User:Scotjaykay1973

If All Else Fails
If All Else Fails
Background information
Origin	Montrose, Scotland
Genres	heavy metal
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Unsigned
Members	Stuart Thomson, Scott Grant, Jamie Kinghorn, Lewis Paton
Website	www.iaef.co.uk

If All Else Fails are a four-piece heavy metal band formed in Montrose, Scotland in December 2010. The band consists of Stuart Thomson (Vocals), Scott Grant (Guitar), Jamie Kinghorn (Drums) and Lewis Paton (Bass). If All Else Fails have released one studio album, one EP and one single to date.

History

Origin

The seeds of what was to become If All Else Fails were sown during a chance meeting between guitarist Stewart Laing and drummer Jamie Kinghorn during the early hours of the 30th of May 2010 at Montrose Music Festival. Discovering a common love of heavy metal, Laing attempted to convince Kinghorn to see his then band Retract the Accolade the following day. The band also featured guitarist Scott Grant and bassist Lewis Paton. Although Kinghorn did not turn up, the pair became friends, eventually jamming together with local musicians including singer Stuart Thomson, otherwise known as Stooshy.

When Retract The Accolade split in May 2011, Laing suggested to Grant and Paton that they form a new band with Kinghorn. The four first jammed in October 2011 and quickly wrote the music for what would become the band’s first song, Small. When the band began the search for a singer, Kinghorn suggested Stooshy, who, having initially set out as an acoustic guitarist and singer, was looking to join a band. Sending Stooshy a rough recording of their first track, he wrote lyrics in tribute to his former head teacher who had died of cancer recently. Recording a demo of the song together in Kinghorn’s basement studio on the 27th of December, the band formally recruited Stooshy as their singer.

Gigging and Recording

The band quickly wrote a number of original songs as well as playing a number of covers by some of their main influences such as Metallica, Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro. Their first gig was on the 31st of March 2012, supporting fellow Montrose rock band Medicine Well, featuring Stooshy’s father Graeme on drums. The gig was busy, as having seen both Retract The Accolade and Stooshy live, and Kinghorn being an unknown quantity, there was a lot of interest in the band. It was a huge success, with Medicine Well singer Tricia Jamieson memorably shouting at Kinghorn, “You bastards, how the hell do we follow that?”

The band’s first release was a recording of the song Small, which was recorded for “Doss: Music From Montrose”, a compilation album featuring a number of Montrose musicians, co-produced by Stooshy and released in 2012.

We Dream of Nothing

The remainder of 2010 and early 2011 saw the band continuing to write songs and play gigs around Scotland. During the second half of 2011 they recorded four tracks, which were released as debut EP “We Dream Of Nothing” in February 2012. The EP was engineered and produced by Stooshy. The band had over a dozen songs written by that point, and decided to showcase the range of styles that they had adopted, choosing metal tune “One More Day, groove rocker “Falter”, solid rock “An Idea Of Me” and slow and moody “Hate It All Away”. The EP received critical acclaim and the band continued to receive plaudits for their live performances.

Introspective and Split

The band continued to write and gig around Scotland and during 2013 started recording their first album. Again produced by Stooshy, the drums were recorded in the local YM community hall, with guitars, bass and vocals being recorded mainly in the band members’ houses.

In August 2013, founder Laing announced his intention to leave to band. Although the split was amicable, it put the band in turmoil. Relying heavily on the harmonies of two guitars, the band decided to look for a replacement for Laing. Meanwhile, Grant took over all guitar duties on the album recording. As an accomplished guitarist, Stooshy volunteered to stand in as second guitarist for live performances until a replacement was found. However, the arrangement was found to suit the band and Stooshy was confirmed as second guitarist as well as singer.

Introspective was released on the 2nd of June 2014, rising to number 9 on the UK iTunes metal charts on the day of release. The album contained 10 tracks and was a noticeable step change in both songwriting and production.

Illness and Hiatus

On September 10th 2014, the band announced on their Facebook page that “due to a personal emergency we have sadly had to back out of our appearance on Live At Captain Toms, and our gig at Shadow Central on Saturday 13th September.” Having suffering from Crohn’s Disease for a number of years, Paton was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. The band quickly cancelled all remaining gigs and publicly announced their support for Paton and their decision to give all profits from their merchandise sales to UK charity chrohnsandcolitis.org.uk. The band are currently writing new material and planning for their live comeback once Paton is fit to rejoin the band.

Members

Current Members

• Stuart Thomson (Stooshy) – Lead Vocals, guitar (2010–Present)

• Scott Grant - Guitar (2010 – Present)

• Jamie Kinghorn – Drums (2010–Present)

• Lewis Paton - Bass Guitar (2010 – Present)

Previous Members

• Stewart Laing – Guitar (2010 – 2013)

Discography

Albums

• Introspective (2014)

EPs

• We Dream Of Nothing (2013)

Singles

• No Coming Back (2014)