He may be a tourist by name, but Bristol-based Scot Paul Tierney has made the south-west English city his home.
That’s not to say he doesn’t still make regular trips back to his Glasgow homeland, but technological advancements have made his life-music balance more straightforward.
“Like a lot of folk in 2020/21 I learned how to do a bit more with home recording,” says the singer-songwriter, who adopted the ‘Lonely Tourist’ moniker more than a decade ago. “All picked up from Jim Lang, who mixed the new album (‘Takes A Lot Of Beating’)”.
“I worked on the tracks in Bristol and we did zoom calls sharing the mixing screen – almost but not quite like being in the same room. It’s worked out ok. Jim is a brilliant producer. I couldn’t do it without him.
Tierney has also been back in Glasgow more following the sad and unexpected death of his mother early this year. Which has perhaps given the album a more downbeat feel.
“A few of the songs relate to that,” he says. “Not all, but a few of them. Hence the more reflective tone.
“I hope it’s still got ‘indie bangers’ on it though,” he smiles. “ I didn’t want it to be completely ‘feel my pain’. That would be too much.”
As well as Lang on the recording side, his other foil is Chris Webb, on guitar, Lonely Tourist a duo for gigs. “We’ve been everywhere as a duo,” Tierney says, “all over the UK and Europe. It’s logistically and financially easier. I may do a Lonely Tourist band again but it would have to be for a good reason.
‘Takes A Lot Of Beating’ is the sixth long-player from Tierney under his current guise. However, his career began as frontman of the Pete Doherty-feted Odeon Beatclub, the band supporting Babyshambles on UK tours twice. There have also been fruitful spells as the more rock-oriented The Big Wow, with Lang, and with Webb as part of Bristol combo Plume of Feathers, whose sole studio album was themed around the Great British Pub.
But it’s Lonely Tourist which may be more familiar to indie music fans, with regular spins from BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq and Gideon Coe. Happily, both have already featured the new album, despite their airtime having reduced lately.
“There is so much music around now it is difficult to be heard,” Tierney says, “but it’s worth doing if you feel you have something to say and still enjoy it. Which I do.”
Lonely Tourist plays the all-day Shuffledown Festival in Larbert on Saturday October 5 2024. Tickets here.
This article originally appeared in the Edinburgh News.
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