John Wean duke it out at goNorth

HAILED as "the best thing to come out of Uddingston since the Tunnock’s tea cake", Glasgow four-piece John Wean have sometimes to explain other aspects of Scottish culture.

Not least their name.

"We used to be called John’s Weans, but it’s a Glasgow colloquialism and we were worried that maybe people outside Glasgow wouldn’t understand it," frontman Conor Cartwright revealed.

As well as not getting the joke in the band’s name, there are some other things that audiences outside Scotland sometimes have trouble understanding, like the Central Belt accent that Cartwright both talks and sings in — leading one critic to describe the band as the Arctic Monkeys meets The Proclaimers.

However, Cartwright points out John Wean are far from being unusual in using their own voices for rock music.

"Sam McTrusty of Twin Atlantic does it, but his voice is a bit special. There are a few bands now trying to do what he does — if one band gets away with it, then more bands can get away with it," Cartwright continued.

For John Wean, though, it is less a case of following a fashion and more of what comes most naturally and Cartwright revealed that when writing a song, he adopts a more neutral accent, only to revert to his own accent when on stage or in the studio.

Then comes the issue of speaking to the audience between the songs.

"When we’re playing in Glasgow, I know exactly what to say," Cartwright said.

"The Scottish audiences, they’re not necessarily easier, but they react to what I say more. In England they don’t know what to make of us. We’ve turned them round, but it takes a while.

"Some things get lost in England. You say something that gets a reaction in Glasgow, but they just don’t get it. I have to put on my Ewan McGregor accent in England."

There should be less of a communication block for John Wean’s goNorth gig at Inverness’s Market Bar on Wednesday.

Comprising former schoolmates Cartwright, Stuart Anderson (guitar), Jude Smith (vocals/bass) and Simon Coakley (drums), John Wean recorded their first tracks not long after appearing at the school Christmas dance. While Cartwright now dismisses those efforts as "utter dross", that does not hold true of John Wean’s last single "New York Doesn’t Love You", which they released in March by The Dinky Record Company.

The single was mixed by Grammy Award winning engeering Tom Lord-Alge, putting John Wean in the same company as Green Day, Manic Street Preachers, Marilyn Manson, Oasis, The Rolling Stones and U2, among many more acts on Lord-Alge’s CV.

Not bad for a band still in their teens

"We are working with the right people now," Cartwright said.

"We’ve been recording with Ewan Davis, who recorded the first Arctic Monkeys album and we’ve been mastered by John Davis of Metropolis (U2, Paul Weller, Led Zeppelin and Lady Gaga). These are people right at the top of their game. It’s great to know that people like that must have some level of belief in us even to take us on."

Other music pundits have agreed, with the band regularly picked as one to watch and building on the positive reception given to their first single release in September, Cartwright reckons it is now a good time to be riding with John Wean.

"I think we are ready for it now," Cartwright said.

"Me and Simon would always say it’s not a question of if we get a record deal, but when. We have never ever doubted that. We’ve all get the feeling that the next three months are make or break for us — and hopefully break."

• John Wean appear at The Market Bar, Church Street, Inverness, on Wednesday