“It’s a bit of a story,” says drummer Ciaran Boyle, 25, of how Static Satellites formed. His previous two-piece Glasgow folk band, The Gracious Attempt, merged with another band. Members came and went.

“That went on for a while,” says Ross Whelan, 22, Satellites guitarist and lead singer, “but then fell apart. That was three years ago.”

“Static Satellites with its current line-up has been going for just under a year,” says Ciaran. He and Ross are joined by Sam Carlyle on bass and Ally Taylor on lead guitar. It took the band only a couple of months from their June 2018 formation to start gigging. “But we already had quite a lot of songs from our previous bands,” explains Ciaran. “As more people joined, more songs kept getting added to it.”

“It took us about two months to come up with a name,” says Ross, whose mother had final say on the name.

When asked about their musical influences, Ciaran and Ross’s closeness is evident. Ciaran says: “Ross, you answer that one.”

“Hey! That’s a joint question.” Ross fires back.

“Well, you write the songs.”

“Fine.”

The answer: a variety. Ross likes more “singer-songwriter” or acoustic artists – Ben Howard and Bon Iver – while Ciaran cites a mix of classic punk and Scottish bands – The Clash and Twilight Sad. “And then Sam likes Muse,” Ross continues. “So there’s parts where we meet in the middle, but we kind of all like our own separate stuff.”

This has resulted in an eclectic combination of styles in their own music: heavier rock songs followed by slower acoustic ones. Even a “dancy” track.

Having been in several bands before, the pair are reluctant to get too hopeful in these early days. “It’s been all right so far,” says Ross. “I think you have to be careful, though with what you release and when you release it. Unlike an established band, we’re playing to folk that don’t really know us. We have to realise they’re going to go away and decide whether they like us or not.”

Ciaran says: “I think things will get easier when we release our own material, in terms of getting gigs and getting noticed.”

Their first single, Spin, is lined up for release on iTunes on May 10. The band will be playing their first full-band gigs outside of Glasgow on Saturday, May 11, at South Lanarkshire’s Gentle Giant Music Festival and at Midnight Breakfast Club in Bathgate, Ally’s home town.Their next date, though, is at Broadcast in Glasgow on Wednesday, April 24. “That’s an acoustic gig to raise money for Help Musicians Scotland, which aids musicians financially and also with their mental health,” explains Ciaran.

Perhaps unusual for young up-and-comers, the band are already budding philanthropists. The profits from Spi’ will be donated to the Samaritans. “It only seemed right to donate the money to the Samaritans,” says Ciaran, given the themes of mental health in the

song’s lyrics.

Static Satellites will play Gentle Giant Music Festival and Midnight Breakfast Club on Saturday May 11.