Peter Capaldi tells us how his new album is inspired by Glasgow in the early 80s and shares memories of growing up in the city.
As a man who is familiar with alternative timelines from his previous work in Doctor Who, I asked Peter Capaldi if there could have been a version of his life where he was an art student in the early eighties, sitting drinking a Brandy Alexander in Nico’s, and he could have been approached to sign a record deal. It’s well documented that Peter was in a band while he was at the Glasgow Art School - he talked about it while on Craig Ferguson’s talk show, who had been the drummer in the group. I was keen to find out if that was a real attempt at pop stardom or just some fun, youthful posturing.
Glasgow was alive with musical talent at the start of the 1980s. A new generation was finding its voice. Bar staff from the Rock Garden, waitresses from Spaghetti Factory and Ubiquitous Chip were ending up on Top of the Pops. Could Peter Capaldi have been in the right place at the right time and seen his career take off in a rock band direction?
“Well, obviously we weren't in the right place at the right time”, he cackles at the thought. “It wasn't for want of trying, but that never really worked out for us. But we would've loved something like that to happen. And yes, of course, that was very much what the vibe was on the scene, it really was.
“People would be knocking about Great Western Road dressed as baby goths and then the next week they'd be signed and then the next month they'd be on Top of the Pops or whatever. So it seemed quite possible for all these things to happen, but sadly it didn't happen to us.”
Early work in theatre in Glasgow and some writing led to more acting. Then, in 1983, Bill Forsyth cast Peter in his film Local Hero and that accelerated things along a different path: “It was such a great accident. A great piece of fate plucking me out of hanging about the Amphora or the Mars Bar or the College of Building and Technology Bar. Going into this other world that I was also very, very interested in.
“I thought, well, I've got to go with this. So I stopped pursuing actually being a signed up pop person. There were a few kind of residual things that happened. I was always sort of half in bands and half out, there are lots of recordings of bits and pieces. Things that we did and various studios that never went anywhere.
“But I think my heart had gone out of it really, and I just wanted to get on with acting, which was kind happening for me. But that was quite terrifying as well. I didn't really know how to do that. Here we are.”
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