Mull Historical Society doesn't sound like music at all; it sounds like the sort of thing your maiden aunt would have dragged you to if you'd been born a character in a Dickens novel. Fortunately for you, you weren't. Why, then, would you ever want to listen to a band with such a name? There are several reasons, actually. For one, the Mull Historical Society is composed of one person, Colin MacIntyre, and not the collection of spinsters you had assumed. He plays nearly every instrument in the band. He hails from the island of Mull, off the coast of Scotland; there is, in point of fact, a real Mull Historical Society, which has been around for far longer than Colin, yet has never produced an album. Secondly, he is, in the words of my girlfriend, "gorgeous". Thirdly, his debut album, Loss, is a unique, brilliantly-produced collection of stunningly put-together songs. Colin spent more than ten years, wrote more than four hundred songs, and culled them down to twelve sugary pop gems and heartbreaking anthems.

I was fortunate enough to run across Colin on his first trip to New York, and caught his band's show at a Scottish festival. I came away from the experience a fan.

In addition to all of the other reasons you should like him, he's also a terrific, voluble guy, and I had a great time talking with him about music, work and, inevitably, sheep.

Splendid: So, you are the whole society, right?

Colin MacIntyre: Yep.

Splendid: Do you find that it's confusing for people who might expect a full-size band?

Colin MacIntyre: Well, I do tour with an eight-piece band. I don't really know what people expect; I just put it under that name because I thought it would be more interesting than my name, you know? I liked the idea of not even sounding like a band, just sounding like a society, or whatever.

Splendid: I've been to Scotland, but not to Mull. I read over your press material, and in describing the place it seemed to lean heavily on sheep, beards, rain, and women named "Morag". What's your impression?

Colin MacIntyre: Mull's a wee island on the West Coast of Scotland, about 2000 population. Lovely place, beautiful beaches, and just a really picturesque place to grow up. It's quite a small town, as you'd expect, kind of cut off. It was just what I knew growing up. I guess it was sort of a different place to grow up than on the mainland.

Splendid: How long were you there?

Colin MacIntyre: I left when I was about nineteen. I've lived in Glasgow on and off for about the last ten years or so. I go back quite a lot, as all my family's there. Since I called the band Mull Historical Society, I've had endless press trips to Mull. Guys come out from London for, like, day trips to Mull, but you just can't do a day trip to Mull, unless you take the first ferry and the last ferry. One of them did have to do that. It takes three hours from Glasgow, and then you take a ferry for about forty-five minutes, and then you're on Mull. Nice place.

Splendid: You describe your relationship with the "real" Mull Historical Society as, I think you said, "respectful but distant". Have you actually met any of the people involved?

Colin MacIntyre: It's kind of odd, because some of the people involved are surely some people I've known of all of my life. It's a small community, and I've got a big family. The town doctor is in it, I think. But in the last year, or eighteen months since all of this has been happening, I haven't really had any contact with them, since they're not people I would generally see. I do know that they're definitely aware of it. I don't know what the hell they make of it, honestly. There's quite a lot of press in Britain, and a lot of it has been in broadsheets, the kind of papers they might buy, not just NME and stuff. Lots of the stuff in the Independent and The Times has been really good, too. They're retired teachers, and stuff like that, so they must be aware of it, and have read the rubbish I've been saying about it. I also know they went on the Rough Trade website to get one of the first singles, "Barcode Bypass", and they played it at their annual dinner. When I heard that, I was quite chuffed. I was quite happy.

Splendid: I know you wrote the song "Mull Historical Society" before you decided to call the band that; how does it feel to have a ready-made theme song?

Colin MacIntyre: It gave me, creatively, sort of an angle. Something to put my teeth into. I looked in one of their local free press giveaways on the island. It's just full of adverts, and I used a lot of the stuff on that. Pictures of sheep and cows and stuff, just really funny, you know? I don't want to take the piss out of anybody; I just find it amusing. I saw the real MHS's table of events, the talks they have, and the walks they go on. I just liked the language, thought it was quite funny. I took it all and made a song out of it. Then, two years ago, when I was trying to get players in to get the band together, I knew it would be a song we would play live, and it just became obvious. It does help to have the song, and we play it at the end of the set. It sounds a bit bigger live, with brass and steel drums. I've started recording stuff for the next album, and it's always good to move ahead, but I think it will always be good to have the song.

Splendid: I understand you've written hundreds of songs, only twelve of which are on this album. Do you see yourself eventually releasing this old material?

