ONE of the many fine acts to emerge from West Lothian, Dictator have already made a name for themselves with their unique brand of soulful rocking.

The four-piece are arguably at their best with latest release Days Gone By, released on August 7, with more still to come from them in 2020.

Here, speaking with The Weekender, guitarist Zach Tarimo looks back on his first gigs, last gigs and best gigs.

The first gig I ever went to was...

Eminem at Hampden Park with my mum! Haha! I was probably 12 years old. Looking back, it wasn’t the best gig. I remember it being plagued with audio issues, but at the time it was amazing. The support acts were Cypress Hill and Xzibit. It was an absolute spectacle, he had a Ferris wheel on stage, the lot. Hip hop has always been a major influence in my life, I’m not sure it comes through in our songs, but I hope it does.

The first gig I ever played was...

In a village hall in a tiny wee village called Tarbrax. I think it was a talent show or something. Allan (drummer) and my first band, he used to live there for a bit.

The last gig I was at was...

Lewis Capaldi in Aberdeen. I think it was one of the last gigs before lockdown. We were supporting Mark Sharp and the Bicycle Thieves in Newcastle the night before, and they happened to be supporting Lewis and offered us tickets if we wanted to make the journey up. Of course we did!

The last gig I played was...

See above...Supporting Mark Sharp and the Bicycle Thieves at the Head of steam in Newcastle. It was sold out and utter madness from start to finish. The Northern Threads were on the bill too and were class.

The best gig I have ever been to was...

There have been so many! Rage against the machine at T in the Park 2008 has to be up there. I’ve never seen any artist command a stage so confidently without any gimmicks, fancy lighting, or props. Just four guys and their instruments, who had 50,000+ people completely mesmerised. Again, a big influence on me musically that I’m not sure comes through in Dictator. Maybe some of our songs have socio-political commentary, but, then again, our next release is a banger of a love song, so…

The best gig I have played was...

That’s a tough one, but I’d have to say our last headline at Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s. It had sold out, but we didn’t know so were expecting it to be really quiet. It turned out it was packed to the rafters. That night was really special for us, because it was the first time we felt that our music was resonating with our fans.