Since 1990, the small but mighty venue King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut has become a beacon for emerging talent and musical discovery. With breakthrough performances by The Killers and Franz Ferdinand, as well as the iconic discovery of Oasis, the Glasgow venue has served as an early platform for artists who would later shape the international music scene. On January 9th, power-pop, indie rock band, Fatale once again graced this renowned stage for their sold-out headline show, marking the biggest performance of their career to date!
Okay, so you guys probably get this all the time, but the name ‘Fatale’ where did that come from?
James: So, around a year ago, we were just trying to find a good cover that really clicked. We tried a bunch of covers, but none were really working; none that we could put our own spin on as a band. Femme Fatale was the first cover that we all collectively agreed was pretty good. Then one day, I was just coming out the shower and I was like, “Let’s just cut ‘femme’ out”. Fatale sounded like a pretty cool band name. I approached the guys and nobody shut it down, so it was the first name that we all genuinely liked.
Oscar: It definitely stood out against The Garden Party, which was a previous band name.
Ben: And also Grand Prix which we don’t talk about.
Euan: I think when we started out, we were pretty terrible and there weren’t many songs we could actually play as a band. So taking the name from the first cover that we all liked (and could actually play as a band) showed that we were finally coming together as a band.
So how are we feeling ahead of tonight’s show? Do you guys have any nerves or is it just pure excitement?
Oscar: I’m feeling alright – just pure nerves of steel.
James: Ask me again in like two minutes, but I’m feeling all good at the moment.
Ben: I don’t really get nervous before performances, I think we’re all excited to get out there!
I have to ask – I’m obsessed with the SoundCloud demos. Are we going to get to hear any new songs tonight?
Ben: Yeah, we’ve got a lot of new material tonight!
Oscar & Chris: Wired is our newest one – which was written by Johnny Madden from Baby Strange.
Ben & Euan: If you came to our gig at the Glasgow Art School on December 20th , when we supported The Rooks, you might have heard it already. But yeah, we’re working on loads of new stuff, and you’ll get to hear some of that tonight!
You’ve got a couple shows with fellow Glasgow band The Cords next month – what a way to kick off the year! Will we see the beginning of a music evolution at these shows as you look ahead to 2026?
Chris: The Cords are a band we really love. We’ve been listening to them for quite a while, and their new record that came out in November is really good. We’re going to be using a lot of new material at these shows just to test it out and hopefully their fans are quite receptive to it – and to us!
Euan: We’ve kind of been set the goal to write forty songs by March, so it’ll definitely be a bit of trial and error. It could even end up being a case of playing a new song every night!
Ben: I think we might lean more into a pop style and take inspiration from The Cords – maybe even try some covers for fun.
Forty songs sounds quite ambitious, I have to say – do you think you’ll manage it?
Oscar: I’m honestly not sure… are we going to manage it?
Chris: I mean, am I going to manage it, guys? [laughs]
Ben: I mean I wrote like… two.
James: Total teamwork. [laughs]
Finally, You’ve played King Tut’s before – a real staple of Glasgow’s live music scene. Do you have any specific ties to the venue?
Chris: It’s the type of venue you just don’t say no to. It’s got that reputation, which obviously stems from that iconic Oasis night. And speaking of that night, my Dad’s band actually headlined that night – so it’s a place that’s got a place in my heart anyway.
Oscar: We’ve been asked twice now. The first time, we weren’t exactly happy with our performance, so we’ve came back with quite a vengeance, I’d say.
Fatale will be accompanying The Cords in Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness in February
Interview by Rachel Bissett
