Photograph: Ray Kelly
Scotland is well known for founding some of the greatest musicians of our generation from Biffy Clyro, Lewis Capaldi, Simple Minds and lets not forget Oasis were first scouted playing King Tut’s in Glasgow, and recently we’ve seen a rise in up-and-coming talent across the country, and one band who are already making waves across the UK are four-piece girl band The Marches, who we recently caught up before their sold-out headline gig at SLAY.
Ok, first question, and something you probably get ALL the time, but where did the name The Marches come from?
Nick: We landed on The Marches as we wanted something that would celebrate the fact that we’re all women, so it came from Little Women – the March sisters.
Musical taste-wise – did the band form from similar interests, or do you all go way back?
Nicola and I grew up playing music for years since we were really small, and then around lockdown time, we all started following each other. Jane followed me on Instagram – then Kate completed the Marches a year and a half ago, and she did a demo to Talkin’ Too Much – and that’s when we completed the band!
I love that, and in terms of taste-wise, do we all vibe with the same artists?
Nic: I’d say we’re all quite different – I have the worst taste – Jane would say me, but I love cheesy music – they all like Taylor Swift
Jane: Hey, I’ll say I’m not a massive Taylor Swift fan, but I think we’ve got a few similarities, such as Fleetwood Mac and The Cranberries – they have been a huge inspiration to us as a band.
I’ll admit Scotland certainly has the best music scene, and you’re surrounded by so many influences in Ayrshire and Glasgow – are there any bands you’ve recently come across that have caught your eye, or you’ve vibed with?
Jane: Gneuonel;y so many we’ve played with recently or been introduced to, we’re just blown away by their talent. One of the bigger ones we did Pavilion Festival with earlier this year, they’re called Oscura, and they’re not a genre we would usually listen to, but we absolutely fell in love with them – so so talented and we’ve not stopped listening to them.
Kay: Another one is Barranquismo – we’ve been really lucky with the slots we’ve had and the bands we’ve been able to share lineups with, and it’s certainly helped us. It’s a great scene to be a part of.
Tell me a little bit about the headline show – sold out, which is well deserved. How did tonight come about? Was it to launch new music or more of a ‘let’s round off a good year’
Katie: It’s been something we’ve been working on for a while
Jane: We wanted to do a release that was based around the sound we’ve done so far – so we’re naming that Chapter 1, and then we want to showcase the new sound and what’s upcoming, and call that Chapter 2 – we’ve launched a double A-side release, so we want to show off The Marches both past and future. We had the songs recorded in June, so it’s been a plan in the making for a while.
Recording the tracks, was this something completed on home turf, or did you get a Marches retreat outside of Glasgow?
We recorded them in a studio in Glasgow with producer Luc Grindle – we are hoping for our next release, we should go on a kind of retreat – get abroad for a little trip.
What’s the thought process when it comes to crafting The Marches sound – or does it come naturally?
Jane: Honestly, it comes naturally – me and Katie have always had the same process of when it comes to us – it comes to us, but recently the process has changed, especially with Don’t Fool Me Twice it’s been more collaborative -we’ve sat in a room and come up with arrangements together and going forward I think that’s the plan for 2026 – to go away and do a lot more collaborative writing – which is honestly my favourite way to do it.
Absolutely, and as you mentioned, there Don’t Fool Me Twice, that song gets the vibes up so much – it’s a little different to the original Marches sound, but I love the transition – what response did you get from the fans on this?
Nick: It’s been overwhelmingly positive – we played it for the first time in March at our headline show, and it was such a good reaction – we knew it was something different, but we knew it was the direction we wanted to go, so we’re so glad people love it, cause we do too!
You touched on it earlier – Pavilion Festival – which is such a brilliant event – homegrown talent owned and showcasing talent from around the world. Are there any other festivals out there or bands that were on the lineup that you’ve got your eye on for 2026?
Kay: In the summer earlier this year, we played Pres Fest, which is in Prestwick, and we had the chance to play both stages, which was so much fun, and we would love to go back and do that again – the crowd were fab, and everyone gets so into the festival, so we felt right at home.
Nick: Belladrum as well is a big one we would love to go abc to, we played in August, but it was so so fun, would
Well, new releases and festivals, it’s been a heck of a year for The Marches, and it wouldn’t be a round-up chat without mentioning the love BBC Introducing gave you and your releases. Does it ever feel normal hearing your music on the radio?
Kay: It’s so surreal
Nick: We all had a wee cry when we first got it
Katie: You just don’t get used to it like every time we’ve had the opportunity – it just always feels like a shock we’re so lucky.
BBC Introducing is a brilliant platform to get your music out to your county and afar, but have you had any fans further outside of Scotland which surprised you?
Kay: Going through our Spotify stats, one of our top places is Brazil – like.. How are we getting listened to out there, it’s the other side of the world
Hey, Scotland are playing Brazil in the World Cup next year – time for a VS fanbase!
Mick: With Spotify, it gave us our year-on-year growth and the difference from this time last year to now was incredible. We just hope we can keep growing with the new tracks next year.
2026 is set to be big. Anything else you can tease?
Jane: We’re hoping to do a mini Scottish tour and play some shows down south. We’ve never done that before, so hopefully we’ll be hitting some bigger cities.
One thing I always ask whoever I speak to is, who is somebody that is on your radar that you’re listening to or you’d like to give a shout out to, and we should start listening to them?
Jane: Gotta be Barranquismo – they released their EP the same day as us, and it’s such a good atmosphere, and we absolutely loved their show
Nick: As well as mentioning Girl Upstairs, she played at our last show, and she’s been so nice – her music is great.
The Marches will be playing in Aberdeen at March 6th
Interview by Lauren Page
