Caribbean rockers Jointpop combine Mugstock gig with football date

The fivesome are touring Scotland for the next couple of weeks, including a show at this weekend’s Mugstock festival.

However the band also have a fondness for football too.

“Back in 2008 when we first toured the UK, we made sure we booked a gig in Falkirk, as Russell Latapy (from Trinidad and Tobago) was playing for Falkirk FC at the time,” recalls singer Gary Hector with a laugh.

“So Russell hooked up with us and took us to two matches. Then we went again for one match in 2011, a famous Falkirk win in the league cup against Rangers. After that first experience we became instant Falkirk fans and I still always follow results and watch major games back at home in Trinidad.

“Plus we made very close friends with people at the club and the town also, so we are Bairns!”

The group have a fondness for Scotland as a whole. That’s part of the reason they’re excited to play Mugstock this weekend, where they will perform on Saturday.

The three-day long bash at Mugdock Country Park has an impressive range of acts playing, with former Delgados songstress Emma Pollock, Edinburgh rappers Stanley Odd and indie legends the BMX Bandits topping the bill. Jointpop are looking forward to being part of that crop of bands, which comes as they celebrate 20 years together as a band.

That’s an impressive feat, especially given that their home country is dominated by calypso and soca music, while Gary and company prefer the likes of the Clash, the Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones.

“We are absolute outsiders all the time,” says Gary, describing the band’s status in the local music scene at home.

“This is our 20th year together as a band and its always the same and will never change. Calypso and soca are the music creations of Trinidad and Tobago, and it’s all good. The carnival and parties are amazing and that’s how it is, we can’t change that, but that’s the main reason we don’t get funding support also as there is a definite anti rock and roll situation there...

“It’s all underground, but that’s just the way it is. That’s why we have to come to the UK when we can.”

Another reason for the group to reach the UK is that they’ve got a new EP, This Is Radio T N’ T out, released through the London label Flickknife Records. The four song collection includes everything from an acoustic-centric tune to some rock n’ roll piano and a cover of the Clash’s London Burning, here renamed Trinidad Burning.

The group got Paul Kimble, of American rock band Grant Lee Buffalo, to produce the material, and it’s a batch of songs that touch on the darker side of life in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Trinidad and Tobago is going through some very strange and edgy times,” says Gary.

“The leaders and so called decision makers are not making things any easier, the island is on a knife edge, or a gun trigger really, and I will express that in lyrics and songs.

“We can’t just dance everyday so we deal with those situations also, and it’s different to the postcard picture of the islands. Yes, we’ve got beaches and it’s all chilled and fun and laid back, but someone has got to tell the story (of what else is happening).

“Plus social commentary is in my blood from the influence of the old time real calypso singers.”

After their Scottish trip the band are hoping to raise enough money to make it to a festival in South Korea, then get to work on a new album.

First, however comes Scotland – even if one of Gary’s earliest Glasgow memories was of someone nicking a T-shirt from a gig here!

“We’ve played venues like Pivo Pivo, Box and the Liquid Ship,” recalls Gary.

“One cool but crazy memory was a man just walking into a venue one night and just grabbing a Jointpop t shirt from the merch counter and running out the venue.

“One of our boys started to go after him and I said leave him alone, let him spread the word!”

Mugstock, Friday-Sunday, prices vary. More information on Jointpop at www.facebook.com/jointpop