Most books about music related topics focus on the major metropolitan centres of New York or London. Alastair MacDonald Jackson not only shifts the focus to a small country in northern Europe - Scotland -but hones in the music makers from the very peripheries of the place. With a focus on the production of music zines, where he brings his own experience into play, the book also looks at the concurrent journeys of cassette labels, independent recordings and women's involvement in the development of the Scottish independent music scene, concluding with the recent resurgence in all things DIY.
Along the way, he takes the (single track) roads less travelled, exploring some of the musical back stories of the Scottish islands, with some surprising results. Did you know Sex Pistols designer Jamie Reid was living on the island of Lewis when he got the call from Malcolm McLaren? How about taking a journey to the island of Raasay where Joe Stummer's grandmother was born, or finding out about the punk album recorded on Lewis and played by John Peel, or the record label based on the Isle of Eigg...
Featuring new interviews with members of The Rezillos, The Pastels, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Slits, The Bluebells, Strawberry Switchblade, Shop Assistants, Bis, The Mission, BMX Bandits, Soup Dragons, Pictish Trail, Fizzbombs, the Vaselines, Rote Kapelle, Close Lobsters & Urusei Yatsura, as well as cassette label owners and zine editors of Bam Balam, Ripped & Torn, Slow Dazzle, Juniper Beri-Beri, The Next Big Thing, Honey At The Core, Heavy Flow, Paper Bullets and more...
Alastair is a writer and photographer who grew up on the Isle of Skye. He currently contributes regularly to several outdoor and travel magazines. His first book, 'The Spirit of The Hebrides' was published in 2019 and longlisted for The Highland Book Prize. His next project is a photographic journey around Orkney and Shetland.
