IN THEIR heyday, Dead Sea Souls were undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in the West Lothian scene. They would pack the halls at Chalmers, Harleys and Room at the Top, carving a reputation for rapturous live shows. A standard for all else to come.

It is a legacy solidified – no one would question their credentials as a trailblazing outfit in Bathgate. They ultimately set the stage for West Lothian bands to come through; for West Lothian to have its own identity. No longer were bands quick to jump ship and claim themselves as Glasgow or Edinburgh natives.

The band emerged from their hiatus period with a comeback show in late 2019, a mere few months before the Covid era. A resurrection stunted by circumstance, but they are in no hurry. They are preparing to unveil their first new release since reforming in what will be another welcome milestone for the quartet.

New DSS material will come with a degree of maturity, of progression as musicians. They are still the same Dead Sea Souls – guitarists Colin Sneddon and James Sweeney, drummer Dave Clark and frontman and bass player Gary Burns – but there is a sense of development.

They are adapting. It's not the same scene now as when they stepped away. It's very much changed days… Chalmers is a cinema; Harleys is an Italian restaurant, and Room at the Top was converted to accommodate a soft play centre for young families.

"It's like they all grew up at the same time we did," guitarist Sweeney remarks, amid a discussion on the band's exploits through the years. The four friends are clearly on the same page – they all felt Dead Sea Souls had come to a natural end when it had, and they all anticipated its return. Both events were certainly influenced by the departure and return of Sneddon to and from New Zealand, but it seems both events came at the right time.

"It was a good time to stop," Burns says. "We were reaching that time in our lives – mid-to-late 20s – where we're getting full-time jobs and mortgages and lives, etc. When the band was going, we were rehearsing two or three times and week and gigging most weekends. So, it felt natural to wrap it up.

"But, it should be said, we were only in a band as friends to begin with. If one of us was not involved then it just wasn't us – it just wasn't the band. We couldn't just interchange members. From the minute we started talking about rehearsing again, whether we like to admit it or not, we were always going to come back."

Sweeney adds: "It was always happening – even it was in someone's back garden for a 50th birthday, it was always going to happen. You miss playing together – I actually missed rehearsing, more than anything, and just getting together. We are pals, first and foremost, and that's why we couldn't replace Colin."

The Dead Sea Souls frontman Gary Burns performing at Vibration in Falkirk. Picture by Iain Smith/The Weekender

The Dead Sea Souls frontman Gary Burns performing at Vibration in Falkirk. Picture by Iain Smith/The Weekender

It may well have been inevitable, but one thing they were keen to avoid was going over new ground. They did not want to be their own cover band. In embracing the changes all four had gone through in the gap years, they would come back stronger. In developing their musicianship, they would come back better.

Before long it was obvious that putting the band back together was not about former glories, but the future.

Burns says: "We were having good fun again – just getting in the room and playing together. But it wasn't until after a few months of that we talked about doing a gig. One gig turned into two gigs at King Tut's…and then two nights at King Tut's turned into recording another single.

"Straightaway, as we were rehearsing for Tut's, we were incorporating new material into the set. Even from then, we knew we would be going on to record new stuff. Obviously, Covid put a massive gap between that gig and releasing, but we are not in any rush – we are taking the time to get it right.

"But I suppose it all just came back to why we started jamming again. We know we're not doing this as a full-time job; we are having fun and trying to enjoy it all and record good music."

"It felt like we hadn't been away," Sneddon adds. "A bit rusty, maybe, and forgot a few chords or whatever. But that first time back together after five years… there was no difference. It clicked into place much faster than any of us had thought."

Dead Sea Souls are gearing for their first release in almost a decade. The single, Two House, will be released later this month. To say that is a landmark moment for the West Lothian music scene is an understatement. There will be a shift in the tone, but will still bear the DSS signature. A composed energy.

Sneddon says: "The purpose of new music is to expand the body of work you have. As we have grown up and matured a little bit, so has our sound. I think, writing-wise, there is more complexity to it – they are deeper, more textured and have a lot of ideas in there. But, at the end of the day, they are still DSS songs and they are a lot of fun to listen to."

Burns goes on: "When we were going before, we didn't pay much attention to production – all we focused on was making sure we had songs our mates could dance to. We were a live band.

"And not that the earlier material wasn't good – not at all. But it's just that we look back and feel we've done that. Let's try something a little bit different. But we're confident the hardcore 'DSS-ers' will be happy. No ballads. But we are changing things up."

Dead Sea Souls will return to Glasgow in April. Picture by Iain Smith/The Weekender

Dead Sea Souls will return to Glasgow in April. Picture by Iain Smith/The Weekender

The band's triumphant return to performing in December 2019 was a defining moment. They played two sold-out King Tut's shows and it felt that, despite their absence, there was still something very special about the band. For frontman Burns, it was a reminder of just how much they had missed the gigs.

He recalls: "Walking out onto the stage is still one of the best things in the world – the crowd went crazy for us at Tut's just as we went to plug our guitars. The hairs on our necks, man. There's nothing like it.

"When we were active before, we gigged all the time and if you do that then you lost, almost, that nervous feeling ahead of a gig. We loved playing, but never really felt worried about making mistakes or everything falling apart on stage – those things just never entered our minds.

"But see when we did that first comeback show, we were in the side stage area and were getting ready, and we could hear the crowd beginning to get a little restless and then we go the nod that we were on in five minutes…I was just struck by this feeling of: 'What if this falls to bits? In front of all these people? And we have to do it all again the next night!'

"That's what I had going through my mind, but it was good to have in the end. We went on and played out of our skins on both nights and I think it's because those nerves were back.

"My biggest fear was someone watching us and saying: 'They've not got it – they've lost it'. Having that nervousness back was key. That's the energy we want. We don't want to be gigging all the time – we'll work towards a good few decent shows a year, and new material in between. That's a solid plan."

That nervous feeling will likely surface again when the band perform again in the city. They have set their sights on filling the 600-cap Òran Mór in Glasgow. A venue that takes its name from that Gaelic for "big song" is as fitting a place as any.

It is a show that will come with a very different kind of pressure. The Tut's dates were all about getting back to being a tight live band – April's show will be the next big steps for the veterans. Will the future be as bright as their trailblazing past?

Burns reflects: "That will be a huge moment for us because then it won't feel like a Dead Sea Souls comeback where we play all the songs that nobody knows – we'll be playing new songs that will be released over the next few months.

"There will always be a nod to the songs that people know, of course there will be, but we're really excited to play new material and to see how they will be received. But we see people are always hungry for new material and as soon as a new song drops you see their social media feeds going nuts, especially in West Lothian. The support is so strong and we hope people can get behind the new material."

Dead Sea Souls release Two Houses later this month with tickets for the Òran Mór gig on Friday, April 15, also on sale soon.