Colin MacIntyre: Well, I suppose I'd like to say yes. In the last couple of years, I've thought I'd love to do that, because I'd like to get the music out there. When Loss came out in the UK, in October of last year, I kind of felt that even though there were only twelve, I was really proud of the quality of those twelve songs. So I started to think that, even though I've got 400 or so songs out there, maybe some of that is just me finding my feet, and nobody should ever fucking hear some of it, you know? Quality control's my big thing, and I haven't become comfortable enough with my style to be able to backtrack it to my old songs. I don't want to sound paranoid about it, and I have been releasing some of the 4-track versions as B-sides on the singles. And now, for this new album I'm working on, I've started thirteen new songs. It's just something that I hope I'll have lying around, and after my third album we could maybe put out an album of B-sides and some unreleased stuff. It's quite frustrating sometimes, because you put so much into it. "Naked Ambition at the EPA" is the B-side for the "Watching Xanadu" single in Britain, and even my manager was saying "Where'd that song come from?" It's frustrating sometimes, but it's nice to have that library to fall back on.

Splendid: It's interesting that you were a home recorder, but when you went in to record an album you went for big production. It sounds fantastic, but since the lo-fi movement, a lot of people who are as prolific as you have been releasing really unproduced stuff. Did you always plan to have a big production album, or was that simply an outgrowth of the songs you were writing at the time?

Colin MacIntyre: I think I always knew, when I was recording on 4-track, that there was more in the songs than what I could get on it. I'm not blowing my own trumpet, because I don't mean musically, but physically I became an absolute master of the 4-track. There wasn't a spare track; if there was twenty seconds free on one track, I would put something in there. And then something else would bounce in. I was quite restricted in that way, but I almost liked that restriction. I could get the nuts and bolts of the song down. To answer your question, no, in years gone by, I would just record the songs to 4-track and think, "Well, maybe that's the way that song sounds." Gradually, over the last three or four years, I just started writing different kinds of songs. Even my friends and stuff noticed that they were starting to sound like me, rather than Oasis or whoever. When I got this group of songs that started leading to this album, I did start to think of it in terms of choirs, bells, and loads of sounds. Still, I have managed to keep it lo-fi. If you listen long enough, there are samples of my original versions of the songs kind of low in the mix. I don't approach the studio in a straight way at all; I really make it my own, recording my voice through drum machines, and stuff. At the same time, though, I wanted it to sound like a proper record, you know, not like my demos.

Splendid: When you write a song like "Watching Xanadu", with a melody that catchy and that spacious, do you actually hear all of those chimes and bells and things that are aching to be there?

Colin MacIntyre: No, when I wrote that, I wrote on acoustic guitar, I thought the song was called "She Said", because those words kept appearing, and then I got to the chorus, and realized I needed a different chorus. I had the word "Xanadu" written down for months. I liked the word, how it was cheesy and associated with that Olivia Newton John film, and also how it was associated with that famous poem. The song was working on two levels, and I really liked that. In terms of the melody, it came pretty straight, but I suppose once I recorded it, I knew I wanted...I even wrote on a bit of paper "Phil Spector", because I knew I wanted it to sound that way. But still, you don't want to sound too Phil Spector, or Brian Wilson or something. Brilliant comparisons, but you've got to make it your own, as well. Those sounds, and words, helped make it sound that way, I suppose.

Splendid: You've done really well, it seems, in Europe. Do you have any jitters about the US release?

Colin MacIntyre: I don't worry about it at all. I just read the Time Out New York review, and it was good. If it had been rubbish, I guess I would have been disappointed. I don't worry that it'll stop me writing songs, because I know I've got stuff to follow up. It's hard for me to be objective, but I just like people to get it. I get quite a lot of e-mails from the States, and it's nice to know it's out there. As far as how well it does, I just want to sell a few records and get to play. It's not that I'm not ambitious; I am, as far as music goes, but only in the sense that it's nice to have this experience, and come out and do this. It's not about making money, really, because I spent years where my stuff just ended up under my desk at home. It's just great. The further this can go, the better. For me, I can't wait to actually get out and do a tour, even a decent support tour, and get out and see a bit of the place.

Splendid: First time over?

Colin MacIntyre: Yeah. Yeah. I came out early with my girlfriend for a few days. She's from here. It's just brilliant. I just walked around; I'm a big John Lennon fan, and it was great to go to Strawberry Fields.

Splendid: I read a bunch of different reviews, in which the reviewers tried to find somebody to compare you with. I saw Pulp, Super Furry Animals, Radiohead for some reason.

