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Visitors to www.bellshill.com will no doubt recognise the name Sixth Avenue Traffic. Here at Bellshill.com we are championing the burgeoning music scene in the town, of which SAT are a shining beacon. I was well overdue a proper chat with the band, and recently caught up with them to find out more about them.
 

Sixth Avenue Traffic consist of Chris Thompson on vocals; Kirsten Stevenson on bass; guitarists Gary Smith and Chris Gould; and drummer Jordon Lang.

Upon being asked how the band initially formed they said “Kirsten our bass player originally formed the band alongside our vocalist Chris Thomson in late 2011. Kirsten was a bass player performing in another band at this time but wanted to branch out and start a new project involving a more alternative style of music. We then asked Chris, our guitarist whom Chris (Vocals) had met while attending Motherwell College, if he wanted to join as he and Chris had worked on projects together in the past. In early rehearsals in Glasgow’s Creation Studios we rehearsed with a drummer called Mark Riches, a friend of Chris (Guitarist) from high school but shortly after a few rehearsals Mark returned to other projects.”

This could have been the end of SAT but fortunately Vocals Chris invited a drummer he knew, Jordon Lang, to tag along to some rehearsals at Creation Studios. Chris and Jordon knew each other, having first met when they were high school students.  This was when Chris (vocals) invited Jordon to come along for a rehearsal at Creation Studios.

Providentially the band all gelled together really quickly and were all in agreement about what kind of music they wanted to play. Chris continued “We set off performing a selection of shows around Glasgow as a four piece. This carried on until December when we decided a second guitarist would really benefit our live shows and recording. We had previously toyed with the idea of a second guitarist but was difficult finding someone who clicked with us and what we wanted to play. After a while it became clear that Gary would make a great addition to that band as he was also someone who was a fan and friend. We decided to ask Gary to come along for a rehearsal at One Eyed Dog Studios in Motherwell to see how songs would sound with a new addition, shortly into the rehearsal it was evident we had found our fifth member.”

I was curious about where the band got their name from and asked them to explain. Light is shed! The name comes from a John Cage interview which took place at his apartment on 6th Avenue. In the interview he discusses how the sound of traffic is like music to him.

As reflected in their sound Sixth Avenue Traffic have a lot of different influences. Each member of the band brings their own pet sounds to bear upon their collective sound. Their influences go from Smashing Pumpkins to Radiohead, Florence and the Machine, Bob Dylan and Wade MacNeil, with a smattering of Audioslave, Bring Me The Horizon and Soundgarden thrown in for good measure.

Their wide variations in tastes is also reflected when I asked each member of the band what’s currently playing on their iPods. Kirsten is a fan of Wasting Light and the Foo Fighters; Chris T loves Ceremonials and Florence and the Machine; Gary is currently listening to City and Colour, Frank Turner and Queens of the Stone Age; Chris G bucks the modern trend with David Bowie (along with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros); and Jordon, like many others, is loving Bring Me The Horizon.

I asked the band what unsigned bands we should be looking out for. Kirsten said “There are a lot of great unsigned bands out there that are doing exciting things, like People, Places, Maps; The Black Lights; There Will be Fireworks; The Mademoiselle; The French Wives... we could go on forever.”

The band do have a collective soft spot for The Imagineers, explaining “These guys are great live and I would recommend seeing them if you can.”

I asked the band if they have any releases due out soon and they told me “We are currently working towards the recording of our debut EP in March at The Way recording studio in London. We hope this will be due for release in early summer.” Fans can purchase the EP from Itunes, Spotify and from the band’s online store at www.SixthAvenueTraffic.com.

Kirsten continued “Other ambitions for us at the moment would be to play some dates in England during the latter half of the year to hopefully expand our audience and contacts.”

Sixth Avenue Traffic are a relatively new band but have successfully built up quite a following in the short time they’ve been gigging. I wanted to know what the band attributes their success to?

Kirsten said “We have all been involved in previous bands over the past few years which gave us a lot of experience so by the time we all got together we had a really good idea of how to go about things professionally.” Chris went on to say “Kirsten in particular is great at networking by meeting and getting to know the correct people and gig promoters which helps give us a platform to gig as much possible.”

Kirsten chipped in “Determination and hard work from each member is crucial and is fortunately something each of us has.”

Although they are relatively newbies Sixth Avenue Traffic have been gigging solidly since their inception. I asked the band what their best gig was and they said “Most of the gigs we have played so far have went really well for us but one that stands out in particular was recently at the Barrowlands 2. It was a great crowd and one of our best stage performances.”
 

And on the flip side?

“Our worst gig was an acoustic set at a bar in Glasgow last year it didn't have a great sound or have particularly great equipment.”

 

In this age of digital music, illegal downloading, X Factor winners (and losers) and an increasing number of bands trying to make a living from the music scene your band must stand out from the masses. I asked SAT what makes them different. “Our different tastes in music come together really well which give our songs a quality that we haven’t seen a lot of from other up and coming bands. This also comes across in our live performances, which always makes us stand out.”
 


 
Lastly, I asked SAT whether they have any pearls of wisdom to share with other local unsigned bands. They were succinct, saying “Stick to it 100 per cent, be persistent and professional.”

Sixth Avenue Traffic have entered a competition to win a space on the Hard Rock Calling festival in London this summer. To help them win, simply visit http://www.reverbnation.com/hard_rock_rising/1719624 and download their song "Demons". The download is totally free, so you get some free music and get to help a local band win a prize money can't buy!