Ganger are a four-piece based in Glasgow who make wonderfully innovative music. They've been grouped into the post-rock scene but have always had their own individual approach, using bass, percussion and electronics to make ambitious sounds that are very hard to describe. See them live for their full potential which impressed the Aberdeen audience almost into silence.

I asked Natasha some questions in my first e-mail interview!

How do you feel the band has progressed since 'Fore'?
natasha: I would like to think so, but it would be very undiplomatic for me to say anything about it. (yes). The new line up is still very young, being about only one year and we are still progressing all the time. I think that the sound of the songs as they are now are much better and progressed a lot even since we recorded the album. We play the songs best live.

What are your favourite bands and which up-and-coming bands would you recommend?
natasha: At the moment, Orbital, Sonic Youth, Seam and the new Pole album is fantastic. Recommend the Stars of the Lid as well.
Up and coming: James Orr Complex, Rothko, el hombre

What were the last records you bought?
natasha: Peel session, by Black Dog, Godspeed You Black Emperor!

Are you all from Glasgow?
natasha: We all live in Glasgow, but none of us are from here, maybe apart from Craig who was born in the south side. I was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

How supportive are other Glasgow bands?
natasha: Very. There isn't any vicious competition, we all know each other and tour together. Things are hard enough without musicians fighting each other. One of the great things about being up here is the infrastructure that is so supportive of musicians.

What current bands do you feel an affinity with. Do you feel part of this post-rock, Mogwai, Labradford, Tortoise thing?
natasha: Not really, I understand where the comparisons lie, but I feel that there still is a big difference in the music that we all do.

What pre-conceptions do you have about Aberdeen?
natasha: Everyone always goes on and on about the granite, I guess you must hear that one quite a lot. I thought it would be a lot smaller than it is, but that was just me being from a Kuala Lumpurian background and having no clue about Scotland.

What's your opinion if the internet? Are you connected personally?
natasha: Leave that one to Stuart really. We all use email and I'm connected at home.

Do you find technology exciting or frightening (or both)?
natasha: Both, don't understand much of it, but I like computers though.

Do you have jobs as well as the band?
natasha: I export whisky to Japan, Hawaii and New Zealand. Official title: export co-ordinator. I wish so much that we could be in a situation that we financially support ourselves. Its been really hard so far, especially because I kept getting kicked out of the country because of visa restrictions. My lawyers fees was out of proportion to the time it was giving me in the UK.

What's been the highest point of the band's career so far?
natasha: When we crossed the alps in the summer tour. That would have been a few thousand km up at least.

What are your hopes/ambitions for the band in the next year or so?
natasha: The new album to go platinum, not really. I guess just to be able to not worry about band cost and being able to tour and play out a lot. A tour of Australia and Asia would be amazing. We are off to America in July, primarily to play at the merge 10 year festival in North Carolina.

What are your future recording plans?
natasha: New album in May at chambers.

How famous would you like to be?
natasha: Not enough to be recognised on the street, not that it would ever happen. As long as the music is out there, I'm happy.

Are there any plans for further Fukuyama releases?
natasha: Yes and no, it's really unpredictable right now. We are thinking about it. We recorded a song for an Italian compilation but that isn't out yet.

Andrew from I'm Being Good told me to ask you about the last Sausage Machine gig you played- please explain!
natasha: Arggh, ganger have a way of attracting disaster. The Sausage Machine gig was awful, although we got to play with Rothko who are great. Our sound engineers were techno cowboys who had never seen a drum kit before, let alone two drum kits.

Why should people come along and see you on tour and/or buy your records?
natasha: Because we're damn good.

So go buy Ganger's most recent album 'Hammock Style' and discover this for yourself. It's heartily recommended by me, bringing in Natasha's spoken vocals on a few tracks to lovely effect. The new line up has made Ganger a whole new band - only their fondness for bass, percussion and repetition recurrs. There's atmospherics of the Tortoise and Labradford kind but Ganger step out on their own in the way they set out rhythms and motifs then twist things around, bring in new stuff and then bring back the original themes. It's this ever-changing cyclical feel that makes this album feel so ambitious, particularly for me on tracks like 'Upye', 'Capo (South of Caspian)' and 'Blaue'.

Ganger split up in April 2000.

Interview by Marceline Smith
Photo courtesy of Ganger