Ahead of the debut album, and following the release of the Haunting Through E.P. we get under the covers with Neil Insh of The Douglas Firs.

If I were to play just one of your songs to someone who hasn’t heard your music, which would it be and why?

I would love to play the new material, but that’s not going to be ready for a while… of the material that is available, I would play “soporific”. Granted, I would say it is not the most popular song (of the handful I have made available) but for me it encompasses the central theme of the album, and it was recorded was over a great period in my life. The first section was recorded, literally, under covers, appropriate because it is a song about sleep/ennui/lethargy. But it was also so my flatmates wouldn’t hear me sing.
The second section was recorded in three separate churches who let me use their space for free. One of these had a horrible, oppressive atmosphere, and I hope it comes across on the recording.
You are being sent to the moon. You’re allowed to take 1 album. What is it?

“Murmur” by REM is probably my favourite album. However, I’m absolutely terrified of the idea of space, so I’d probably deliberately upset myself by taking the 2001 space odyssey soundtrack.
On the subject of being sent to the moon, what 3 things would definitely be in your suitcase?

1. A rucksack
2. A mouse
3. A bowling ball
What film would you be a character in?

Eraserhead.
Tell us an interesting fact.

I once found “jump” by Kriss Kross in a box in my loft. I took it down to my brother to play it to him, as a bit of a memory trip, over 10 years on. At the same second the song started on the stereo, the video came on the television on MTV. Eerie.
Tell us about a band or singer we might not have heard about who should be featured on Suitcase Orchestra.

I’d recommend Green Gerry, a songwriter who records using the internal mic on his laptop, really ethereal and hypnotic.

Recommend a book.

Henry Miller changed my life, and ‘tropic of cancer’ is a good starting point.

Which literary character would play you in the book of your life?

Humbert Humbert.
What’s the worst record in your collection?

I went through a pretty terrible Kiss phase. I bought loads of their stuff on vinyl, then regretted it.
What question should I always ask in a Q & A? And answer it please.

“At sea, what kind of ship would thou sail?”

Everyone wants to be a galleon. But I’m going to go for a sloop – I’d beat you with speed.

Haunting Through, the debut E.P. from The Douglas Firs is available now. Click here for more information.

The Douglas Firs is an unlikely contender for the most contested name in pop but MySpace alone  boasts four Douglas Firs – one in Bournemouth, England, one in Boston, America, one in Gent, Belgium and this one, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

I’m unable to offer an opinion about the other three, but the Scottish holders of the name are well worth investigating.

Essentially, The Douglas Firs is the solo project of Neil Insh, who describes his music as the result of ‘years of painful obsessing’. Those years have now resulted in enough material to form into the Haunting Through e.p. and it isn’t difficult to identify with Insh’s sentiments. It’s clear from the off that the attention to detail here has been exacting to say the least. This record has clearly been pieced together precisely and delicately, following the detailed blue-print in the mind of its creator.

Opening track The Quickening rattles along to a rhythm which is in stark contrast to Future State which follows it, a hypnotic instrumental piece which sounds like the ghost of a Beach Boys tune.  Elsewhere, Insh pitches shoe-gaze up against minimalist and experimental pop and woven through it all are fragments of catchy pop songs. It’s a blend which is innovative and arresting.

Right across the e.p. Insh develops his ability to mesh together different styles and feels, creating a richly diverse and textured tapestry of sound. Haunting Through lays down a marker which bodes very well for the album which is due to follow in the autumn. On this evidence, the other Douglas Firs have got their work cut out if they wish to make the name their own.

Further information about the Haunting Through e.p. can be found here.