Aieris: The young Scottish four piece with an exciting debut EP

Sunday 1st October 2000

Scotland seems to be able to produce quality Christian bands at will. Giles Morrison checked out the latest AIERIS.

Aieris
Aieris

Lead Singer, Andy Dorrat, was upbeat when I spoke to him about Aieris, having just secured a job after graduating. I asked him how the band got together. "Alan Bell, John Ronaldson and I (guitar/vocals, bass/vocals and vocals/rhythm guitar, respectively) got together in August 1999 and began practising. At the time I had only written 'Down Here And Waiting', but we knew immediately that we had something and booked a studio session for January 2000, trusting that we would have other songs written by then.'

The EP 'Meet Your Maker' was the product, finding airplay in Scotland and featured on Mike Rimmer's Cross Rhythms radio show and whose review in CR57 describes Aieris as "a new band who have the talent to be significant." "Up And Dreaming", featured on the CR57 cover CD, is "an understated piece of searing searching rock." The band describe their sound as rock with a hard edge, but the songs also reveal a softer and more contemplative perspective, which, with the band's more aggressive material, reflects the various moods and talents of the band members.

Since the EP Aieris have got a regular drummer, Graeme Sutherland, and have prepared material for another EP to be recorded next January. "We've got more material than we can use and need to cut down. We've moved away from the 'indie' feel towards a more melodic rock sound. We think it's better than before and ifs hard to cut stuff out. We want to stay one step ahead of ourselves. By producing high quality music that will interest people we can open doorways. We want to produce music that avoids the mediocrity found in some Christian music. The world won't listen to mediocre music. We're not producing music for Christians, but anyone who wants to listen. We want to produce good music, but have a laugh as well. God wants us to have fun."

With the band spread across Scotland while at university, gigging has been difficult. Aieris now have gigs lined up for the autumn around Scotland. "We've been waiting for the right gig rather than taking on everything, but we're a bit nervous since it's so long since we recorded the EP." Aieris hope to find ways to further glorify God through what they are doing and to expand musically under the direction of God's hand. They hope this growth might be achieved by obtaining a distribution deal with a record company.

Aieris are grateful for God's provision for them; having received powerful support from their local church. The EP artwork and band logo were created by an artist from their church and their web site the quality of which many bands would envy, was written for them courtesy of a friend. The website also features samples of the EP and details of future gigs which is definitely worth investigating.

Clearly the band are the product of a vibrant Scottish scene which has seen acts like IndigoEcho Nervous Passenger, Land and several more releasing outstanding music. I couldn't resist asking Aieris a final question about their name. "Well, we were struggling for a name and a passage from Matthew. The eyes are the lamp of the body,' (Matthew 6 v 22) had been mentioned by my pastor and it stuck with me Aieris is the phonetic spelling of iris." CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
 

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