CELEBRATING THEIR 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH THEIR BIGGEST GIG YET!
Gill Sherry
I last spoke with Tide Lines in January 2023 ahead of the release of their third album, An Ocean Full of Islands. It’s fair to say that the band’s popularity has grown significantly since then, so I begin by asking frontman, Robert Robertson, how he would describe the intervening three years.
“They’ve been great. An Ocean Full of Islands really grew us, we got a lot of radio play out of it and it got us a Scottish number one. And this year we released Glasgow Love Story which got us our third Scottish number one.”
Robert describes their growth as “an organic progression” which has developed each year since the band formed ten years ago.
“The natural growth has been really pleasing, and certainly in the last two years it’s taken a step up. In 2024 we did three nights at Barrowlands and now we’ve got a Hydro show on the horizon which we wouldn’t have thought we could have achieved when we last spoke to you. We’re obviously very grateful to everyone who’s joined us along the way and helped make stuff like this happen.”
Not only did they sell out three nights at Glasgow’s most iconic music venue, they were inducted into the Barrowland Hall of Fame. Other inductees include David Bowie, Noel Gallagher and Simple Minds, but was there one name in particular that they were proud to sit alongside?
“All of them, really! There’s a physical wall backstage at Barrowlands where all the names are up… and you get the same reaction for every single artist that’s on that wall. There are acts on there that are world famous. It was so overwhelming.”
Even more so because none of the band members expected it.
“I got a phone call from our agent the night before the gig to say the promoters had been in touch to say they wanted to present us with this award. That was a genuine surprise. It hadn’t occurred to us at all, so it was a really nice career highlight.”
The Barrowland Hall of Fame recognises those artists who have contributed to make the ballroom the world-famous venue that it is today. But whilst they were presented with a trophy at the time, it took a little while for the band’s name to appear on the wall.
“I was back in recently as a punter. Friends of mine were playing and I went backstage to see them. I took a wee wander to see if our name was up. To actually go in and see Tide Lines on that wall… that was just amazing.”
In addition to their ever-growing popularity, they are maturing as musicians and performers, which is, of course, reflected in both ticket and album sales.
“As the shows get bigger, you can invest more in the production level which is something we’re enjoying at the moment… and obviously the music naturally develops over time as well.”
During our conversation in 2023, after much debate, they described their music as folk/pop with a hint of rock. Is that still accurate?
“We’re still struggling to define our sound. It’s difficult because the traditional music scene in Scotland is so strong, and while we were brought up with Gaelic and it’s always a huge part of what we do, plenty of people in the folk industry would say we’re definitely not a folk band because we’ve got an electric guitar and a big drum kit. But equally, we’re not a straight-down-the-middle pop or rock band because we’ve got that element that’s more folky.”
Is it fair to say, then, that Tide Lines have a sound that’s all their own?
“Yes, we’ve got our own sound. We’re always going to have that Gaelic folk element at heart, but as we grow as musicians, we’re bringing in other influences. Interestingly, I think An Ocean Full of Islands was our most mainstream album. With Glasgow Love Story we maybe went back a wee step to slightly more of an acoustic folk element in a lot of the songs.”
Certainly, the title track and the hugely popular ‘Homeward Bound’ could be described as folk songs, whereas ‘Better Days’ (another fan favourite), is a bit more rock ‘n’ roll.
“Our sound has developed over the years so it’s sitting quite naturally at the moment.”
They certainly appear to be staying true to their roots which, incidentally, span a pretty wide area. The four band members met whilst studying at university in Glasgow which is drummer Gus Munro’s hometown. However, Ross Wilson (keyboard) is from Mull, Ali Turner (electric guitar and pipes) is from Easter Ross, and Robert (vocals and guitar) hails from Fort William. And although many bands would be tempted to drop the folk element of their music in order to appeal to the masses, Tide Lines have included a nod to their heritage, in one form or another, in each of their four self-produced albums.
“An Ocean Full of Islands was our attempt to do that a wee bit in terms of not dropping the Gaelic entirely, but leading a bit more into the mainstream, and that got us a lot of national radio play. But when you look at that album there is still definitely a traditional element in it. It was our first album that didn’t have a Gaelic song, and it didn’t have a pipe set, but lyrically it was recorded up in Mull… and you can only be inspired by that natural environment. That’s fairly strong in all our songs.”
Robert is a Gaelic speaker which, I suppose, makes it easy to thread Celtic influences into his songs. But which of the band’s songs evokes the best response from a live crowd?
“Every Tide Lines fan knows ‘Far Side of the World’. You can finish with that and guarantee the crowd will join in. And ‘Homeward Bound’ has been going down so well. It amazes us how well the crowd know it because it’s quite a new song. That is so pleasing.”
As a songwriter, I imagine it must be a fantastic feeling to have your fans singing your own words back at you?
“It’s the best feeling in music. What a thrill. I find that far more thrilling than being in the studio. A couple of the boys in the band, Ross in particular, he loves being in the studio. I love being in the studio too, but if we weren’t able to play in front of people, like back in Covid, if this was what music was, then I just wouldn’t be into it. It totally loses its feel for me if you’re not getting up and performing in front of people.”
Well, Tide Lines will soon be performing in front of thousands of people. Not only do they have a European tour to look forward to in April and May, but they are also playing their biggest gig yet at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro.
I ask Robert about the European tour first. What is he looking forward to the most?
“First and foremost, the scale of it. It’s the idea that we’re going to take this one tour for our 10th anniversary and we’re going to get to play it in all of those different countries… take the same show and see how it goes down across such a wide area and to so many people.
“And hearing the different accents singing the songs is always good. It’s so funny hearing the Sunderland accent, and then the Manchester accent, and then Bristol, and then London, because they’re all so different. When we started off, quite often it was just a handful of Scottish people who just happened to be in those cities. Now you can totally tell it’s all local people, because you can hear it in their accents. I’m loving those elements.”
Whilst there’s no doubt fans will be travelling from far and wide to see the band’s Ten Years of Tide Lines gig at the Hydro on 19th September, I’m sure the Scottish accents will drown out those from elsewhere!
Does Robert have a message for those fans?
“If anyone has enjoyed a Tide Lines show in the last ten years, then this is going to be the one you should be at. We’re going to tie in a lot of different elements of a Tide Lines gig and just have one big celebration. It’s going to be the best yet!”
And so it should be. Ten years as a band, and a successful one at that, is certainly something to celebrate. But what are his own expectations from the Hydro gig?
“It will be emotional for us. The fact that we’re in one of the biggest venues in the country… and just seeing all of those fans and thinking, those guys are there tonight for us… they’ve bought a ticket to hear us and to celebrate. I think the emotional part of it will be that all these people have joined us at different points in the last ten years. They’ll be family and friends there, the people with us right from the very first idea of starting a band, to people that just picked up on the last album. Then we’ve got new Tide Lines fans and everyone in between who’ve seen us at festivals or gigs in the last ten years. Tickets are going well so I can say pretty confidentially that all these types of people will be there.”
Ten years of Tide Lines is certainly a great excuse for a party, but Robert is well aware it’s the fans who have made it possible.
“It’s sounds cliché, but we feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that we’re able to do this ten years later. When we started the band… we always said that we want to take this as far it goes, but if we’re still playing music in ten years as a living, we’ll be so happy. And here we are ten years later. We’re still doing this and it’s thanks to the fans that we can experience being able to do our favourite thing. Not many people can say that their job is the thing they’ve wanted to do since they were a four-year-old kid. It’s because of our fans that we can do that. We can’t wait to see them and to celebrate ten years of Tide Lines with them all.”
For tickets, visit www.tidelinesband.com
