Dictator on their formation, their sound and a future EP

As it turns out, quite a few. The term benevolent dictator is typically uttered with a sense of irony – until four lads from West Lothian came together to mess around with some tunes. The Weekender spent a considerable amount of time trying to find anyone who had a bad word to say about the band, and came up short.

Known for their unwavering support for not just the West Lothian scene but the Scottish scene as a whole, they are indefatigable in their desire to reach out and strengthen the bonds among their peers – especially during the lockdown months. And it was well-received, to say the least. Indeed, with an R number that would make a certain virus green with envy, the band spread an air of goodwill across social media and offered a hand of support to their peers. A Dictator variant, left unchecked, will run rampant.

And while saluted for their efforts to champion others, they are not simply cheerleaders. They. Can. Play. This time last year their track Days Gone By earned The Weekender's inaugural Song of the Year Award – a title they may even retain, having been nominated again this year with Hide and Seek. It seemed clear even then that this would be a first award of many… And, of course, last week, they were named Best Rock/Alternative Act at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards. Their upcoming show at Broadcast in Glasgow is already sold out, with a gig at Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh likely to follow suit.

Who, indeed, could love a Dictator?

This is a band that will keep surprising. All four – singer Michael Campbell, bassist Joe Murty, guitarist Zach Tarimo Goodhur and drummer Allan Ramsay – are seasoned performers in their own right. As Dictator, they have played only a handful of shows to date. As they sit down to speak with The Weekender, they exude a youthful energy, but they are composed and measured.

Frontman Campbell is ebullient as he opens up on the journey of the band from its inception and managing through Covid, to performing again and planning out the next few years ahead. Having been through the music industry ringer for years, each band member brings invaluable knowledge and experience to the fore. If anything, it is that grounding which gives an incredible opportunity to succeed.

"Everything that came before paved the way for the best shot we could give ourselves," Campbell says as he discuss the origins of the band itself. Before Dictator, he and Murty were members of The Barrels. Ramsay and Tarimo Goodhur had been playing with Japan Four. Both bands eventually ran their course – and it wasn't long before the four would find themselves in a room together.

Campbell explains: "There was a band called The Phantoms and a few members had moved away from the band. Zach joined as the bass player and Allan was asked to cover the drums. They were playing TRNSMT and asked if I would come along and play the keys. So, we played it and kept our hand in. We hadn't joined the band, but we ended up jamming together and Joe came with us for a jam.

"So, it's not just as though Japan Four and The Barrels joined together to make Dictator. But we came together for a jam and then slowly but surely, and after seeing the songs we were writing, it all started to feel right. The songs were a bit different, and we all got the bug from there."

Dictator will release their debut EP in 2022

The forming of the band came with a degree of inevitability. From the first note, these four musicians who had gigged relentlessly in their youth knew they had to take a more controlled approach – to think about their future with a perspective gained from their years on the circuit.

If this new band was to go anywhere, then it had to go everywhere. No half measures. They would not repeat the mistakes of old, they would put every lesson learned to good use.

Campbell says: "That time of constantly gigging was really what made us into good musicians. We never understood the management and promotion side of it all, we just wanted to keep playing. We'd occasionally jam with each other, but eventually we found the other boys who were also in a band that fizzle out.

"We had been through a fair bit, but with Dictator I think what we needed was to be able to look back when we're 50-60 years old and say we gave that the best shot we could. Because, I felt that with The Barrels, and other guys felt with Japan Four, was that we were just learning things but weren't interested in the management side of trying to promote the band, make money from it or just to go anywhere with it. We were only focusing on the music.

"But we learned so much to let it go to waste. We thought we could learn the other side and use that push ourselves as a band to, potentially, make a career out of it. We sat down, the four of us, and said: 'If we do this, let's do it right'."

From those early days of the band, they were united. Jamming and making music would be fun, they could do that as friends. If Dictator was to release their material, perform and tour as they had before, then they had to try their hand at all the things they had wanted to do. Before a song had been released, the quartet were plotting elaborate stadium tours.

Campbell adds: "From the start of Dictator, we've been as professional about it as we could have been – that's still who we are. We don't drink before shows; we feel that if people have paid money to come see us then we treat it as we would a job. That's not to say we suck the fun out of it, but we want to be the best we can possibly be.

"Looking at professional athletes, they don't just expect to turn up at the weekend and play. There is so much that goes into that, players and coaches are always preparing. It doesn't just happen. When you're younger, you wing it every single week – but now it's about practicing and honing the set, and not just turning up and playing a few tunes. We'll have a lighting engineer, animation shows – the work is three months ahead of that. It's about making the next show the best we possibly can.

"We have massive ambitions as a band to make the shows something else. If you think of Pink Floyd having The Wall – all the production value.

"There is more to a show than the music and our ambition is to make it more immersive. We don't have the budget now but we're using this time to get good at the stuff we can get good at. Ideally, we want people to leave the show thinking about everything – 'the music was class, but they did this, this and this…'

He continues: "Musically, we were creating something that neither of the four of us had done before. We went in as a bit more rock 'n' roll, but the sound was a little more pop. The Gorillaz was a major inspiration for us so we thought why don't we try and do that?

"We thought we could get to the point where we are working with other people and that would be amazing. Then, all of sudden, we could maybe retire to a studio, at some point, and become studio band producing with others. If that happened, then we wouldn't have to worry about not having a family because we wouldn't be touring as much.

"It's that sort of thing no one thinks about at the start of a band. We did. I think we were all enjoying the jamming, but we decided to start it up and take it seriously."

Dictator will release their debut EP in 2022

For the past year, the band have been tinkering with their sound in search of a certain sweet spot. And while 2021 has been productive, with their recent singles certainly turning some heads, there is so much more to come from Dictator. They will end the year with a headline show in Glasgow, along with support slot in Dunfermline, before kicking off 2022 with what they hope will be another sell-out show in Edinburgh.

At the risk of sounding dramatic, the stage is set. And that ambitious nature is proving to be a guiding hand for the year head. The band tell The Weekender that an EP is on the way – but not just a collection of new songs, a real statement of intent.

"We're trying to figure what we sound like," Campbell adds. "We've been trying to hone it. There is one song that we have written that epitomises what we want, it has sample tracks and it's a lot more upbeat and funky. Hopefully, we'll have an EP out next year and that will be our new 'sound' if you like – everything released up until this point has been in preparation for that.

"This is a proper EP – all-new tracks, written as an EP, from start to finish. The body of work we have had out until is completed; Candlemaker Row was the last piece of that 'phase'. This future work is something else entirely.

"We wrote it with a theme in mind, although not a concept album. It will be a showcase of what can do. From beginning to end, this is everything you are going to get from us. So, if people like it then happy days, but if it bombs and everybody hates then at least we have given it shot in terms of what we really wanted to do.

He concludes: "I think, as a band, we've always been hard to define – we've had a lot of pop, some indie rock here and there – but I think we've finally discovered how we want to sound as a band."

Catch Dictator at Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh on February 12.