main Pearlfisher, Brian McAlpine also has extra curricular work, writing music for animated films and playing/producing with traditional band "Iron Horse". Recent additions to the band are Jim Gash (drums) Deepak Bahl (bass) and Gabriel Telerman (guitar).

The date at The Fringe gives the band a chance to renew their aquaintance with Edinburgh and preview new tracks : Brian McAlpine... "We've had totally fantastic shows at The Fringe in the past, in fact I remember a few years back Davie had a birthday and we celebrated on stage at The Festival Club. It was an amazing atmosphere and by the second encore Davie was getting cramp and had to stand with one leg in the air to get through the number...it was great to be in Edinburgh and be part of the whole thing".