MiddleMan

MiddleMan are a three-piece indie-rock band from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

They describe themselves on their Myspace...

Once upon a time, about 7 years ago, a boy called Scott who liked drums, and a boy - let's call him Wesley 'cause thats his name - decided to start playing music. Scott would play his drums and Wesley would play guitar with the intention of switching to bass when another guitar person was found... Wesley also sang.

Many months passed and many time wasters came and went into Scott and Wesley's band (which, at the time, was named "Duplicate") until a sighting was made in Woolworths one day of old school... person Kevin Wilson. Scott and Wesley knew of Kevin (but they didn't know him, if you get my meaning), but they did know he played guitar and, as you will know, that was what they needed.

Kevin came along to practice one night with his fellow band mates Ian (singer) and Gary (...Gary) Scott and Wesley, who we'll now refer to as Wesley and Scott, had no use for them. So, like Darth Sidios did with the Jedi, got rid! Not sinister, I may add - we built no clone army to turn on them - we just took more to do with Kevin and they more or less got bored.

But, before such things happened, one gig would be played by all 5 members and also a guest, Kevin's cousin Aimee Penman, who could sing very well indeed. The gig? The Portmann Hotel in Kilmarnock. The date? June 3rd 2000. We needed a name. "Duplicate" wasn't cutting it and we wanted something we could all agree on. We wrote down all the names we could think of, narrowed it down and eventually picked "Middleman" (Kev chose it from the title to a Terrorvision song).

The gig wasn't completely a real "band" gig. For instance, it was acoustic and, due to noise worries, a ban on drums meant Scott sat at the PA and drank. Ian sang one song and decided he "cannae sing that" and Gary, who played guitar by the way, didn't learn anything he was supposed to play.

This also lead to Gary and Ian leaving the band.

In the beginning Scott and Wesley (now Wesley and Scott) only played cover songs as they had not written anything of their own. However, on the 1st day of the new millennium - as if a gift from God - Wesley started writing songs that even he thought were "no bad". With a brand new guitarist and a dozen songs up their trouser legs, they started to practice like crazy. Wesley would often come to each practice with new songs - each one better than the last and a great new friend was found in Kevin. Only one thing remained: a guitarist... a lead guitarist. Only then a fully decent band would we be.

And that lead guitarist came in the form of Charles McMillan, another school friend that they did actually "know" know. Wesley met him in Kilmarnock Bus Station one day and explained all about the band and asked if he would like to join... he did. They practised more and more until they had a solid set, and shortly they got their first REAL gig in the Kay Park Tavern.

(From now on all members will be refered to as they refer to themselves -Wez, Kev, Chazz and Scoot.)

In the last months of 2000, a few more gigs in the KPT were played and, with the help of Mr Davy Wiseman from the top of Wesley's street, the boys recorded three songs: "Don't be Afraid", "Lazin' in the Sky" and "Take Me Away" during December.

Over the next few years many gigs would be played in and around Kilmarnock and in Glasgow venues including The Cathouse, Fury Murrys, Nice n' Sleezys, Rockers and the Strathclyde Union. They had a keen eye in other up-and-coming local bands and would often arrange gigs to support them. They would eventually meet and become good friends with other local bands "The Underclass", "The Symptoms", "Stone Cold Rumours", "Redhouse" and many more.

2003 saw the band play the main stage at the Wickerman Festival but it would also see the departure of Chazz. He would go on to join another local band "The Fumes". No fallouts were had and they all still remained good friends. It did, however, leave Middleman in a pickle as most of the songs in their live set had very important lead guitar parts.

For the next wee while Middleman took it easy, they re-arranged old songs without lead guitar parts and started writing songs that didnt need any, but didn't gig much. They searched for a new lead guitarist, and although they did practice with a few, they never could find any that clicked.

They continued as a three-piece...

After much time, the fingers up their arses were replaced by a boot, and they started getting excited to play again. Their song "Bad Charlotte" (now a fan favourite) made the tabloids in The Daily Record of Scotland, and they won £500 at the Rock Garden Battle of the Bands. With the breakthrough that is MySpace, more and more people would hear them and become fans or "Friends". Cheers Tom.

One Friend who they found on MySpace was none other than "Dr Dot", masseuse to the stars. Middleman were asked by Dr Dot to support her band, Bitchfest, in Berlin on November 9th 2006. The Gig got cancelled at the last minute, but they went anyway to party with Dr Dot. She was great and so was Berlin.

2007 has just started but already they have several gigs lined up in Kilmarnock, and are returning to The Cathouse in Glasgow. Plans to finally record a "proper" EP and hold a CD launch are also underway. Fame awaits Middleman, and they plan to find it once and for all.

Hope you join us for the ride....

This page can be found here