The Noise Club band members. Image Credits: The Noise Club.
Fiona sits down with Craig Milroy, lead singer of The Noise Club, and chats over his drive for making music, finding inspiration in the mundane, and how the band try to preserve their enjoyment for music in all they do.
For Craig Milroy, lead singer of six-piece Scottish ‘indie-rock’ band The Noise Club, making music is “cathartic.” It provides him with “an outlet,” Craig shares while speaking over the phone. Coming together as a band allows the members a space to do what they love to do best: to make music for music’s sake.
The Noise Club formed just “after lockdown” when an opportunity arose for the six to have the chance to “all come together.” Craig describes them as essentially being a “collective of sounds.”
“Genre’s dead,” Craig says, elaborating on how identities are less defined by music than they were in the past: how sounds have become more of “a collective”, less of a clear defining factor of who someone is. For Craig, bands such as Joy Division and the Smiths are a huge influence – they all “bleed through in the lyrics I use,” he tells me. However, “If my mum’s pal asked me, I’d say ‘indie rock,’” the frontman confesses.
With all six members deriving from previous bands that played their own music, each brings a different approach and perspective, allowing them to create an “organic sound” when together. It’s clear that this passion for, and enjoyment of, making music is what binds the members together.
Furthermore, “trust” is evidently a huge part of the ability to develop that sound; knowing that each person involved can play their respective part. Craig describes how “not having the fear to do something stupid” has helped them on this journey, which has in-turn improved their music even more.
For those who are familiar with Glasgow, two of the band’s songs, ‘3:10 to Paisley’ and ‘Johnstone Boys’ will have a recognisable ring. Routing from different corners of Glasgow, Craig explains that the six-piece band congregate from “Paisley and surrounding areas.”
But, he says, the geographic connotations of their songs are “not intentional”. The band “all write together”, the frontman details, in line with their focus on working together as “a collective.” Linking the songs back to their roots allows the band to relate to others, the audience. The lyrics they use can in turn help listeners to connect.
“Something you hear in a song, [if you can relate], it connects you to it,” to the band – and that connection seems to be what making music is all about for The Noise Club – building those relationships.
Despite it not being their focus, Craig shares that the band members are keen to “shout about Glasgow and Paisley,” and it’s evident they’re proud of where they are from. Craig describes it as a “badge of honour” to me. His experience growing up in a working-class area has influenced his approach to writing and perception of music.
“If you’ve stayed in a council flat”, Craig says, the “stairs” in that building, for example, are something that you can write about. “Where you’re from is the easiest thing to talk about.” Craig discusses finding inspiration in the everyday – “the person you sit next to on the bus” can be a source of music, he shares.
Escaping from the city seems to help the band’s creative process when they record. Craig tells me about “a wee old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere” where they record music – Tpot Studio in Perth.
Contrasting to Craig’s previous band experiences, The Noise Club appear to make a conscious effort to make the creative act of making music less of a “business” – focusing on “doing music for the sake of doing music.” When you get to a certain point, the fun disappears”, the business side can “suck the life out of it,” the singer says
Putting pressure on making music means it “becomes more of a job,” and “the whole point of being a rockstar is not to have a job,” he says, laughing.
The Noise Club play a lot of shows, all being “mainly about Glasgow.” To begin with, they were playing as many shows as they could. Now a few years in, they’re “happy not playing constantly.”
And there’s a lot of bands right now to collaborate with for gigs, he shares; the industry is “in a good place.” Live music promotion company Scottish Music Collective is one of Craig’s particular favourites to collaborate with; they want to put on gigs, they’re “doing it for the right reasons”, he says.
Currently, The Noise Club is “coming out with some of the best stuff we’ve made.” And, with a brand-new EP expected to be released in the new year, hints of a potential album in the background, and a hope to travel “across different cities” in the not-too-distant future, it seems as though 2025 will really be their year to shine.
You can listen to The Noise Club’s music yourself and stay up to date with their work by following them on:
