The phrase “needs no introduction” is an over-used one, but for anyone remotely interested in alternative Scottish music, Jill O’Sullivan will be a well-kent face.

But her name is one which bears further investigation, given her previous ‘aliases’ and projects – Sparrow and the Workshop, one half (with Jenny Reeve) of Bdy_Prts, and an integral part of The Grand Gestures, Broken Chanter, The Fruit Tree Foundation, Bastard Mountain… the list goes on.

And now, O’Sullivan has adopted a new alias. We let Jill Lorean tell us more…

Who?

Me (Jill O’Sullivan) and Andy Monaghan on bass (he also recorded, mixed and produced “Not Your First) and Peter Kelly on drums.

Where?

Pretty much in Glasgow but arguably also on a starship in outer space or threading around the stamen of a wildflower.

When?

The idea had been mulling around my head for a while but I was kind of too scared and busy to really pursue it further. However, my friend Pete (who plays drums on ‘Not Your First’) had heard some stuff I’d been writing and encouraged me to go record some demos with Andy. Andy, thankfully, was up for this idea. So this was about 2 years ago. So once there were 9 or 10 songs (it took a while because we had to work around, well, work) it then seemed like a good idea to try them live with Pete and let him do his thing too.

“So then simultaneously my pal Alex (Neilson) was doing some Alex Rex gigs and asked if I wanted to support. I suggested doing it as a full band to Andy and Pete and they agreed and we worked on a 6-song set. All the songs worked really well together and had a pretty great live energy so then we recorded them all live in a room in one day, while they were still fresh in everyone’s head, and vocals and some overdubs were done the next day.

“I was in love with the whole thing, it felt like a living, breathing organism as well as a sort of snapshot of a moment in time and so that’s how it became an EP. Andy mixed the tracks and then our pal Gal (Paul Gallagher) mastered them. And then finally we put it out on May 4th. The reason we waited so long is because the plan was to do some live gigs and May was the point at which everyone was available. Little did we know a pandemic would hit, haha (nervous laughter).

What?

I struggle with this question but I feel like Jill Lorean is an attempt to have a meaningful connection to the emotional and physical world around me and an opportunity to be loud and wild. And to natter on about the moon endlessly.

Why?

Hmmmm…I think I do it because it feels good and also because it’s a bit of a compulsion. I guess I’m a bit like a cat chasing a string. I just can’t help myself.

‘Not Your First’ is out now. More at www.facebook.com/JillLorean, or follow Jill on Twitter: @jill_lorean or Instagram: jilllorean.