Ballboy is a four-piece

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

band from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Formed in the late 1990s, the band released five

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s between 2001 and 2008.

Biography

Originally comprising Viv Strachan (vocals), Gordon McIntyre (guitar), Nick Reynolds (bass) and Alexis Beattie (drums), Ballboy played gigs around Edinburgh for a few years, and recorded tracks for the Edinburgh indie compilation ''it's a life sentence...'', released by the newly formed SL Records label in 1997. By 1999 Gordon McIntyre, the band's main songwriter, had taken over vocal duties. Katie Griffiths had joined on keyboards, and Gary Morgan had taken over the drums. The band signed to SL Records that year, and released a series of EPs. The tracks from these EPs were collected on 2001's '' Club Anthems.'' The band toured the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in September / October 2002 and McIntyre's journal of the tour was published in ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' newspaper. Their "proper" debut album, ''

A Guide for the Daylight Hours ''A Guide for the Daylight Hours'' is the debut album by Scottish group Ballboy, released in 2002. The album artwork was provided by David Shrigley David John Shrigley (born 17 September 1968) is a British visual artist. He lived and worked ...

'', was released in November 2002, featuring artwork by Glasgow-based artist

David Shrigley David John Shrigley (born 17 September 1968) is a British visual artist. He lived and worked in Glasgow, Scotland for 27 years before moving to Brighton, England in 2015. Early life and education Shrigley was born 17 September 1968 in Maccles ...

. This album was followed in 2003 by the acoustic, and often melancholy, ''

The Sash My Father Wore and Other Stories Ballboy is a four-piece indie band from Edinburgh, Scotland. Formed in the late 1990s, the band released five albums between 2001 and 2008. Biography Originally comprising Viv Strachan (vocals), Gordon McIntyre (guitar), Nick Reynolds (bass) ...

'', virtually a solo record by McIntyre. In 2004 Ballboy returned to full band mode, with a new keyboard player, Alexa Morrison, and their third album. The band continue to play live occasionally and released their fourth studio album '' I Worked on the Ships'' in August 2008. Gordon McIntyre has begun work on a side project, ++Money Can't Buy Music. From their early releases, the band were popular with the DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, and had several tracks featured in the

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

charts. They recorded several sessions for his

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

show, including a Christmas special live from Peel Acres, where McIntyre recorded a duet with American country singer

Laura Cantrell Laura Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs with ...

. In Autumn 2008 McIntyre composed the soundtrack for the Traverse Theatre Company production of ''Midsummer play with songs' by David Greig. ''Midsummer'' performed at the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...

, Edinburgh, from 24 October to 15 November 2008.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2003) * '' The Royal Theatre'' (2004) * '' I Worked on the Ships'' (2008)
''Merry Christmas to the Drunks, Merry Christmas to the Lovers''
(mini-album, 2013)

Compilation albums

* '' Club Anthems'' (2001
vinyl reissue
2023)

Singles / EPs

* "Silver Suits for Astronauts" (1999) * "I Hate Scotland" (2000) * "Girls Are Better Than Boys" (2001) * "All the Records on the Radio are Shite" (2002) * "Where Do the Nights of Sleep Go to When They do not Come To Me" (2002) * "A Europewide Search for Love" (2003) * "Past Lovers" / "I Lost You But I Found Country Music" (2004) * "I Died for Love" (2005)

Contributions

* "Shallow Footprints in the Snow" -

Avalanche Records Alternative Christmas ''Avalanche Records Alternative Christmas'' is a Christmas album, in CD-R format, made up of contributions from Scottish bands and musicians. Released by Avalanche Records in Edinburgh, it raised money for charities Street Invest and the Royal ...

(2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballboy Scottish indie rock groups Scottish post-punk music groups Musical groups from Edinburgh