both styles within our new sound.’
‘It can’t have been easy for her, though,’ Parlabane suggested. ‘First-ever tour, wee quiet girl from Shetland dragged around half of Europe. How did you all get along?’
‘She’s not that quiet,’ said Scott. ‘’Specially if you’re through the wall from her room.’
Rory tried to stifle a smirk. Damien shook his head and gave Parlabane an apologetic grin, as if to say: ‘What can you do?’
‘So did she come out … of her shell?’ he suggested.
‘Touring is a very demanding business, physically and mentally,’ Damien said, back in the role of spokesman and thus charged with speaking while saying as little as possible.
Parlabane was happy to let him get on with it. He had spent more than twenty years interviewing people who thought they were telling him nothing. Consequently he was adept at seeing the shapes cast by the shadows where they were determined no light would fall. And if that didn’t work, there was always the hacking and burglary route.
‘Monica handled it well,’ Damien went on. ‘I think it helped both her and Heike to have another woman around. They were pretty close.’
Damien seemed to be leaving it there, then evidently decided not to ignore the elephant.
‘Things got a bit strained for a while after the photos, but what would you expect? They were all pals again soon enough. She realised it was just collateral damage from the press’s obsession with Heike.’
‘And does that collateral damage not get to the rest of you sometimes too?’
‘I’ve thought about lamping a few photographers,’ Rory admitted. ‘Just to remind them that if they want to get to her, they have to go through us first.’
Damien nodded sagely at this, Parlabane unable to miss the warning that was being aimed at him.
‘I get that you’d need to be as tight a unit off stage as you are on it,’ he acknowledged. ‘But do you ever feel you don’t get your dues when the press makes it all about Heike? I don’t mean are you envious; I mean, is it frustrating that the media are obsessed with her for reasons that have nothing to do with your music?’
‘Aye,’ said Rory. ‘That’s another reason I want to lamp the photographers.’
‘They’re not there because Heike’s a singer,’ said Scott, finally sounding sincere. ‘They’re not even there because they see her as a person. They’re just interested in the next episode of “Heike the media persona”, like it’s her
band
that’s the sideshow.’
‘We have to take the rough with the smooth, though,’ added Damien, Parlabane taking quiet note of his use of the collective rather than the personal, like he was reminding the others of the official position. ‘As a band, the exposure we’re enjoying is undeniably greater because of Heike’s profile. That’s why we have to tolerate the media’s intrusions, but also why we do what we can to protect Heike from their excesses.’
Yes, Parlabane wondered, but did you all know that was what you were signing up for?
Heike Gunn was big news, fast becoming one of Britain’s most iconic musical figures. Too fast, Parlabane might have said. Being perfectly honest, before Mairi engaged his services and made her revelation, he would have regarded Heike Gunn going missing as a source of welcome relief from her ubiquity.
It wasn’t that she was over-exposed so much as
where
she was exposed. Her opinion – which she never seemed shy of giving – was solicited and splashed across the media on every subject, from fracking to twerking. A couple of years back, Savage Earth Heart were a moderately successful indie band (and one Parlabane admired), but nobody in the press thought that two highly regarded albums were a sound basis to go seeking Heike Gunn’s opinion on the pressing issues of the day. Then, shortly after ‘Do It to Julia’ became a worldwide hit – more than a year after being thoroughly ignored upon its initial release – suddenly
‘It can’t have been easy for her, though,’ Parlabane suggested. ‘First-ever tour, wee quiet girl from Shetland dragged around half of Europe. How did you all get along?’
‘She’s not that quiet,’ said Scott. ‘’Specially if you’re through the wall from her room.’
Rory tried to stifle a smirk. Damien shook his head and gave Parlabane an apologetic grin, as if to say: ‘What can you do?’
‘So did she come out … of her shell?’ he suggested.
‘Touring is a very demanding business, physically and mentally,’ Damien said, back in the role of spokesman and thus charged with speaking while saying as little as possible.
Parlabane was happy to let him get on with it. He had spent more than twenty years interviewing people who thought they were telling him nothing. Consequently he was adept at seeing the shapes cast by the shadows where they were determined no light would fall. And if that didn’t work, there was always the hacking and burglary route.
‘Monica handled it well,’ Damien went on. ‘I think it helped both her and Heike to have another woman around. They were pretty close.’
Damien seemed to be leaving it there, then evidently decided not to ignore the elephant.
‘Things got a bit strained for a while after the photos, but what would you expect? They were all pals again soon enough. She realised it was just collateral damage from the press’s obsession with Heike.’
‘And does that collateral damage not get to the rest of you sometimes too?’
‘I’ve thought about lamping a few photographers,’ Rory admitted. ‘Just to remind them that if they want to get to her, they have to go through us first.’
Damien nodded sagely at this, Parlabane unable to miss the warning that was being aimed at him.
‘I get that you’d need to be as tight a unit off stage as you are on it,’ he acknowledged. ‘But do you ever feel you don’t get your dues when the press makes it all about Heike? I don’t mean are you envious; I mean, is it frustrating that the media are obsessed with her for reasons that have nothing to do with your music?’
‘Aye,’ said Rory. ‘That’s another reason I want to lamp the photographers.’
‘They’re not there because Heike’s a singer,’ said Scott, finally sounding sincere. ‘They’re not even there because they see her as a person. They’re just interested in the next episode of “Heike the media persona”, like it’s her
band
that’s the sideshow.’
‘We have to take the rough with the smooth, though,’ added Damien, Parlabane taking quiet note of his use of the collective rather than the personal, like he was reminding the others of the official position. ‘As a band, the exposure we’re enjoying is undeniably greater because of Heike’s profile. That’s why we have to tolerate the media’s intrusions, but also why we do what we can to protect Heike from their excesses.’
Yes, Parlabane wondered, but did you all know that was what you were signing up for?
Heike Gunn was big news, fast becoming one of Britain’s most iconic musical figures. Too fast, Parlabane might have said. Being perfectly honest, before Mairi engaged his services and made her revelation, he would have regarded Heike Gunn going missing as a source of welcome relief from her ubiquity.
It wasn’t that she was over-exposed so much as
where
she was exposed. Her opinion – which she never seemed shy of giving – was solicited and splashed across the media on every subject, from fracking to twerking. A couple of years back, Savage Earth Heart were a moderately successful indie band (and one Parlabane admired), but nobody in the press thought that two highly regarded albums were a sound basis to go seeking Heike Gunn’s opinion on the pressing issues of the day. Then, shortly after ‘Do It to Julia’ became a worldwide hit – more than a year after being thoroughly ignored upon its initial release – suddenly
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