Behind The Scenes With…Dictator

Dictator, the self-described “pop rockin’, hip hopping’ disco stomping’ Scot’s,” are quickly grabbing everyone’s attention with the non–stop indie–pop anthems coming our way.

The four-piece, consisting of vocalist Michael Campbell, guitarist Zach Tarimo Goodhur, bassist Joe Murty, and drummer Allan Ramsay, are constantly seeking to defy genres and have also been one of the acts to grace our stage at this year’s Isle of Wight festival.

We caught up with guitarist Zach to see what they’re up to and what has been the highlight of the band’s career so far.

What are some of your individual earliest musical memories?

Has to be cruising around in the car with my mum. She was a bit of a raver in the 90’s. We would always have dance, electronic and trip hop tunes on in the car and house.

What are some of the main influences on your music? Are there any particular artists or genres that have shaped your sound?

Gorillaz were kinda the template for us when we formed. Just their ability to jump genres and their focus on collaboration is something we are really fond of and try to replicate without copying, if that makes sense. Similarly, artists like Glass Animals, Alt-J, London Grammar, Kasabian are all massive influences. They all have massive, beautiful productions alongside heavy beats, which is something we aspire to.

How do you prepare for a live show? Any pre-show rituals?

For as chaotic and boisterous as our live shows are, we’re probably the most boring band behind the scenes haha! For a start, 50% of us are sober, so the sex, drugs and rock n roll stuff is right out the window. You are more likely to find us having a good stretch, maybe doing some yoga. Our live performance is really active, so we genuinely need to limber up before getting on stage.

Highlight of your career as a band so far?

We have been really lucky to have had loads. Playing the legendary Glasgow Barrowlands stage was something very special. Making it into the official UK charts with our debut EP Rubik’s Cube was cool too, because we all worked so hard on that.

Recently though, we supported Young Fathers at their Stirling Castle show. The whole line up was curated personally by the band, and they came in to see us before the gig and had very nice things to say about our music. Gaining the praise of our musical idols really means a lot. It’s validation that we are on the right path and proves we deserve to be up there with the big name artists. We’ve gained similar compliments from The Reytons and Glasvegas, both artists we admire and respect, and it means a lot to us that these people have even heard of us

Who else should we listen to from your local scene?

We’re blessed with a really vibrant scene at the moment in West Lothian and Scotland at large. Mark sharp and the bicycle thieves, Silvi, FiDa, Chef the Rapper, Hitlist, Fourth Daughter are all artists we love, and honestly I could go on and on and apologies to anyone we miss here cause there’s just so much amazing music from across genres at the moment.

If you had to change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

I would like to see it become more accessible and transparent. For the longest time, I never believed a career in the music industry was available to people from working class backgrounds and those who weren’t based in major cities. I think that’s starting to change, but we’re still seeing a crazy disproportionate amount of people who work in the arts coming from middle/upper class backgrounds – those with the financial means to support them at the beginning.

I believe that’s partly due to lack of opportunities and inability to finance, but also lack of knowledge of what kind of careers are out there. You don’t NEED to be a musician to work in the industry. Promoters, agents, production teams, music managers/tour managers, sound engineers and light designers are all viable careers to those with a passion for music, performance and entertainment, and there’s so much more too.

I was taught that the only jobs you could get were in a trade or factory work, and that’s just simply not the case. I’d like to see the industry do more to invite people from all backgrounds to work within it.

Any projects in the pipeline that you’d like to share with us?

We’re in the final stages of our second EP, due for release either at the end of 24’ or beginning of 25’. We’ve also begun work on our debut album. We’re not sure when we’ll be releasing that, but it’s so exciting in It’s early stages. We never thought we’d see it past our first single or gig let alone a full length, so we’re really proud that this is something we’ll likely achieve.

What is a superfan to you?

A superfan to us is like one of those fans who has a genuine relationship with an artist. The kinda fans who go over and above to support the music. I don’t mean financially by the way, more like they run fan groups or have roles in the bands discord server.

Maybe they have organised social media campaigns with other fans to help get their favourite band on a festival or support slot, maybe they’ve helped them crowdfund to ensure they can cover the cost to tour. You’ll usually find them telling everyone who will listen how good the band is and why they NEED to see them live. Superfans are the best kinda fans who really want to see an artist succeed and willingly go out their way to make it happen.

Learn more about Dictator