Interview with Washington Irving

Tartan Heart 2009

Something that has really worried, or dare I go so far as to say terrified, me as a writer is the prospect of conducting a formal interview.  Sitting at the opposite side of a table from your subject(s), one is compelled by general expectations to obtain certain information in a specific way. For me personally this has long been a scary prospect, for to get the “right” answers, make sense of and collate that information into a readable format and meet print deadlines requires such a large and intricate body of work that I feel it is insurmountable.  What was truly brilliant about interviewing the Glasgow-based band Washington Irving was that they were extremely willing to talk with me informally and therefore bypass a specifically designed interview. Talking about who they are as people and why they choose to do things may not have overtly revealed the mechanics of their music-making but it gave me a better feel of why producing such music is important to them.

 

The five band members, Joe Black (Guitar/Vocals), Martin Anfield (electric guitar), Roslyn Potter (flute), Ryan English (bass), Chris McGarry (drums) chatted to me for half an hour, unedited and completely candid about who and why they are.

Washington Irving was started as, and has remained, a Glasgow band though several members grew up on the West Coast, playing gigs in Oban recreation centre, a building that was by all accounts “sliding into the sea.” As past and present students and budding musicians, Glasgow appeals to Washington Irving. Talking to them now the entire band seem to be enamored by the amount of venues and drunk people one finds there, explaining that “drunk people like music” and generally help create a positive environment for performing. Aside from playing in Scotland’s biggest city, Washington Irving has done gigs and shows all around the country, something that is very important to them as a whole.

 

 That term, “as a whole”, is perhaps the best way of describing Washington Irving. Though every band member I talked to had their own quirks and idiosyncrasies they seemed to be very close and throughout my time there they talked to each other as much as me, swapping ideas, one-liners, suggestions and quips back and forth constantly. Chris explained that this closeness stems from proximity, as either current or ex-students they are used to helping each other out, either by cooking for the group or spotting one another money.

 

 

From a music perspective they draw a lot of inspiration and some influence from bands as far ranging as The Pogues, Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie and a host of small, current Glaswegian bands. Almost all their songs are written by Joe, who is currently studying English literature in Glasgow, and his studies in this field are evident in what he writes. “Her Majesty”, the song I was particularly drawn to, focuses on the last Empress of Austro-Hungary and is a sad lement for a woman who would eventually be murdered along with her husband in a event that would trigger the First World War.

 

 

As I talked further with Washington Irving, discussing everything from their favorite television shows to the places they’d most like to do gigs (Nashville or Rio beach in front of two million people) I began to appreciate the band, as much for their calm, friendly personalities as for the music they make. I hope that whatever success they achieve does not change the bond between them, or the way they behave towards the outside world.

More Photographs of Washington Irving