Following the closure of Motion nightclub in 2008 fellow resident DJs Ross Lyall and Andrew McGibbon created the now award winning ‘Filth’, an underground house, techno and electro night which provides clubbers in the Highlands with a welcome alternative to commercial clubs and tunes.

Andrew McGibbon and Ross Lyall are ‘Filth DJs’

‘Filth’ was an immediate success; moving to the Ironworks – the biggest live music venue in the Highlands – within only two months and seeing the boys establish themselves as front-runners in the Highland clubbing scene. In its first year alone ‘Filth’ hosted nights with huge guest DJs the Audio Bully’s, Jon Carter and Dave Spoon and climaxed the year by headlining the Ironworks on the biggest night of the year, Hogmanay. They have now been hosting the legendary ‘Filth Resolution’ New Year party for three consecutive years.

2010 saw ‘Filths’ status rocket when they beat off stiff competition to win the prestigious ‘Best Club’ at the ICA awards. They went on to welcome massive names such as Jaymo and Andy George and Alex Metric as well as celebrating home-grown talent in their Halloween party which brought together resident DJ’s from all over Scotland. In August, the Filth boys headlined the Mothers Ruin Stage at the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival where they played to a massive crowd of revellers and received rave reviews.

2011 saw ‘Filth’ featuring on the same bill as household names Erol Alkan and 2 Many DJ’s at two massive sell out nights. It also saw Andrew and Ross playing on the closing night of the Rockness music festival, which attracted over 35,000 music lovers then returning to the sell-out Belladrum Festival to headline Friday on the new Jock the Reaper Stage.

In 2012 ‘Filth DJs’ continued on the path of success branching out to more venues and returning to Rockness for a second year, headlining the Koppaberg cube and filling it to capacity! In September Filth DJs got together with Pulse Edinburgh to bring Green Velvet to The Ironworks in Inverness. The night was a sell out and a massive success. Regarded by many as being one of the best dance nights the Highland Capital has ever seen! The year finishes for Filth DJs supporting legend Felix da Housecat at the Ironworks and hosting a Filth DJs Christmas Party at Karma Lounge, Inverness and 2013 already has some big events in pipeline!

Donkeys Always Land on their Feet

Searching for Donkeys are a bunch of guys who want to roll you around in stickers, wrap you in a banner, and pelt you with SfD Frisbees – they just like their own logo that much!

The band makes straight-up indie music - upbeat and drivey with hooks you’ll be whistling in your sleep – “Searching for Donkeys seem to just fit together really well and give an enjoyable upbeat performance… a mixture of electric and acoustic guitars blending together to create some truly classic sounding indie tunes.” – invernessgigs.co.uk

Members are frontman Graeme Gilchrist, guitarist Gordy Ross, Colin Larkman on bass and Barry Macfarlane on drums. “It’s a pretty typical setup. We try to keep things entirely predictable so we don’t scare people – that Market Bar crowd’s a timid bunch!”

This year SfD brought their sound to a number of festivals, opening the main stage at Bogbain Farm’s Brew at the Bog. At Belladrum Tartan Heart the boys employed a mini-army to pepper the crowd with hundreds of SfD Frisbees from the front of the stage. Colin said “it was ridiculous – clouds of Frisbees bouncing off heads, instruments, sound guys… No idea how we managed to concentrate through the whole set – but as long as folks had a laugh!” There were also rumours of SfD pants at Belladrum 2014, but the boys plead ignorance: “we were told bringing pants was a big no-no. Must’ve been someone else – a superfan maybe.”

They also picked up great support slots throughout year, alongside new-wave rockers Simple Minds London boys Palma Violets and Dundee giants The View.

SfD’s debut EP titled “Dirty Lunch” showcases their high level of attention to detail in songs, and a flare for rolling out toe-tapping tunes. With influences ranging from the 90s to the NOW there’s something for everyone.

Incapable of NOT writing new material, Searching for Donkeys continue to develop their sound. And with exciting dates already in the calendar, 2015 looks like it’ll be a great year.

So I used to sing in a band called Naked Red.  That may happen again one day, but for now this is me doing the solo thing!
Enjoy!

One half of Filth DJs along with Ross Lyall. 

Steven Patullo is following