The BMX Bandits were born out of broken hearts, which I think is one good reason to start a band. Singing songs about girls and summertime, about lost loves and love itself and even anti-depressants, The BMX Bandits make lovely pop tunes so catchy that they can leave you humming to their melodies over and over once you hear 'em. Their records are bound to have a permanent place in your heart. They are that special.

Formed 1985 in Belishill, Lanarkshire in Scotland, the Bandits are still at it as they prepare to release a new album, BMX Bandits Down At The Hop plus a BBC Radio Sessions this year.

At some point in the past 17 years, the band line-up included members of Teenage Fanclub, The Soup Dragons, Eugenius, Superstar, Future Pilot AKA, Speedboat and others I may have missed. And within that timeline, they have wonderful releases to their name - Star Wars, Life Goes On and Getting Dirty are just examples of classics.

Bandits frontman, Duglas T. Stewart talks more about his band, his bandmate Francis MacDonald, beach boy Brian Wilson, his daughter Rhonda and Serious Drugs.

PinoyCentral Music: Okay, let's start from the beginning. How did the band start? And who were the original members of the BMX Bandits?
Duglas Stewart: I had a group with Frances McKee, who was later in The Vaselines and now in Suckle. The group was called The Pretty Flowers and when Frances left I was really upset. I was most upset because she was starting a relationship and a group with Eugene Kelly. I was really broken-hearted and had a few new songs left over, so Sean Dickson offered to help me record them. Sean had just started his band the Soup Dragons. We then asked Jim McCulloch, who hadn't joined the Soup Dragons, to help and his friend Billy Wood from the next town to where I live was going to do backing vocals and bang a tambourine. We recorded a demo together and got offered a gig by an old Pretty Flowers fan. For the live show, we asked Willie McArdie to play drums, we had no rehearsal with him and he'd never played drums before but he did good so we asked him to stay to play on our first single. After that, we started having lots of line up changes.

PCM: How did you come up with the name BMX Bandits?
Duglas: When Sean and I decided to do a demo in 1985, we needed a name to put on the tapes. When we came up with BMX Bandits - it really made us laugh. There was a movie out called BMX Bandits, but we hadn't seen it. When the Beach Boys started their name was from the rise of Surfing at that time and our name also came from a popular trend of our time. It's a rather ironic name as I've never ridden a bicycle.

PCM: Interesting. I was going to ask you about riding a bike but anyway... Stephen Pastel released the Bandits' first single on 53rd & 3rd, how did that deal come about? And also, how did you end up with Creation Records?
Duglas: For 53rd & 3rd, Sean, Norman and I were all BIG Pastels fans. We thought we had a similar ideology to The Pastels and Television Personalities so I sent them both tapes. We didn't know Stephen before but he was involved in starting this label and asked us to make a single. Later on Dan (Treacy) from the Television Personalities wrote a song especially for us, called Girl At The Bus Stop. It feels really good when people you admire demonstrate their respect for what you are doing. Before he heard us, Alan McGee from Creation Records had decided he wasn't going to like us. When he was visiting Teenage Fanclub one time he heard Norman playing a tape of a new song we'd just recorded called Serious Drugs. Alan thought it was Teenage Fanclub and said it was brilliant and he wanted it to be a Teenage Fanclub single. When Norman explained it was the BMX Bandits and that I was the song's main composer he was very surprised and instantly became a fan.

PCM: Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub was a major contributor in your early albums. As we know, he's such a great songwriter. How much do you miss his contributions to the band?
Duglas: I've always been lucky throughout the band with great musicians and co-writers to work with. After Sean left the band, Norman became the other main songwriter in the group with me. He co-wrote a lot of the stuff on C86. When he left to concentrate on Teenage Fanclub I was sad because I would miss having my best friend around as much but the changes in BMX Bandits have been an important part of our development, it keeps what we do fresh and more new. If Norman hadn't leave maybe Francis (MacDonald) would have remained more in the shadows and we wouldn't have discovered what a massive song writing talent Francis is. I've been very pleased about and proud of all Norman's achievements with Teenage Fanclub. I still enjoy making music with Norman when I get the chance but I've really been so lucky getting to have so many different great people in the group.

PCM: I heard you are working on a new album, tell us more about this.
Duglas: We have only two tracks to put a few finishing touches to on our new album. It will be called BMX Bandits Down At The Hop and features all new songs - some written by Francis and I together, some by just Francis and some by just me.

PCM: That sounds exciting! You were also very much involved in the Marina tribute CD to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys (Caroline Now is probably one of the best tribute albums ever), and some of the Bandits' songs have shades of Beach Boys-esque pop. Do you consider Brian Wilson a major influence to the Bandits' music? And who are your other influences in making music?
Duglas: He is one of my biggest influences and Francis is also a major Brian fan. We admire his unique musical vision, but also he has a childlike purity and truth combined with real musical sophistication. There are lots of music Francis and I both love like The Beatles, Jonathan Richman, Daniel Johnston and girl groups from the 60s with songs written by people like Goffin & King and there are lots of individual influences that are particular individual passions. Francis is a Bob Dylan obsessive and loves lots of country music by people like Willie Nelson. I also think these people are great, but I'm more passionate about Ennio Morricone, Serge Gainsbourg and Kraftwerk. We still get really excited by new things we discover. The group Stereo Total have been a major influence on me recently. They are probably my favourite group in the world. Francis started his record label to bring some of the people he loves musically to a wider audience. I certainly am always discovering new things to inspire me.

