Thiefs get to enjoy the Banter with rock icon Barat

Jul 23 2009 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

LANARKSHIRE band The Banter Thiefs are to play alongside one of their music heroes at a top gig in Glasgow next month.

The four-piece rock outfit will be supporting ex-Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things frontman Carl Barat at Glasgow University’s QMU on Saturday, August 8.

And the previous night, the lads will also be supporting indie band the Holloways at the same venue.

Guitarist David Breen (16), from Hamilton, told the Advertiser that the two-night slot at the QMU will be a huge gig for the band, which counts the Libertines and the Stone Roses among their music icons.

The former Holy Cross pupil said: “Carl is one of our main influences, bands like the Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things, so we can’t really believe it. It is pretty amazing and is a great achievement.

“This could really help us get along the way.”

Playing alongside David in The Banter Thiefs are Dave Clark (18) on vocals and guitar, 19-year-old bassist Derek Watson, and drummer Darren O’Rourke (21), all of whom come from the Motherwell area.

David, who is about to start a sound production course at Stow College, said: “I joined the band later on, but before that there wasn’t really much going on. It was just a case of them playing small venues around Glasgow.

“Then I joined the band, we got a new drummer and it just started to take off from there really.

“We set goals at the start of the year, one of them being that we wanted to try and tour and another was to do as many recordings as possible.

“We got a four-track EP record finished a couple of months ago and we have been playing lots of gigs, trying to get our name out there.”

The band have just finished a tour of Scotland and England recently, and played King Tut’s just last week.

They hope to start another tour this October and they already started booking venues.

The Banter Thiefs have also booked a number of gigs across Glasgow in the coming months. But despite their ambition, David explains that they want to make their experience as enjoyable as possible.

He said: “We obviously want to do well, but we like to have a laugh. As well as taking it quite seriously, we also want to make sure it is good fun.”

For a full listing of gig times and more information on the band, visit www.myspace.com/thebanterthiefs.