With Scottish bands headlining summer music festivals around the world this year, some of Scotland’s promising young bands are being given the chance to work with professional recording studios to take their music careers to the next stage, thanks to a pilot scheme funded by the Scottish Arts Council’s Youth Music Initiative (YMI).

The YMI’s Demo fund has provided funding to five professional recording studios - Watercolour (Fort William), Hastie Retreat (Dundee), Chem19 (Hamilton), Park Lane (Glasgow) and Sub Station (Rosyth, Fife) to work with emerging local bands aged 14-25 and record a high quality professional demo which will help them to present their music professionally to the industry and take their music career to the next level.

So far nine bands have been selected to take part by local panels made up of studio representatives and music industry professionals, including Manor Park Elite from Stornoway, Gems McAdam from St Andrews, and Glasgow’s Black Rat Death Squad. A further 11 bands will be chosen in the coming months.

Black Rat Death Squad is currently working with Studio Engineer and former drummer with The Delgados Paul Savage at Chem19, the recording studio run by independent record label Chemikal Underground where Mogwai, Emma Pollock and Teenage Fanclub have recently recorded new material.

Commenting on their time in the studio so far Simon of Black Rat Death Squad said: ‘Being a young band with no money, it is virtually impossible to fund a good quality recording. The demo project allows musicians in this situation to work with a professional producer in a proper studio and to leave with recordings they are proud to put to record labels and promoters.’

Chem19 added: ‘We are very pleased to be participating in this unique and very worthwhile initiative. The Demo Fund allows young bands to work with experienced producers at an early stage in their development. The experience gained along with the resulting demo will no doubt substantially accelerate their careers.’

The pilot scheme, which will run throughout the summer until December, is just one of the projects that the YMI has recently developed as part of its commitment to developing a range of musical, social and educational development opportunities to support independent music making among young people.

Other projects currently in development include a scheme to provide free rehearsal spaces for young musicians, and support for the expansion of King Tut’s Your Sound initiative which will include a dedicated bandstand at the Hydro Connect Festival, Inverary Castle next month.

David McDonald, Youth Music Manager at the Scottish Arts Council said: ‘The YMI strongly believes in the importance of nurturing musical interest at grassroots level to ensure that budding young musicians making music in their bedrooms, youth clubs and garages across Scotland have the opportunity to fulfil their creative potential.

‘The Demo fund is just one of the ways that the YMI is providing young musicians with the practical experience they need to develop their skills and ambitions and take their music career to the next level.’

The nine bands currently taking part are:

Manor Park Elite, Stornoway (Watercolour)
Dan against the World, Forres (Watercolour)
Sorren McLean Band, Mull (Watercolour)
Chairman Wow, Aberdour (Substation)
Forget Yesterday, Dalgety Bay (Substation)
Gems McAdam, St Andrews (Substation)
Taylor Kane, Dunfermline (Substation)
Black Rat Death Squad, Glasgow (Chem19)
Fit to Fly, St Michael’s, Fife (Hastie Retreat)