Interview with Shambolics: ‘We wanted to write a real “fuck you”, big energy song and that’s what we’ve got with ‘If You Want It’

Glasgow-based indie rock band Shambolics have released their catchiest single yet today (10 December), ‘If You Want It’, showing us that they continue to deliver guitar-driven, rabble-rousing anthems.

The band comprises Darren Forbes (vocals/guitar), Lewis McDonald (vocals/guitar), Scotty Paws (keys), Jordan McHatton (vocals/bass) and Jake Bain (vocals/drums). ‘Lewis and Jordy were friends from school, I met them getting up to no good after school,’ Forbes joked. Their name comes from their lack of organisational skills, according to Forbes: ‘We’re usually a nightmare at organising stuff, even practice, or on the road. We call it “the curse of the Shambolics”!’

‘If You Want It’ has a massively infectious, singalong chorus: ‘We wanted to write a real “fuck you”, big energy song and that’s what we’ve got with ‘If You Want It’,’ Forbes said. ‘It’s got a real football chant vibe and it went down a storm when we played it for the first time on our Scottish tour earlier this month. Everyone picked up the words right away, folk were crowd surfing, all sorts. We couldn’t believe it really, as no-one had heard it before. So hopefully with it being released now it’ll make a big highlight at SWG3.’ (Glasgow’s 1,000 capacity venue that they’re playing on 28 January next year.).

The song’s about “ripping into a guy who thinks he’s the man after a few drinks”, said Forbes: ‘He’s all about the cool trainers and clothes but he’s skint, so he’s all talk.’ Did he have anyone in particular in mind? ‘Aye, it’s me,’ he laughed. ‘There’s a line in it “Adidas on your feet but you’ve barely got a tenner” – that’s me wanting to buy new trainers but I’ve barely got a tenner (laughs).’

‘It’s so simple to do, the woo woos and it’s so catchy, it’s our wee formula’

Forbes and McDonald write most of their lyrics, trading lead vocals on tracks, with Forbes stepping up on ‘If You Want It’. McDonald has lead vocal duties on ‘Sharp as a Razor’, which they released in September, and which also features a huge, catchy chorus and the “woo woos” that make ‘If You Want It’ so distinctive: ‘It’s so simple to do, the woo woos and it’s so catchy, it’s our wee formula,’ Forbes said. ‘With ‘Razor’, we wanted an energetic live song. The thing with ‘Razor’ is that the chorus is taken from a Muhammad Ali quote, did you know that? We’re all big fans. Our chorus goes “Ooooh, sharp as a razor, shock and amaze ya”, what he said was “Sharp as a razor, I’m gonna destroy Joe Frazier”.

He is buzzing at the thought of playing Glasgow’s SWG3 venue next month, which will mark their biggest gig to date. They’ve also got some new, undisclosed singles that they will likely debut at SWG3: ‘Everything we do revolves around the live performance and how a song we’re writing or recording will go down with the crowd,’ he said. ‘We love being creative and experimenting in the studio, but that’s only half the story for us. If a song gets people going mad at a gig then we’ve got a winner. Our shows are a collective experience and the plan was always to write songs that are meant to be played in big venues. We’re like the cheerleaders but the crowd brings the energy we need to perform at our best. The bigger the crowd, the more energy there is for us to feed off. St Luke’s was off the scale so a thousand people at SWG3 is going to be absolutely mental. We’re so excited for it.’

Another single, ‘Dreams, Schemes & Young Teams’, which came out in June, is a reference to growing up in Glasgow: ‘We say “young team” here for a teenager being working class and dreaming big and just going for it, so the song’s about that,’ Forbes said. ‘Lewis is on vocals but we co-wrote it. It’s my favourite to play live, ‘cos of the energy and what it’s about. All of your songs are your babies, though.’ He’s a big fan of local indie rock band, Pandas: ‘They’re really good. I run a studio here, that’s a band we’ve recorded and they’ve supported us on tour.’

Forbes’ favourite piece of musical kit is his custom-made Buck Forbes guitar that was made out of spare parts: ‘It sounds sooooo good,’ he enthused. ‘You wouldn’t expect it to for a hundred quid. It’s a brown colour like a Buckfast wine bottle.’

During the pandemic they showcased a series of classic cover versions including Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Everywhere’, The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’, ABBA’s ‘Mamma Mia’ and The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, finding a raft of new fans with their uplifting re-workings. After restrictions were lifted in early 2021, the band relocated themselves and their studio to Glasgow where they found a kindred spirit in producer Chris Marshall. The result was more honest, gritty songwriting whilst keeping the melodies and upbeat vibe they were becoming well-known for. 

‘Seeing that was a dream come true, just seeing a Beatle perform his songs’

It turns out that he’s a massive Beatles fan, citing Paul McCartney’s gig in Glasgow in 2018 as the best live show he’s ever seen: ‘Seeing that was a dream come true, just seeing a Beatle perform his songs. He played a lot of Beatles songs, some of his and songs from Wings. He told different stories about George Harrison and John Lennon and dedicated songs to them.’ He waxes lyrical about the new Beatles documentary, Get Back: ‘It’s amazing, the dynamics between them are even better than I expected,’ he said. ‘They had 70 hours of footage they went through to make it, they only used an hour when they made their Let It Be film (in 1970), a lot of it had never been seen before.’ Forbes also cites Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Smiths, The La’s, The Eagles and Arctic Monkeys as big influences: ‘And Tupac (Shakur), we like a bit of hip hop. And ABBA, you can’t knock it!’

If he could pen a song with anyone, he is quick to say Paul McCartney: ‘That’s an easy one, he’s the man, what a songwriter. Not Ringo (laughs), although his songs are quite funny!’

(Photo from left to right: Scotty, Darren, Jake, Lewis and Jordy.)