Getting to Know… Ugly Clinic | Interview 🎤

For the 71^st interview in the Getting to Know… series, The Musical Hype taps multi-generational Scottish rock band, Ugly Clinic.

“We are a multi-generational band, which means we draw influences from a huge range of sources. All those different inputs get messed around with in our very different brains and then something unique pops out when we play together.” Awesome response to the first question of the 71^st interview on The Musical Hype.  Who is that multi-generational band? Why, that would be Ugly Clinic, comprised of Chloe (lead vocals), Rich (lead guitar), Pete (guitar/vocals), Davie (bass/vocals), and Jed (drums).  Ugly Clinic provide an insightful interview providing background on the band, musical philosophy as evidenced by the aforementioned quote, and goals among other things.  Without further ado, here is Getting to Know… Ugly Clinic: Interview #71.

Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with Ugly Clinic, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Ugly Clinic: I don’t know if it’s unusual anymore in this day and age, but we are a multi-generational band, which means we draw influences from a huge range of sources. All those different inputs get messed around with in our very different brains and then something unique pops out when we play together.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Ugly Clinic form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

Ugly Clinic: Pete (rhythm guitar) and Davie (bass) worked together previously in a punk revival tribute band. But both of them are songwriters and had plenty of original material of their own. And they thought that the material they were writing was as good as anything they were hearing around them, so they started looking around for like-minded souls for the band. It took a while to find Jed (drummer), Richard (lead guitar) and Chloe (vocals), but since we started working together, progress has been pretty swift.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?  

Ugly Clinic: Initially, the goal was just to find the right people to get a band together. We come from Aberdeenshire in the north of Scotland, which is a pretty remote area. There’s a limited number of people with the necessary talent, energy and ambition available – and a lot of them are already in other bands. It’s not like London, where there are thousands of other musicians around you can potentially work with. But now that we have a stable line-up and have played a few gigs, our ambitions have grown. Like all bands, we’d like to sign a record deal and get to play all around the world. Why not? As Dr Frank.N. Furter once said, “Don’t dream it, be it!”

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?  

Ugly Clinic: Well first and foremost we are a rock and roll band. That might sound unadventurous – maybe even a little old-fashioned – these days. But we don’t agree, we think there’s plenty of mileage left in the classic guitar/bass/drums format, if you do it well and offer a fresh take on it. We don’t consider ourselves as revivalists, because we don’t copy anybody, or any specific era or genre. But as a group of individuals, our personal tastes tend towards the punk/metal/classic rock/goth side of music. That’s where our influences mostly come from. With some weird left-field stuff thrown in sometimes for good measure!

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Ugly Clinic: We’ve only just started out, so we don’t have too many tour stories yet, especially since we just had to cancel a pile of gigs because of the Coronavirus. However, at the last gig we played up in Inverness, one guy turned up in a Chewbacca outfit. At first, we thought that the rest of a stag do were going to turn up, but no, it was just him. Maybe he goes out like that every night. But that’s Inverness for you, that sort of thing happens a lot up in the Highlands!

Chewbacca outfit, huh? Wow! Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?  

Ugly Clinic: Our favorite song at any given time changes depending on what new material we are working on. The newest song is always the favorite, at least for a while. Of all the songs we’ve recorded so far, “Something About Nothing” is a favorite because it’s just so different from the rest of the album. But playing live, “Pink Speed and Tequila” and “Just So You Know” always go down well – they have catchy, sing-along choruses that the crowd can join in with. Check them out on Spotify and see if you agree!

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?  

Ugly Clinic: Pete once worked as a roadie for Barry Manilow. It’s true!

Closing this thing out, what is you/your band currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.  

Ugly Clinic: Next up for us is to start work on album number two. Album number one hasn’t even be released yet, but we are constantly writing new material and besides – the devil makes work for idle hands. And after we’re all allowed back outside to play again, gigs, gigs and more gigs. 

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

Photo Credit: Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype, Ugly Critic