Pablo Eskimo gets our vote with...Alaine Allison

Pablo Eskimo are a three piece clap of thunder to the music industry. Having just released their visually and musically stunning video for their song Dot Dot Dot we were lucky enough to get some time with the gorgeous Alaine, the bassist and vocalist of the trio.

With elements of Sin City and gritty gorgeousness throughout, not even to mention the rocking soundtrack, this is a band that all creatives will appreciate; a band with that little bit more. Before you get too excited and click over to the video, we look at what makes this trio tick.

Name: Alaine Allison
Occupation: Musician
Loves: Gigging, Rehearsing, Partying
Loathes: Ignorance
Three words to describe yourself: Creative, Mischievous & Fun

So Alaine, you’re a member of Pablo Eskimo, where did your fantastically original name come from?

It came from the name Pablo Escobar, the Columbian drugs lord, who was often referred to as the world’s greatest outlaw. It's quite funny because it takes a while for some people to realize that. It's a great name because it's unusual so people easily remember it.

Can you introduce us to the members of the band?

Pablo Eskimo has three members. There's me, Alaine, on lead vocals and bass, Johnboy on drums and Bob on guitar.

When did you form and why?

Years ago, me and Bob auditioned for a band within a week of each other which is where we met. We played together for a couple of years, then parted ways with our bassist We auditioned many different possible replacements but they couldn't quite achieve the sound or the vibe that we were looking for. That's when I first thought of taking up the bass myself because I had all the bass lines drilled into my head. We had our first gig as a 3 piece 6 weeks later! Then when our drummer left a year or after that I asked John, who I have known since high school to join. He immediately said yes! Pablo Eskimo are a great tream, we all come to the table with different ideas but we work really well because of that. We're best friends and we always have a laugh when we're together which helps us create great music.

We don’t like to put people in boxes, but...what genre of music would you say Pablo Eskimo perform?

There's loads of different influences in there so no two songs are really the same which is not something we've necessarily worked at, it just happens. There's a mix of Rock, punk, ska, dub in there to name a few genres, we just work on tunes that we feel are right at the time. However if you had to try and narrow us down, I'd say we play dirty, funky rock'n'roll.

Who is the ‘creative one’ behind the band and the music?

We all are. Every single song we have starts off as a jam in the studio. One of us will start randomly playing a beat or riff they've made up just there and then and we'll all kinda latch on to it. If we end up really liking it we spend time bouncing round other riffs to develop the song, working off of each others ideas until we get something we're all happy with. That's when I come in with the lyrics, which is my interpretation of what the music represents.

Here at Creative Boom, we love that added bit of creativity, so we are LOVING your new video! What was the inspiration behind it?

Regarding the video, the idea for it all to be completely in animation was the brainchild of the Director, Graeme O'Hara. We can't claim any credit for that, but we're so glad he thought of it!

Regarding the song, Dot Dot Dot is unlike anything Pablo Eskimo had ever written before. It started when it came to light that there was obvious criminal and immoral activities going on within political parties. It's an embodiment of the frustration we felt, and still feel, towards the obvious abuse of power that was finally uncovered. People are sick and tired of hearing the same lies by our elected representatives, the price of petrol and other things constantly rising sky high. Your average Pablo song is not usually so politically motivated, it was just a way of letting people know we felt that the system was failing and I think the video interprets that excellently. If I'm being honest we'd rather be out our box, not on a soapbox!

In your video Dot Dot Dot there seems to be 2 warring parties; John in the Red Party & the Bob in Blue party, who would you vote for and why?

I wouldn't vote for either colours, both sides represent the same thing; corrupt people abusing their position of power for their own gain. The way forward in the video is voting for Pablo Eskimo, which is the role I play. The Pablo Eskimo poster you see is inspired by the old Lord Kitchener posters; we're recruiting for the Pablo Eskimo Army which is totally against everything the other two parties represent.....and we believe a party should be just that, a party!!
If you could work with anyone in the world, who would it be?

There's numerous people we'd all like to work with, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl, Jack White....there's loads of them! Basically .all the people we admire as musicians.

Name something that you find iconic!

Tough question!! In terms of the city we live in, I guess it would have to be The Barrowland Ballroom. Every time we see it, it brings back memories of the best gigs ever. We saw Rage Against the Machine back in the day when I was a young teenager. It was one of those gigs that changed the way you looked at the world.

Where can we get to see you play and get more info?

We've just been featured as one of the best unsigned and independent artists on XRP Radio which is great! They play our songs a lot, so you can hear us on there. We're currently in the process of filling up our gigging calendar for 2011. So far we're playing the Equinox party which is on the 18th-21st March, The Solstice party on the 17th-21st June and Free in the Park on the 8th - 10th July which is the best alternative gathering to T in the Park ever! Locations for all are rather top secret at the moment, but you'll be guaranteed to see us on a stage in a beautiful field somewhere in Scotland! We will be able to release more info nearer the time, so keep on checking our Facebook page for updates!

We're also working towards getting gigs in Glasgow; we've been so busy recently that we've simply not had time to look for gigs in our home town! That will change soon though, its making a move up the priority list!

You can find Pablo Eskimo on Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation, Bandcamp and Myspace so there's no reason not to get involved!

By Jili Allen