PCM: Beat Happening seems to have a big effect on Bandits-related bands (they covered, Cast a Shadow, Teenage Fanclub did Bad Seed and Eugenius - Indian Summer), what do you think of them and the American Indie music?
Duglas: Some things don't connect with me, but Beat Happening were something completely unique. They took their ethos to an extreme point and Calvin is one of the greatest pop poets ever. So, many of those songs translate so well to other interpretations because they are so strong and so pure and full of passion. I was very pleased with our version of Cast A Shadow.

PCM: It was indeed a very lovely version, Duglas. Your song I Wanna Fall In Love on the Theme Park album is one of my favorite BMX Bandits songs, lovely singing by Kle. Did you write it with a girl singer in mind?
Duglas: The biggest part of that track was written by Francis, but when I brought my ideas to it, I think we both thought it would suit a female voice more than my voice. Kle worked as Alan McGee's personal assistant at creation and we heard her sing karaoke at Norman's wedding. There were lots of people from groups there but her vocal performance was great and really stood out. We knew we'd found the right voice for what we needed.

PCM: That was a fab insight. You seem to have a knack for writing very witty lyrics like in your songs, Serious Drugs ("I said I don’t think I can take it much longer, she said maybe your tablet should be stronger") and Gettin' Dirty ("I won’t brush my teeth so I can still taste you") to name a few. How do you come up with your lyrics?
Duglas: I was going through a bad time and was prescribed anti-depressant drugs. Serious Drugs was about a real experience. It was a factual-based tragic-comedy song about a girl I had been having a relationship telling me I should be on stronger anti-depressants, while I thought her loving me would cure my depression. The relationship didn't work out but I got this funny, sad and pretty song out of it. I woke up really early one morning and wrote the lyrics and melody together and very quickly and instinctively. Gettin' Dirty is one of my favourite lyrics I've written. When I heard Francis playing it on a little keyboard in his house and humming the melody, I thought it sounded quite sexy but in a fun way. I wanted to write a lyric that would be sexy and playful, but also light and romantic. I wanted to capture that feeling of having a new lover in your life and you love their smell and their taste so much you don't want to forget it and you also want to look your best for them all the time. Most of my lyrics, previously, have been about my own experiences, worries, personal demons and heartaches. For the new album I've tried to look at different types of love through other people's eyes and not be judgmental about their way of living and loving. I think the new songs have a lot of my best lyrics ever and I think Francis agrees with me. Francis' lyrics on the new album seem more personal this time and are very honest.

PCM: Wow! I really am looking forward to hearing the new album! Currently, what is your favorite BMX Bandits song and album? Why?
Duglas: I think the album I like the mood of best is Star Wars. It is special to me because I don't think there is another group out there then or now that would make a record like that. But I honestly think the new album could be our best. There is a song that Francis and I wrote together called Love At The Hop, which I'm really excited about. Some of my favourite songs from the past are: Your Class, Stardate and One Big Heart. I was jealous when Francis wrote One Big Heart, it is so pretty.

PCM: Hey, I love One Big Heart!

PCM: Okay, there's a lot of great pop bands that come out of Scotland, and I was wondering... are you big stars over there?
Duglas: We are probably more celebrated in other countries than in Scotland, but we have some very loyal supporters. There are a lot of groups that have a very positive and friendly attitude about working with other groups and supporting other people instead of trying to fight against each other.

PCM: What has been your favorite gig that the Bandits has played and why?
Duglas: Possibly, the first time we played in Japan as a full band with Joe McAlinden, Eugene Kelly and Gordon Keen in the group. It felt so exciting to have such a warm response for our music so far away from home. Eugene and Joe together used to make me laugh so much. Compared to a lot of the other guys in the group, past and present, I think I'm quite an introspective person and they really made me forget my worries when I was away from home from them.

PCM: So, aside from making music, what else keeps you guys busy?
Duglas: My daughter Rhonda is a BIG part of my life and a lot of fun. I'm now working at the BBC making television programmes. I was making a music programme called The Beat Room for a while and we had lots of great live music from people like Stereo Total, Teenage Fanclub, Peaches, Momus, Cornelius, Belle & Sebastian, Stereolab, Kahimi Karie, The High Llamas and lots of others. I'm currently working on non-music programmes. Most of Francis' time is spent running Shoeshine and Spit & Polish records or playing drums with Teenage Fanclub.

PCM: You've been around for a length of time, but how much longer do you see yourself making music with the Bandits?
Duglas: I don't think we'll make BMX Bandits records very often, but I hope we'll keep getting back together sometimes to make music together. I'm sure as individuals we'll also keep making music.

Well, that's about it. Fans, please watch out for the Bandits' new album BMX Bandits At The Hop coming out soon. Also, many thanks to Ryan (the lucky dog) for the article - I wouldn't be surprised if he told me he jammed with Duglas as well :-)