Interview: Walt Disco

Walt Disco are an exciting and flamboyant gothic/new wave alt-indie outfit from Glasgow. The band write songs rich in energy and emotion, using their unique and attractive blend of soaring vocals, sexy synth and guitar sounds, and banging beats to create moments of sublime grandiosity. Live, they’re a force to be reckoned with and audiences at Glastonbury, Isle Of Wight Festival and SXSW (as well as OMD and Duran Duran – who they’ve toured with) can testify to that.

The band journey down south to The Georgian Theatre in Stockton on Saturday 18th November, where they stole hearts during their stand-out performance at Stockton Calling last year, to perform at the North-East and Scotland musical showcase, Songs From Northern Britain. 

Ahead of their performance, we caught up with the Walt Disco for a little Q&A…

Briefly tell us about the genesis of the band.
Tinkerbell farted

What artists have inspired your sound?
The Blue Nile, Björk Scott Walker, Brian Wilson, St Vincent, Wendy Carlos, The Associates

What have been the highlights of your career so far?
Definitely playing SXSW in Texas, playing nine shows in five days on the other side of the world changed us as a band. Glastonbury was the best weekend of our lives, hard to put into words what going there was like!

How important are events like Songs From Northern Britain in a Southern-centric music industry?
Hugely important! The North and Scotland have produced some of the best and most influential popular music of all time. The industry is very London-centric of course, but they want what we got.

How has where you’re from informed your sound?
Scotland has an extremely rich musical heritage. Having bands like Orange Juice, The Associates and Simple Minds to look up to has never left us short of inspiration. We hope to be one of the bands to carry on the legacy they laid down.

You’re no strangers to playing Stockton. What are your memories of performing in the town?
The first time we played there we played to basically no one. It’s been encouraging to see the crowds getting bigger and bigger every time! The Stockton audiences always treat us very well and we usually have an amazing time.

What can audiences expect from a Walt Disco performance?
We’re going to throw a lot at you, we’re always going to have as much fun and demonstrate as much energy as we can. It works best if the crowd does the same for us, then we’re all having a good time x

What does the future have in store for the band?
Bigger shows, bigger tunes, reaching stratospheric heights until we burn out in a glorious flaming wreck for all to see.

You can catch Walt Disco at Songs From Northern Britain at The Georgian Theatre on Saturday 18th November.