Take a trio of former members of Dananananaykroyd, The Second Hand Marching Band and The Boy Cartographer, among others… and you end up with a trio sounding… nothing much like any of the above.

Trio A Mild Peril have, as they explain, plenty of non-musical projects to keep them busy, hence their rather ‘occasional’ approach to music-making. However, following a Christmas single that snuck out late last year, they’ve been in the studio again, as Rowan Smith tells us…

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Who?

Duncan Robertson plays 6-string bass and sings. Rowan Smith plays ukulele, interim drums and also sings. Ryan McGinness plays bass.

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Where?

Glasgow

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When?

Ryan and Rowan got chatting at a beer festival a couple of years ago. Row let slip that she’d got a drumkit as a 40th birthday present and Ry suggested trying some music together. The first rehearsal in a suburban garage showed promise but Rowan’s 3-year-old son wasn’t cutting it on guitar so mutual friend and fellow ex-bandmate Duncan was enlisted to help, then the music and songwriting started really coming together.

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How?

We’re all old bastards with loads of other commitments, so made a decision early on that this is a band without pressure. That means we don’t have a regular rehearsal schedule, practices and recordings are done in each other’s houses…this makes things a lot more fun and means our finances/family time don’t take too much of a hit. It’s also had a positive effect on the music as we take much more time to do anything and discuss what we’re doing rather than just playing to justify the rehearsal room costs.

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What?

Our sound has developed organically and contrary to any pre-conceived ideas about the type of music we wanted to make. Row was going to drum but ended up singing and ukeing, so we’ll need to get a drummer in if we’re ever going to play live. There’s a dual-vocal thing going on that gives the songs a bit of a Lee and Nancy vibe, the music is more like Yo La Tengo or The Lemonheads in that it’s melodic indie with a bit of a dark side to it.

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Why?

We just enjoy each other’s company and the music we’re making together. Having all been in various bands throughout the years, this is something to do for ourselves without worrying about getting anywhere with it.

Also, because we’re good 🙂

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New EP ‘Ragged Claws’ is out now – more at www.facebook.com/milderperil