PRESS INFO
Biography:
Zac Scott is a Glasgow based acoustic singer-songwriter who has spent the past two years writing and recording a unique collection of songs inspired by the land – and sound – scapes of Scotland and Iceland, resulting in his debut album “For The Love Of…” – self-released on August 31st 2020. Influenced by the likes of James Blake, David Gray, Arcade Fire and Olafur Arnalds, Zac was steadily building his reputation across Scotland on the strength of his intricate writing and strikingly visual live performances with a 7-piece band.
Following the self-releases of debut single ‘Fox’, and subsequent singles ‘Million’ (BBC Radio Scotland’s first Single of the Week 2020) and ‘Frostbitten’ and a series of preview showcases across Glasgow (Old Hairdressers, The Glad Café & The CCA), he continues to raise the bar. Zac built a team of musicians with producer Thomas Brumby - Cameron Black, Stuart Macpherson, Joe Standley, Sarah McWhinney, Gudrun Soley Sigurdardottir, Kenny Cormack and Grace Dale. The team worked collaboratively to devise the album which comprises of 12 tracks that blend acoustic piano, intimate and layered vocals, double bass, cello, violin, drums and electric guitars to create a unique and evocative sound. The album contains very memorable and powerful pop songs that have been woven into intricate and ethereal landscapes.
He continues to work as a music Teaching Artist across different contexts throughout Scotland, primarily with The Academy of Music and Sound (Glasgow and Edinburgh) and as a practitioner with inclusive music and dance organisation Paragon Music. He trained at Lincoln Center Education, New York and graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he also won The Mary Stuart Prize for Public Speaking. Zac is about to begin studying at the University of the Highlands and Islands on the MA Music and the Environment programme. Other notable collaborations include sessions with the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall New York, “What Like It’s Hard?” Podcast, Starcatchers, 21 Common, Support in Mind Scotland, Music Broth and Platform.
Zac has composed sound for Junction 25's most recent performance "Deadline" as well as Caroline Bowditch's recent works for children, "Snigel and Friends" (4* The Herald, The List, Total Theatre Award Nomination) and "The Adventures of Snigel." He also composed music for Candoco Dance Company’s “Dedicated To…” (4* Independent, British Theatre Guide).
Testimonials of Zac’s Practice:
“His music is honest, heartfelt and pure. He is incredibly generous as a collaborator and it’s always a joy to work with him.”
(Caroline Bowditch, Arts Access Victoria - Director)
“He practices his inclusive creative skills with many of our participants and has continued to develop his practice with the company ever since. He quickly demonstrated his natural gifts for inspiring others, working successfully with the rest of the team and helping to create performances with Paragon. He transfers these qualities and talents into his own solo practice as a performer, honing his songwriting skills and producing works of exceptionally high quality.”
(Ninian Perry, Paragon Music – Creative Director)
Artist Statement:
I write songs as I speculate. I start close in, I close off, I improvise, I doodle, I ask questions, I test a thought and let it go. Then, I reach out to collaborators, musicians, visual artists and curious people to help realise my ideas. I like working with ethereal and unpredictable sounds within an organised and considered arrangement. I work with a versatile and varied palette of sounds - a string trio, synthesisers, acoustic guitar, piano, gentle vocals, intense vocals, drums and electric guitar. I rely on my desires for depth, attention to detail, meaningful dedications and seduction to motivate my writing to tell my story. My stories just now are about Scotland and Iceland and my experiences in those vast, wild lands and how they have offered me an eco-centric perspective on the ego-centric world.
I believe that songwriting enhances the relationship you have with yourself and others, as well as helping to developing sensitivity – a human quality which at times our mediated world disguises. I wish for my music, songwriting and art to challenge, to provoke, to emotively move and to start conversations about the world we find ourselves in. I want my songwriting practice to help redefine perceptions of popular music; for it is a sharing, and there is nothing more innately human than that.
FIRST SINGLE: FOX
Fox is Zac’s first release from his new album.
Check out the Official Music Video below (Directed by Gudrun Soley Sigurdardottir and shot by Bence Daniel Lazar)
Click HERE for Spotlight UK’s review of the track.
“I managed to spot a fox outside the my tenement window in Glasgow’s Southside one evening. It was doing the rounds, checking the perimeters of this “well ken’t” back street of Pollokshields and inspecting rubbish for scraps of food. It was clearly well versed, streetwise and eager to please – moving with such elegance and prestige. For the next three nights, I kept watch out the window at spare opportunities and often managed to sneak a peak at sometimes one, sometimes two foxes together – looking and inspecting throughout the street before shooting off. It inspired a song which is essentially a night-time confession about the road-worn identities we sometimes cling to and the sly pretence of it all.””