And one - by yourself - which holds special significance
We have a song called Brothers and Sisters on our new record, coming out in August, which I think sums up what we try to do as a band.
It's like a call to arms for us, and hopefully other people will enjoy it as much as we do
If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
I'd probably step into the shoes of Jimi Hendrix and just solo all day long. He had such a way of playing the guitar that was just so effortless.
Most guitar players could do with taking a leaf out of his book.
Plus, with a name like Jimi, I'd still fit in nicely at home in Scotland
Are there any current musical influences you might look to
I think that creative people are constantly inspired by what goes on around them, be it music, film, art, relationships, politics or other people.
It's incredibly broad and unspecific, bit I think that literally any experience at all has a way of coming out in the music that is written
If you were in the audience watching your dream line-up at a festival, who would be on the bill?
How long have we got...I'd say Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, The Beatles, Queen, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, The Eagles and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few
And any genre of music that you simply can't stand
I've never been the biggest fan of dance music, I sometimes feel the music is a bit too repetitive for me.
I think I'm too impatient for it - I would need a huge drop every 20 seconds or so...
ON TRACK: TWIN ATLANTIC TALK TO US AHEAD OF THS WEEKEND'S KINGS OF LEON SHOW...
Twin Atlantic will be stepping out at The National Bowl this Sunday (June 22), playing as support to Kings of Leon.
The Scottish titans are currently toasting the success of their single Heart and Soul and readying themselves for the August release of their next album, Great Divide, which boasts '12 stadium sized albums'.
The album was produced by Jacknife Lee and Gil Norton and most of the recording took place at Rockfield Studios in Wales - the band even used the same piano used to record Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
On the eve of the big show, guitarist Barry McKenna tackled our On Track questions...
The song that first awakened your musical senses
...to the point of wanting to be in a band was Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley.
Up until I heard his album, I mostly played classical music in orchestras, but this record made me want to play guitar and write songs
Physical or digital - how do you take your music?
I have a vast vinyl collection at home, some of which I inherited by my parents, and I love listening to whole albums back to front, as they were intended - although, that's mostly older albums from the 60s and 70s.
For modern music I buy loads of digital albums too, and have them all on an iPod.
This is my 'go to' when I am on tour
The first time you thought 'Music - this is the job for me'
It just slowly turned into a job to be honest, although I use the word 'job' very loosely.
Music has always been a past-time for me throughout my life and it wasn't until after I joined this band that it kept on taking up more and more of my time, until it was my main focus.
We all appreciate how lucky we are to be able to play music with our best friends, tour the world, and make some sort of living out of it. I still have to pinch myself from time to time
Your best on-stage memory
I have loads, though we played a venue called The Barrowlands in Glasgow on our last headline tour, we did two nights back to back, and both sold out.
The crowds were absolutely bonkers. It's a venue we grew up watching our own favourite bands play in, so to have the tables turned was surreal. It's always amazing to be accepted by your hometown too, especially when we had so many family and friends in the audience to share it with us
And the worst gig you've ever done
We literally played to three men and a dog once, in a tiny pub in Inverness. It was a very humbling experience to say the least.
Plus, I'm pretty sure none of the attendees actually knew there was a gig taking place, so we were very grateful for the pub's regulars and the fact that they were kind enough to stick about and humour us.
Think the dog enjoyed it more than the guys did.
What made you take up the guitar
I started playing the cello at a very early age through school music lessons.
My tutor called Mrs Miller had such an infectious passion for music that it has stuck by me until today.
I eventually picked up a guitar much later on, inspired by bands like Oasis, Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
Which one song by another artist do you wish you had written?
I wish I had written Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. It's such an all encompassing song, that's really one of a kind.
It goes from a ballad to a huge stadium rock song with so many other styles thrown in for good measure.
It only takes listening to this one song to realise big Freddie was a musical genius
And one - by yourself - which holds special significance
We have a song called Brothers and Sisters on our new record, coming out in August, which I think sums up what we try to do as a band.
It's like a call to arms for us, and hopefully other people will enjoy it as much as we do
If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
I'd probably step into the shoes of Jimi Hendrix and just solo all day long. He had such a way of playing the guitar that was just so effortless.
Most guitar players could do with taking a leaf out of his book.
Plus, with a name like Jimi, I'd still fit in nicely at home in Scotland
Are there any current musical influences you might look to
I think that creative people are constantly inspired by what goes on around them, be it music, film, art, relationships, politics or other people.
It's incredibly broad and unspecific, bit I think that literally any experience at all has a way of coming out in the music that is written
If you were in the audience watching your dream line-up at a festival, who would be on the bill?
How long have we got...I'd say Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, The Beatles, Queen, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, The Eagles and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few
And any genre of music that you simply can't stand
I've never been the biggest fan of dance music, I sometimes feel the music is a bit too repetitive for me.
I think I'm too impatient for it - I would need a huge drop every 20 seconds or so...
And one - by yourself - which holds special significance
We have a song called Brothers and Sisters on our new record, coming out in August, which I think sums up what we try to do as a band.
It's like a call to arms for us, and hopefully other people will enjoy it as much as we do
If you could step into the shoes of another musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
I'd probably step into the shoes of Jimi Hendrix and just solo all day long. He had such a way of playing the guitar that was just so effortless.
Most guitar players could do with taking a leaf out of his book.
Plus, with a name like Jimi, I'd still fit in nicely at home in Scotland
Are there any current musical influences you might look to
I think that creative people are constantly inspired by what goes on around them, be it music, film, art, relationships, politics or other people.
It's incredibly broad and unspecific, bit I think that literally any experience at all has a way of coming out in the music that is written
If you were in the audience watching your dream line-up at a festival, who would be on the bill?
How long have we got...I'd say Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, The Beatles, Queen, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, The Eagles and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few
And any genre of music that you simply can't stand
I've never been the biggest fan of dance music, I sometimes feel the music is a bit too repetitive for me.
I think I'm too impatient for it - I would need a huge drop every 20 seconds or so...
