With a lineup that’s already a veritable who’s who of Scottish indie, Lenzie Moss’s mainman Finlay Macdonald’s own CV also makes impressive reading – Music and Movement, Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits and Speedboat among the acts he’s worked with. However, as the driving force behind this new(ish) act, he’s bringing a whole new take on sprightly summery pop. With a new single out any time now, it seemed like a good time to get the lowdown on the band named after a patch of moorland to the north-east of Glasgow…

Who?

Finlay Macdonald AKA Lenzie Moss – Vocal / Gtr / Principal songwriter

Paul George Mellon – Lead guitar (ex Fuck Off Machete)

Gareth Perrie – Keyboards (ex Randolph’s Leap)

Andy Truscott – Drums (Ex – The Seventeenth Century)

Nicholas John Grant – Bass (Ex – The Seventeenth Century)

lenzie moss
Who?

First formed in 2010 in Glasgow, we played our first gig in The Captain’s Rest. We did a few digital singles and the first album, ‘Introducing Lenzie Moss’ was released in August 2012. Along the way we picked up a small but highly enthusiastic following. Among our supporters was Stuart Murdoch who asked us to be the only act playing at his ‘Celestial Cafe’ book launch. He has since included us in his top 7 favourite songs in ‘Uncut’ magazine. He liked our song ‘Kelvin British Summertime’

Where?

We were formed in Glasgow and come from Twechar, Motherwell, Dunblane, Wormit and Wishaw (in order of above members). We’re all based in Glasgow now and that informs a lot of our songs.

What?

Melancholic Power Pop! A lot of the songs are about Scotland, but it’s closer to ‘Gregory’s Girl’ than it is to ‘Trainspotting’. Having said that, our upcoming second album, due in September ventures as far afield as Llangadog in South Wales and Margate on the south coast. Our next single, ‘Let’s Take the Day Off’ references ‘The Flipside of Dominick Hyde’ – a forgotten futuristic ‘Play For Today’ from 1980. It was brilliant and always stuck in my memory. The single is out on 31st of March.

Why?

Basically – I can’t talk for the rest of the guys – but I’m in it for attention. Is that not why everybody does it, ultimately? I also have musical ambitions, though. I really want to make an orchestral masterpiece album, also a purely electronic album and an acoustic minimal album. Always at the heart of this would be Lenzie Moss songs. So money would have to be a motivation to some extent in order to realise some of these ambitions. Maybe I could get a grant from Creative Scotland! I think it is fairly straight forward – you just write a long, impenetrable narrative to convince them that you are somehow clever and insert approved buzzwords throughout.

‘Let’s Take the Day Off’ is indeed out on March 31st. Debut album ‘Introducing…’ is still available. More at www.facebook.com/lenziemoss‎