Conor is the lead singer and key member of Scottish indie band, The Ossians. In a bid to find the "true Scotland" and prepare for a make-or-break gig in Glasgow's legendary King Tuts they go off for a two week tour of Scotland, carefully planned by their manager. However throw in new relationships, a potential angelic stalker, drug dealers and more drugs and alcohol than a night out in Cumbernauld and things spectacularly don't go to plan. Like a lot of Scottish men Conor is a mix of swagger and vulnerability - liable to talk pish about his home country and then ask if it sounded stupid. Would I want to go for a drink with him a pub? No (not least because I suspect I would be buying) Would I like to read about his madcap, increasingly bizarre adventures in the desolate wastes of Scotland? Yes. Not only is this a brilliantly, dark comedy about a band and its journey (especially with the drunken Russians) but it is a look at what it means to be a modern Scot - with all its contradictions, and as a modern Scot - I loved it.
PS Doug Johnstone writes some brilliant descriptions of driech weather!
"It was one of those miserable days when the sun never had a chance. The sky was full of low fuzzy clouds that couldn't even be bothered raining; they just sat there bored and tired."
Find out more;
- http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/interview-with-doug-johnstone/
- http://www.myspace.com/theossians (music from the fictional band)
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