With a mop of wavy blonde hair, a voice melding the best bits of John Foxx and Bryan Ferry and a canon of critically acclaimed tunes, Steven Lindsay was destined to be a pop star.

The Big Dish, the band he formed at the Glasgow School of Art in the mid-80s, toured with Scottish heavyweights Big Country and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and came tantalisingly close to cracking the Top 30 with hook-laden singles Prospect Street and Miss America

Yet without that elusive hit track and the accompanying Top of the Pops appearances that might have catapulted the band into the big league, self doubt crept in – and record labels started to ramp up the pressure.

In this week's Scotpop, Steven opens up about the pressures of being on the road with The Big Dish, touring with Lloyd Cole and Big Country and the "ruthlessness" of the music industry in the 80s.

It’s a fascinating story and a great insight into an artist unafraid to be anything other than himself.

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Erin Reidy joins me this week to talk about life in Brontës, who have built a steady buzz since bursting on to the Scottish scene in 2022 with their double A-side debut single, featuring life-affirming indie anthem First Hand Arrogance. (It’s a track I included when compiling the best 45 singles from Glasgow acts for Record Collector; yes, it’s that good.)

Several line-up changes – and a critic-flooring, self-titled debut album later – the tight-knit four-piece are once again on manoeuvres, a mini-UK tour scheduled for later this year.

In this week's episode, Erin talks great gigs, bad dates and the joys of being in one of the best new bands in Scotland.

You can sign up here for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands.

For the latest news on the podcast and music updates, make sure to follow Scotpop on:

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If you have any queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at scotpoppodcast@gmail.com.

This is the second and final part of the interview with Bruce – and this week the mood and conversation take a turn: to pressure, alcoholism, depression and the death at 43 of the guitarist who, in Bruce’s own words, “made an amazing sound that I loved”.

It’s October 1984 and Margaret Thatcher is in No 10 Downing Street, overseeing the most destructive deindustrialisation policy ever inflicted on the UK. The industrial heartlands of central Scotland are particularly hard hit.

Not that you’d know it from a Top 30 awash with bright suits, big drums, synths and yachts. In the past year, Big Country have broken big around the world with debut album The Crossing and three agenda-setting singles but now the record label need a follow-up. “We had absolutely nothing to give them,” says Bruce, in this week’s episode.

You can sign up here for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands.

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If you have guest suggestions or queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at scotpoppodcast@gmail.com. Cheers.