Breaking bread with Bryan Tolland

In his column, which he describes as a ‘stramash in the goalmouth of Rock ‘n’ Roll,’ the celebrated songwriter, producer and manager, JOHN McLAUGHLIN, shares with us his insights into the music and entertainment world.

WHAT do Del Amitri, The Bluebells, The Speyside Sessions Group, L’Acoustica, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and East Park School in Glasgow have in common? Well, in short, Bryan Tolland.

“When describing my music work—some in mainstream bands, some in Special Educational Needs and community music projects—there’s always the danger that I’ll sound like a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Mother Teresa. Hopefully that won’t be the case this time,” Bryan joked.

Where and when did the music thing all start?

I think my first public performance was as one of only two boys in the 20-strong Communion Choir at St Mary’s in Glasgow way back ‘when all this were fields.’ I never really had a fear of singing or performing—I always assume that audiences want you to do well on stage and that you want to do well also, so I approach performing with a positive mindset.

And this guitar-playing malarkey, how did that begin?

I took guitar lessons as a kid and was gifted a guitar by a lovely man named Colin McAdam. I was his paperboy and Colin played for Glasgow Rangers football club—he wasn’t remotely bothered that I was (and still am) a huge Celtic fan. His younger brother, Tom McAdam, played for Celtic as many will remember. In Glasgow you are virtually born supporting a team and mine was, and remains, the Hoops. So thanks Colin my dear late friend, you provided an important early step in my musical journey.

How were Del Amitri formed?

In the late 1970s I went to see the proto-punks Dr Feelgood at the famous and now long gone Glasgow Apollo. A few rows away from me was a guy called Justin, but we didn’t meet until a couple of years later.

That sequence of events played out roughly as follows. I was studying Architecture at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, part of the Glasgow School of Art and the Architecture Department of the University of Glasgow. In my year was a pretty quiet and polite young man called Iain Harvie. We got talking and it turned out that he played guitar as well. I had played a few Jam and Clash songs in the famous Vic Cafe at the Art School by this point, but that didn’t seem to put Iain off!

He mentioned that he’d met a guy called Justin who was a really great singer, and that they were looking for another guitarist. So off I trotted down to a rehearsal room at the Arts Centre in Washington Street in Glasgow to meet drummer Paul Tyagi and singer and bassist Justin Currie. I liked them all immediately and they seemed to think that I was ok too. From little acorns...

Tell us about your early days in the band?

Our first gig was a lunchtime performance at the aforementioned Vic Cafe at the Art School. I was uncharacteristically nervous. I later realised that this was because I knew virtually every single person in the audience as Iain and I were students there.

A few weeks later we played our first ever evening gig to about 500 people at Glasgow University’s Queen Margaret Union and it was much less stressful! Most musicians will tell you, the bigger the crowd, the easier it is. Things proceeded in a steady upward trajectory thereafter.

We had a lot of early support from Nick Low and Graeme Cochrane, two young local promoters/producers/‘any other task’ gentlemen who partly financed our debut single Sense Sickness on their independent label called No Strings. They had promoted a successful early show by New Order at Tiffany’s in Glasgow, and very generously put part of their profits into funding Sense Sickness.

We went to Palladium Studios in Loanhead near Edinburgh when looking for a place to record the single. The producer Jon Turner played us a song entitled Honey at the Core by Scottish band Friends Again, which we loved, so we decided to record there.

Sense Sickness was named Single of the Week in Sounds, a prominent weekly music publication at the time—yes, weekly music newspapers did actually exist then, kids!

How did the band’s popularity grow?

Del Amitri were still pretty much a local concern at this point, but that was to change over the next few months.

An important event in that change came to pass when John Peel—legendary Radio 1 DJ and champion of new music—brought his show to the aforementioned QMU in Glasgow. Del Amitri played at the event and the next week John Peel’s producer phoned to offer us our first BBC Radio 1 session at their famous studio complex in Maida Vale, London. Interesting trivia fact, that session was produced by Dale Griffin, drummer in glam rock favourites Mott the Hoople!

The session was a great success. The four songs we recorded all found their way onto our debut album. John Peel raved enthusiastically about the songs on air. Here are a couple of his quotes about us: “Excellent! Very good indeed that, I think. When you consider the appalling number of really duff records that are around, why aren’t there more Del Amitri records?”

“Hardly a day goes by without hearing about new Scottish bands who flail away at acoustic guitars, but Del Amitri are just about the best of them. Certainly the best that I’ve heard.”

The record companies came calling. Chrysalis, Island Records, London Records, Blanco Y Negro. We went with Chrysalis as A&R man Pete Lawton was so genuine in his love for the band.

“I heard the first 30 seconds of the first Peel session song and thought to myself ‘I must have this band,’” he said.

The following week we got a phone call asking if we wanted to support The Smiths. They were probably the coolest band in the UK and Europe at the time. We didn’t have to be asked twice! They were great gigs and lovely people to a man. Johnny Marr was particularly complimentary about my guitar playing—high praise indeed.

On the first recording session for the first album the producer was Tom Verlaine—guitar hero from the band Television. We still haven’t released these songs to date, although that may change shortly. Oh, and I’ve got Tom’s Rickenbacker guitar.

The sessions which did actually result in the first album were produced by Hugh Jones who we admired for his work with Echo and The Bunnymen, especially the Heaven Up Here album and the single Never Stop. The album first charted in Portugal, so it was off to Lisbon for a couple of sold-out shows. For a Celtic fan like me to have a hit album in Lisbon? You couldn’t make it up.

So touring the world and recording here there and everywhere followed. I can’t complain!

I last shared a stage with Justin and Iain in 2018 at the launch of the Songs Of Del Amitri charity album for Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland, which was a top 20 album. Another Del Amitri album is in the pipeline, including a first album reissue, the Tom Verlaine sessions and the ‘lost album.’ Watch this space.

Tell us about some of your other work?

In between times, I’ve guested with Scottish chart toppers The Bluebells, formed Glaswegian/Dominican acoustic band L’Acoustica (our album A Cure For Serpents is available on all the usual formats) and formed The Speyside Sessions Group with actor and singer Kevin McKidd of Grey’s Anatomy and Trainspotting fame.

The first Speyside album went to number 1 in eight countries. A second album and documentary—working title Speyside Goes To Nashville—is in development with the record planned to be co-produced by the acclaimed producer aka yourself, John MacLaughlin!

I still find time to run inclusive music-making sessions for my young friends with additional needs at East Park School in Glasgow, which is always heartwarming. Oh and I’m still a season ticket holder at Celtic Park—30 years and counting. Keep on keeping on everyone. Love to you all, Bryan.