ullapool book festival

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

I am absolutely delighted to be appearing at the Ullapool Book Festival this weekend coming, click on the pic to go to their site and check out the fantastic line-up – Denise Mina, Don Paterson, John Burnside, Bernard MacLaverty etc, etc.

I’m appearing on the Saturday night alongside brilliant songwriter and storywriter Aidan Moffat, where we’ll be discussing this, that and the other with Rodge Glass, who’s also a damned fine writer. No doubt we’ll be chatting about The Year of Open Doors, the story collection we all played a wee part in that came out last year. I’ll also be playing some tunes, as will Aidan, I think. Should be a cracking night and a brilliant weekend – if you’ve never been before, Ullapool is a beautiful and relaxing place, and their festival is one of the best book events in the country. See yeh there, eh?

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keep it afloat – new solo ep

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

I released my debut solo EP, ‘Keep it Afloat’, today. Oof. You can listen to it over at dougjohnstone.bandcamp.com, where you can also download it for £2 or order a CD copy for £3. You’ll also be able to buy the CD at any live dates as well as from the awesome Avalanche Records in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket.

My band Northern Alliance recently entered an extended period of hibernation and I decided to bash on alone for now, this debut EP being the result. The tunes were written on acoustic guitar but fleshed out to a full-band sound, me playing all the instruments, as well as engineering and producing the EP myself in typically half-baked fashion.

The songs are about parenthood, homesickness, the creative process and having a car crash with Bjork. Compared to Northern Alliance, the music is a smidgen more melodic and a tad less sleepy. There are smatterings of indie, rock, lo-fi, folk and country, but essentially this is what pop music sounds like in my head, for better or worse.

Please have a listen, and lemme know whatcha think, eh?

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fuck the royal wedding at word power

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

Friday. Royal fucking wedding. Dreading it. What are you doing? I’m looking after the kids, so probably watching CBeebies, maybe some Star Wars films, playing the Nintendo DS, going to the playpark, maybe eating some fish fingers. Then I’m going here:

That’s right, Word Power, where I’m reading and playing some music, alongside poets Paul Kingsnorth and Anita Govan. Details are here. It’s called The Great Divorce. It’s at Word Power, the country’s leading alternative bookshop. I think we can all safely assume we shall not be bowing and scraping to the monarchy. Join us, it’s free. And fun. And cool. And shit and stuff. Word. Etc.

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dundee literary salon

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

Aye so, I’m appearing up in Dundee this week, Thursday 28th April, at one of the excellent Dundee Literary Salons. I’ll be reading from and discussing Smokeheads, amongst other things, and you can read about the event here. It’s at the DCA, free to get in, free wine, and runs from 5pm to 7pm.

I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to fill two hours, there better be lots of good questions. I will be playing a few tunes as well, from my FORTHCOMING EP (which I’m not blogging about just yet, all in good time) – and folks who come along will be able to buy the EP BEFORE IT’S EVEN RELEASED. How about them apples?

Anyway, if you find yourself in the vicinity of the DCA on Thursday, pop along, why dontcha?

If you’re so inclined, there’s a Facebook page for the event here.

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scots whay hae interview

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

Some new bits and bobs on the press and events pages, most notably a sizeable interview which appeared over the weekend at the wonderful Scots Whay Hae blog, in which Alistair Braidwood grills me about writing, influences and booze. At least one of which I know something about.

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daft smokeheads animation

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

OK, so here’s me and Ewan Morrison discussing Smokeheads.

[Please note: Not actual footage of a real conversation.
Please also note: Not suitable for non-sweary types.]

If you liked this, please spread the word.

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eurocrime know what they’re on about

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

I love Europe. And I love crime. Therefore I love Eurocrime. And so should you. Not least because Amanda Gillies has given Smokeheads a fantastic review over on their website, check it here.

To summarise her review:

…a brilliant and disturbing tale…

Yes, indeed. Thanks Amanda. That list of reviewers who are owed a whisky is getting longer and more costly by the minute. Oof.

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barrel bullshit – revenge of the whisky geeks

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

So, I’ve been waiting for this. Whisky geeks are an impossible bunch to please, and I’ve been expecting some snooty reactions to Smokeheads on the many, many whisky forums out there. In general the reception hasn’t been too bad, but there was one recently that made be laugh and gnash my teeth at the same time, when one dram-lover wrote this:

…the author lost me when Molly pulled off the end of the whisky cask by inserting a claw hammer into the bung hole and giving a tug. As the author would have known, if he’d actually been to a cooperage, the bung hole is in the middle of the staves and the only way to get the end out of a barrel is to take off the metal hoops.

The worst thing is he’s absolutely fucking right. I mean, he’s being picky as hell, and it’s a hilariously minor reason to give up on a 300-page thriller, but he is absolutely spot on, the bung hole is in the staves, not the end, and the only way to get the end off is to remove the metal hoops. Look, here’s a picture to prove it:

And I knew that. I just forgot in the heat of a burning illicit still and some general swearing and carnage within the plot. It’s this kind of sloppy writing that is bringing down western civilization in my opinion, and I can only offer my abject apologies to all barrel experts out there, currently rolling their eyes at my ineptitude.

I am off to squirt some lemon juice into a papercut by way of penance. Enjoy your weekends, I shall be spending the entire time in a dark room thinking about what I’ve done and nursing my wounds, physical and psychological.

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for peat’s sake – oh yes

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

So I just got a really quite amazingly good review for Smokeheads over on the Scots Whay Hae blog, where the handsome and erudite Scottish cultural blogger Alistair Braidwood said I was knocking on the doors of Brookmyre, Rankin, Banks and Louise Welsh. Not literally, of course, although I did used to play that game as a kid in Arbroath where, as far as I know, there were no famous authors living at that time.

I needed that fillip as well, as the book’s recently got a dribble of meh reviews from readers over on Amazon – the usual moans about the violence and language, and folks complaining about the pace and readability, as if that’s a bad thing. Ho hum.

So thank you Mr Braidwood, and the drams are on me. As long as they’re reasonably priced ones, you understand.

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words per minute – hot shit

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Doug Johnstone

To paraphrase Zoolander for a moment, ‘Glasgow is soooo hot right now’. And at the centre of that burning cultural furnace is Words Per Minute, a spoken word/music/film/general extravaganza that occurs once a month at the ultra-cool Arches. If you don’t believe me when I say they’re hot, just check out this month’s GQ magazine, where they get mentioned alongside Cargo Publishing and flash fiction magazine Fractured West.

Anyway, Words Per Minute 11 is upon us this weekend, and I’m doing a turn at it, reading a nasty bit of Smokeheads, alongside writers Katy McAulay and Margaret Callaghan, music from San Fran and the Siscos and Michael Cassidy, a DJ set from Ursula and some short films tbc. It all kicks off at 4pm and costs a mere fiver, and I’m gonna be giving away free shit in various forms (basically left over shit from the launch party).

So, you wanna be hot, right? You wanna be entertained, right? You want free shit, yeah? Come on.

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