Present yourself to the readers
Hey everyone! My names Hannah McKay, and I am drummer of Scottish trio, The Amorettes. Nice to meet you!
Who composes ?...How does it work in the band ?
Gill, the singer/guitarist does the majority of the composing. She will come up with the overall riff and then bring it to us. Sometimes she will have an entire song completed, but sometimes she will bring rough ideas and we will complete the song together. Usually its lyrics last.
Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?
As far as inspiration for lyrics, I think most songwriters will tell you it’s just life in general, things they have seen or situations they have been in. Some of the lyrics can be quite tongue in cheek with clever rhyming.
Why the name THE AMORETTES ?
A lot of people have mispelt the name in the past, like Amourettes.. I believe it was Gill was looking at a book of baby names, and Amorette is Latin baby name meaning Little Love, which in turn I think reminded her of that AC/DC song 'Little Lover'. There's also hints of 60's girl groups in there too.
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
We love all the classic stuff, that standard list of bands we all know and love. Motorhead, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Rock Goddess, Dio, Rose Tattoo. I think anything your listening to at the time can influence you. I have a lot of varied stuff on my ipod these days. Ska, reggae. We are also inspired by newer bands and bands you wouldnt really class as 'classic rock' . We love Rammstein, Rival Sons, I'm getting into Halestorm, and just any bands that put on a great show and are good at what they do.
What's your opinion about the current music scene in Scotland ?
Over the past year or so I feel like we've hardly been home at all. The number of trips we have made down to say London to play are countless now. Scotland is said to be one of those places that bands love to come and play, with legendary venues such as King Tuts and The Barrowlands in Glasgow and you’ve got busy venues over in Edinburgh to such as Bannermans and Liquid Rooms. There will always be an army of hardcore rock fans in Scotland. They are some of the noisiest, rowdiest crowds in the world.
Generally, what's the reaction of the public during your concerts ?
Generally the reception we receive is amazing. We are working hard to put on the best show we can, and get the crowd involved as much as we can. After all, that’s what it’s all about. Some crowds are harder than others to get a reaction from so you just work that little bit harder too. We seem to have had a great reaction in France. They are some of the noisiest audiences we have played to.
What's your best live memory ? And why ?
There are so many great memories. I guess it only happened weeks ago but playing Download Festival was a massive deal for us. The tent was packed out, with more standing outside, and the crowd started chanting our name before we even walked on. It really was a great feeling. Just wish we could have played for longer! Maybe next time..
And the worst one ?
I guess playing any show with a hangover is never fun. Although you are usually completely cured by the end after sweating it all out. We were on tour with Thunder in Germany and I had had a bit too much red wine. The night had ended with me trying to climb on top of a grand piano in a hotel then proceeded to pass out in a flower bed outside. Very smooth ! I could hardly even soundcheck the next day, the sound of the snare drum was chopping my brain in half... drink responsibly kids !
