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The 1990s, the decade that brought us Britpop, cool Britannia and beer swilling, footie loving lad culture. The Spice Girls gave feminism a kick up the backside with their message of girl power and the nation mourned the death of Princess Diana. So Jackie McKeown, lead singer of 1990s, what are your fondest memories of those final ten years of the last millennium? “You know, what I’m not going to answer that because the name of our band has got absolutely nothing to do with the decade the 1990s,” he informs us. “It’s like asking The Rolling Stones, what their favourite rolling stone is. I’m sure they’ve never thought about that in their life and I don’t think about the 1990s ever!”
Whoops. That’s us told then. But for those who don’t know what the Glaswegian trio – that’s Jackie, bassist Jamie McMorrow and drummer Michael McGaughrin - are about, then allow us to educate you. They’re signed to the legendary indie label Rough Trade (The Strokes, The Long Blondes) and are due to release their debut album, ‘Cookies’ pretty soon. “We did it the last summer. We did it with Bernard Butler who used to be in Suede. It was just a joy to make. There was nobody really arguing, everybody just being on the same page,” recalls Jackie. It was a genuine a laugh making it. I think you can hear it in the music as well”.
There are some bands that like to make you cry, and there are bands that like to make you dance like a crazy pogo stick. 1990s (no ‘the’ or apostrophes) are boxed firmly in the latter category Their fondness for partying and having a jolly good time is clear for all to hear on the record. In their words you will be ‘dancing on the ceiling, dancing on the floor’. As Jackie rightly says: it “If I’ve got something to complain about, I’m not going to complain about it in a three minute pop song. The one time when people get away from all that is when they stick on some pop music”.
1990s may have only been around since 2005, but Jackie is a veteran of the Glasgow art rock scene having been in bands before. Most notably, he and 1990s bandmate Jamie were in The Yummy Fur, whose line up also featured Alex Kapranos and Paul Thompson prior to their success with Franz Ferdinand.
“It was just like being in any band. I don’t know. It was my life for about eight years and I enjoyed it,” remembers Jackie. “I didn’t ever expect to be really successful. If I wanted to be successful I’d probably have made the music different, but we just recorded and made exactly what we wanted to make. I think the thing with The Yummy Fur was that it was pre- The Strokes and things like that, and indie, angular, arty rock music was never going to make a lot of money. I think if the band had come out a couple of years later, things might have been different”.
They have been cited as a huge influence for rockers of the arty variety, but Jackie is quick to credit Franz – who they supported on tour - for spreading the art rock message. “People who are likely to get into Franz Ferdinand maybe and you can trace it back to The Yummy Fur and the people who were The Yummy Fur fans are also Franz Ferdinand fans which is great,” he says.
Jack then goes on to talk about the famous Glasgow art rock scene. “A lot of the music straight after The Strokes was entirely different to the stuff in the mid 90s. The difference between the Glasgow art rock scene and the modern art rock scene like Klaxons was that there was no hope you would ever be successful or make any money from it so you could be genuinely art rock”. Of their fellow Scottish noise makers The Fratellis, Jackie has only good words. “I love them. I’d never even heard of them when we formed but people kept comparing us to them so I went and bought a copy of their album,” he starts. “I was like ‘I can understand this, this makes sense”.
Following the demise of The Yummy Fur in 1999 and having no luck with other bands for the next three years the world of rock ‘n roll seemed lost its allure for the frontman. “I didn’t want to give up music, but I wanted to give up singing. I was fed up of being a front man in a band and I really, really, really couldn’t be arsed with it any more,” he states. Thankfully though, the reluctant rock star teamed Jamie and Michael, formerly of V Twin. One gig turned into another and another and before they were able to put a stop to the madness, they were signed to a proper record label. Singles You Made Me Like It and You’re Suppose To Be My Friend followed and soon enough they became the name to drop by all the hipsters in the know.
Whatever he future may have in store, living the debauched lifestyle that being a rock star entails will be nothing new to Jackie. As he puts it: “We were living the rock star clichés before we were in a band. We were living more of a rock star lifestyle when we weren’t actually signed!”
