Multiple new singles on the way from Retro Video Club

The highly regarded Edinburgh quartet will emerge from their lockdown-induced hibernation with a bang next month.

Not just one single, not just a massive live stream show – the band has nothing short of complete and utter domination on their minds.

"It's going to be constant," the band's singer Liam Allison says as he wrestles to contain the excitement in his voice. Retro Video Club will be taking 2021 by the scruff of the neck and, without a doubt, will be making up for lost time.

The singer continues: "We'll be back in March and the train will keep rolling from then, so everyone will need to either get on board or get out the way."

The tale of Retro Video Club is, perhaps, one very similar to lots of bands in the country: Record a single, announce a gig, release the single, play the gig; and all the while building momentum to do it all over again with a new single and a new gig.

"We were always rolling onto the next show," the singer adds. "We played TRNSMT and then, off the back of that, we played St Luke's, or we'd play the Assembly Rooms. That's how we would work, we'd have a single out just before the gig – we never really recorded far in advance."

Lockdown stifled any momentum the band had going into 2020 but there was a major silver lining lying in wait. The quartet caught the eye and were invited to work alongside renown producer Mark Taylor, a man whose list of works include some of the biggest names in the industry. With such illustrious backing, the band look set to unleash their full potential.

What's more is that lockdown has offered the chance to be more considerate in their approach. No more single-to-single living, the band will be heading for a major push over the next few months, dropping tracks left, right and centre.

"We've got five singles sitting there, in the can," Allison continues. "That's basically a whole year's worth of material recorded and ready to go. We are now in a position where we can plan ahead, and we've never been able to do that.

"It's quite an exciting time for us in the sense that we have a plan, more or less, in place for the next eight months. We've never been that organised before.

"No one will be able to get away from us; we'll be everywhere and constantly on folks' timelines – a constant stream of music from us this year.

"It's been over a year since our last release and will be almost a year and a half by the time the next single comes out. We, honestly, cannot wait for it and these next few weeks will go as slow as anything."

Retro Video Club will be back with a bang in March. Picture by Rory Barnes

Some changes have already taken effect. The band moved from their recording home in Glasgow, a place called 45, to London, having caught the eye of a team who were keen to get on board.

In September last year, they recorded with Taylor – who worked on several massive pop albums, including Cher's Believe record from 1998.

While some indie bands may baulk at the idea of working with a pop producer, Allison was keen to embrace the opportunity.

"I've always loved pop," he adds. "Cher's Believe is one of my top five listened to tracks on Spotify. I love those huge pop hits, and there is a reason why they are hits. They have the sing-along factor and tick a lot of the boxes that indicate why a song is successful. It all stems from the big chorus; there's no substitute for having that big universal 'arms-up-in-the-air' moment.

"Some bands will shy away from that and deny behind a pop band, whereas I'll just embrace it. That's just what I love listening to.

"People place a lot of value in gaining the respect of their peers and wanting to be deemed cool, or whatever. But, to be honest, I just want to have a bunch of folk in a room singing my songs. I've always been like that and the lads in the band share the same ideology.

"Our job is not to make music that folk think is cool, it's to make music that people want to come and see live and sing along to. All our songs are stories and I want people to be able to relate and for these songs to be a bit of an escape for folk."

So, the argument goes: Pop doesn't mean what it used to mean. Indie rock remains a massively commercial genre but some will argue that those bands only really begin to pull international crowds when they branch off into general pop. Or, at the very least, they don't veer away from pop influences.

All over the UK, there are indie or even straight-up rock bands that are experimenting with EDM vibes to keep things fresh. The grey area between the models is certainly expanding and affords bands a greater freedom to flirt with the unknown.

For Retro Video Club, that idea was always worth exploring.

"I think the lines have been blurred," Allison says. "It's hard to say what an indie rock band is and what they have to be. Bands like The 1975 have set that tone in terms not being pigeon-holed into a sound.

"And I'm not saying we'll be on stage playing keytars or anything like that, but we've certainly expanded the production side of things and there are multiple curve balls in these songs that will keep folk on their toes.

"We already have a bunch of 'indie rock' songs, so, it definitely felt like the right time to do something a bit different. Especially with having Mark as producer – he really lives in that pop world and he's been opening new ideas and ways to explore other sides of it."

Though the band may be adopting new elements, or even new ways of working, Allison feels there is no great departure in tone. For him, the Retro Video Club vibe remains firmly at the core of the new material, with a sense of natural development coming to the fore.

"I think it's a bit of growth," he reflects. "Our songs have always really been pop songs in any case. We could have dressed those tracks up in any way, it just so happened that wore an indie rock outfit.

"For the new songs, we are drawing on other sounds. It's not really different genres, as such, because it's still very much housed in the pop-indie areas, but we are taking it just a little bit above the indie-rock pigeon-hole."

With a bank of tracks to release, a real heavyweight producer in their corner, and a real appetite for new releases, it feels as though the stage is set for Retro Video Club to mop up this year. With so much ammunition to unload, it is no surprise that Allison is brimming with confidence.

The singer is never one to make reasonable goals, he is looking four steps beyond. He exhibits a near-limitless ambition and makes no apologies for it.

Retro Video Club will be back with a bang in March. Picture by Rory Barnes

"You have to be ambitious," he argues. "I've never understood folk saying they would never want to be the biggest band in the world. I don't get that mindset of not wanting to be as big as you can be and reaching as many folk as you can.

"I get that some are in it for different reasons, but we want to the biggest band in the world, filling stadiums and appearing on Netflix with Taylor Swift.

"It's cheesy, I know how it sounds, but if you aim for the stars and you end up in the clouds then that's still higher than most get.

"You have to be ambitious with your songs and with your production, because ultimately you get back what you put in. And if you're able to put a voice to someone's struggle and help them get through a tough time, or write a song that makes someone go: 'Jeez, oh, this is everything in my head right now' - then you are winning in my book."

Allison's approach to songwriting is that tracks should be relatable and be ripe for a sing-along at shows. It is a simple formula which has served the band well and is a huge part of their appeal.

Some artists believe in making songs harder to grasp at the first listen and for the lyrics to always be open to interpretation. But, in Allison's words: "You're never going to fill a stadium with that attitude."

The frontman continues: "I've never really understood folk who say they only write music for themselves and I don't write for other folk – and, cool, that's fine, but what are you doing in this business?

"I don't mean to sound disingenuous when I say I write songs only for other folk, because that implies that it has no meaning to me. But I am just a regular guy and I have witnessed or experienced all these stories that people go through every day.

"That's always been how I write – I don't know why you would want to write a song that doesn't talk about the things that 90 per cent of people can understand."

Should Allison's ambition be realised, it won't be long before Retro Video Club are among the biggest acts in the country. It is clear that 2021 will be a massive year for the band and will, of course, bring with it a unique share of ups and downs.

However, a handful of singles are on the way; an EP is imminent and an album may well be on the list for next year.

In the meantime, the coming weeks will see the band's first new release in well over a year, with a live stream event at Leith Theatre set for Saturday, March 20.

The potential of the band is clear for all to see. All that is left is for the world to get on board.