Music has always been a huge part of my life, so when I moved to this new position, I was really pleased to be asked to compile a CD which was designed to highlight and support music in Dundee. We called it Sound of Dundee and it was released at the launch of Dundee’s Place Partnership in September 2015.
We have released 2 Sound of Dundee compilations to date, which have featured a really eclectic range of acts at different stages of their careers – from bands such as Model Aeroplanes and Be Charlotte who have, since the inclusion, gone on to see their profiles raise significantly, as well as established acts such as Spare Snare and Sinderins, psych rock duo Art of the Memory Palace, jazz pianist Stuart Small, rockers Vladimir, traditional singer Sheena Wellington and many many more.
As the project has developed, the design of the CDs, posters and all the supporting publications have needed a very strong design look. I collaborated with Angela Gahagan who is an inhouse designer in Leisure and Culture Dundee. We discussed what the music was, where it would be played and Angie came up with a brilliant aesthetic using the famous Tay Rail Bridge, which is about to be used again on the third CD. Each year we’ve just changed the colour, which is testament to the strength of the design. This year the CD is going to be coloured Marrs Green – a colour said to be the favourite in the world, picked by my colleague Annie Marrs!
The third CD is currently in production and we’ve honed the project so that we now concentrate on supporting new music from the city.
‘Sound of Dundee Vol 3’ will feature new, independent music from established Dundee musicians, local bands and young people participating in Dundee’s Youth Music Iniative across a range of genres and will help to showcase the wealth of musical talent currently based in and around the Dundee area.
Featured are up and coming artists such as ST MARTiiNS (who feature on the recently released ‘Over Bridges’ song for the city’s 2023 bid), folk musician Rhona Macfarlane (who has performed on the renowned Danny Kyle open stage at Celtic Connections, played live on the Janice Forsyth show on BBC Radio Scotland and has been featured on Scotland on Sunday’s New Music: Under the Radar.), alongside established composer and producer Andrew Wasylyk who currently has a successful solo career and is also a member of Idlewild and Dundee favourites The Hazey Janes.
Dundee’s thriving and diverse punk scene is well represented, with tracks from Tragical History Tour and Terrafraid and there is a strong contingent from the alternative rock scene from bands Broken Boy who feature alongside Kashmir Crows and Sahara (who recently performed at the inaugural Carnival 56 Festival last weekend).
Quirky singer/songwriter Mark Urban aka Haystack Monolith features alongside the Bob Dylan-esque warbling of Neil Morrison as well as the brilliant Emerald Iona, who brings some uptempo electronic pop to the compilation.
This year as part of Gardyne Youth music initiative 4, they have worked with ‘Anxiety in Motion’, a programme to better support and educate young people who are experiencing difficulties which impact on their abilities to attend school, resulting in withdrawal from mainstream education and marginalisation.
Through this work they encouraged young people to attend a 12-week programme at  Gardyne recording studios and introduced them to the art of music and composition, with one of the results being a track called ‘Put the Fire Out’ that closes the compilation.
Sound of Dundee Vol 3 is evidence that our city continues to develop and produce some of the best musicians in Scotland and the compilation is something I feel proud of helping to put together each year.
The sound of Dundee playlist will be produced as a limited run of 4000 CD’s which will be available for the public to pick up for free at the Flower & Food Festival at Camperdown Park on September 1-3 and will be available from shops across the city after then.
Andy Truscott is a desk officer for the Place Partnership and UNESCO projects. He runs the Sound of Dundee project.
