Music Editor Jodie Leith continues the Musicians of Glasgow Uni series; highlighting the rich musical talent gracing our lecture halls and featuring quick-fire profiles of up-and-coming UofG musicians. The series offers a fleeting insight into their background, music, interests and how they’re finding life as students at UofG (especially amidst a pandemic).
To kick off our 2020 series, I caught up with Fin Logie from Yellow Helen. The five-piece, originating from Edinburgh, released their debut EP, The Honeymoon Suite, on 31 October 2020 and with a sound that can only be described as The Beach Boys meets The Beatles meets Halloween; it’s clear Yellow Helen are one to watch.
The Glasgow Guardian: Hometown?
Fin Logie: I’m from Leith in Edinburgh.
GG: Which year are you and which subjects do you study at the University of Glasgow?
FL: I’m in third year and I study film & television and comparative literature.
GG: How would you describe your band?
FL: Indie-rock and very Beatles-inspired. Joseph and Lewis, who write most of the songs, kind of croon and are quite soulful almost.
GG: What’re your main influences?
FL: As a band, we try to bring all our influences together while having quite varied tastes. Our common influences are musicians like The Beatles and Bob Dylan.
GG: What’s the best show you’ve played?
FL: We’ve played a lot, but because there’s five of us, and we’re all students, it’s hard to coordinate sometimes. So, we’ve only played three gigs as a full band. We played one on Valentine’s Day at Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh, supporting Pelican Tusk. That was a really good wee show.
GG: What’s the song you’re most proud of?
FL: I really like Honeymoon Suite; the title track of the EP. I was able to write quite a good bassline for it, which I’m quite proud of. Everyone helped chip into that song as opposed to one or two members writing it which was lovely.
GG: Which gig got you into music?
FL: I went to see Neutral Milk Hotel at the Barrowlands in 2014, which was big for me. That was probably my favourite gig I’ve been to. The other guys will probably hate me for that because they’re not big Neutral Milk Hotel fans but that’s mine!
GG: What’s your favourite album?
FL: Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. I’m a big fan.
GG: What’s your biggest distraction as an at-home student?
FL: A lot of social media and also getting into The Glasgow Guardian. I’ve enjoyed writing for the newspaper a lot. I’m a culture columnist and I’m writing two film reviews. I love it.
GG: What series have you’ve binged over lockdown?
FL: Quite a few, but I watched Twin Peaks again. That was my third time re-watching it. I’m a massive fan. It’s definitely comfort viewing.
GG: Who’s your celebrity alter ego?
FL: When I play a gig, I try to channel Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club). She’s one of my main bass influences.
GG: What’s your favourite part about studying at Glasgow?
FL: I really like the fact that the city doesn’t revolve around the University. It feels like you’re part of a local scene and it’s not just oriented around the Uni.
GG: What do you miss most about music pre-lockdown?
FL: Just getting together for gigs. I organise a few gigs as well, doing amateur promotion with some friends, so I miss the organisation part of it as well.
GG: What was it like recording your debut EP The Honeymoon Suite?
FL: It was great fun. We did it in North Edinburgh Arts with a friend who’s in the ska band Bombskare; they’re quite big on the Edinburgh scene, they’ve got a great cover of Toxic by Britney Spears and play a lot of festivals. Recording the EP was quite strange because we recorded the bass and drums together, so it was just Max and I together, but that meant we built the foundations up so everyone else could add their parts afterwards. It was unusual, but it all came together brilliantly.
GG: Do you prefer recording to playing live gigs?
FL: No, I think I prefer live gigs. I like the sound we have at live gigs, whereas recording can sometimes get too into the nitty-gritty.
GG: How would you describe the EP?
FL: I really should’ve thought of this before… it has an eerie vibe to it but it’s quite warm. There’s a lot of harmonising and it has a really full sound.
Yellow Helen’s EP debut EP, The Honeymoon Suite is out now. Find them online at:
Facebook: @yellowhelenband
Instagram: @yellowhelenband
Twitter: @_yellowhelen_
Spotify: Yellow Helen