Colin MacIntyre: Well, I know what I've stolen from Radiohead. It's more of a sensibility, really. When OK Computer came out, I listened to it so much. I did write a lot of stuff then that probably sounded a bit like that; it was the period right before I started doing stuff that really sounded like me. So it must be in there somewhere.

Splendid: Do you have an influence you would pick over others?

Colin MacIntyre: I can never answer that. I guess it goes back to when I was young, listening to The Beatles. It's not something I do now, but I think you store it up. Now, I listen to classical music. Bach, I love Bach. I definitely couldn't write the songs I have if I hadn't listened to that. Especially a couple of the new songs that are more piano-oriented. Radiohead. Flaming Lips. Mercury Rev. A sort of mix of stuff, but I really don't listen to that much music. (Hears music in background) That's Badly Drawn Boy, isn't it? I like the way his records sound. If I listen to anything too much, it throws me off a bit. It's unfortunate really, when you spend your life making music, but don't get to appreciate music the way that other people do.

Splendid: I read that you had trouble making inroads into the Glasgow music scene. In the US, we always see these cross-pollinating side projects; everybody in Glasgow seems to be on everybody else's album. Did you just find it was a closed system?

Colin MacIntyre: Subsequently, I've met most of the guys in these Glasgow bands. It's nice to finally meet them, and you realize that with some of them you've got things in common, and with some you haven't. I don't really come from Glasgow, even though I've lived there a long time, and that's probably as important a reason as any. It was weird for me, because I was writing a hell of a lot of stuff, getting really good feedback from venues, A&R people, potential managers, and I never had a band. I was writing everything myself, and most people you meet write and play, and want to write with you. I didn't want that. I just knew what I wanted, and it was frustrating for me. Suddenly, this all came together; the live band I've got is great, and it's a real social thing too, and feels like a "real" band.

Splendid: Did you play everything on the album?

Colin MacIntyre: Mostly.

Splendid: Do you plan to have the touring band play in the studio on the next album?

Colin MacIntyre: No, I'll always do it my way. They do play some bits and pieces, like the drummer plays the drums. I don't play drums, but I do program drums from years of 4-tracking recording. For every beat, I know what I want from the drums, but I've never had the time or inclination to learn. The drums have quite a large part in the sound, especially the new stuff. He's played on both albums, and there are other musicians I've asked to play, but I know how I want it all arranged. I play everything I can. I have to play most of it myself, because I've developed a new system, trying to transfer what I did at home into the studio. Obviously you have to adapt, and I'm still creating when I'm recording, so I really need to do it myself. Badly Drawn Boy's not a bad comparison to my process.

Splendid: Before you were MHS, you were 7-11 and Smells Like Marzipan. Were there any other band names?

Colin MacIntyre: Yeah, but they were all so bad. Those were the first bands I had playing my own music, in Glasgow. In Mull, I was in covers bands, as I grew up. The first one was called "Trax"...T-R-A-X. The "x" was really important.

Splendid: As one would assume.

Colin MacIntyre: That was quite naïve, really, when I was ten years old, playing Dire Straits, U2, Van Morrison. My uncle had a cover band, so instruments were always lying around. As a teenager, I evolved into this band called the Lovesick Zombies, and that was more cigars on stage, shades. More like The Clash. We weren't rebels, or anything. That was the time that I was starting to write my own music, and my friends didn't even know. Then, your friends all break up and go and do different things. At that stage, it would have felt more like a band effort, if we had stayed together. One of the guys in the band now is actually one of them. The director for the videos is also from Mull.

Splendid: I've noticed you have no problem giving background on your songs, the ideas that led to them, or your songwriting process. There are a lot of songwriters who don't like discussing what their songs are about. I know that the album deals in part with the death of your father, but it seems frequently that the characters from whose point of view the songs are coming are not particularly like you. Do you think the reason you feel comfortable talking about the origins of your material is because they're sort of third-person songs?

Colin MacIntyre: Yeah. I think quite often I hide behind characters in the songs. I can definitely pick...I suppose the origins of some of these lyrics are from my life, but I tend to lose sight of what is me and what's not me. I've just recorded some new stuff, which I think is among the best I've ever done, some of the most candid, open things. Then there are songs on Loss, like "Only I", that I could've only written by being me. I think you're right, though, that I find it easier to talk about songs like "Public Service Announcer" or "Barcode Bypass" because they're really just about that one character in a particular situation. I can identify with them, because I've done mundane, shit jobs that I've just wanted out of.

Splendid: I was going to mention that; both "Public Service Announcer" and "This Is Not Who We Were" talk about people in those situations.

Colin MacIntyre: Yeah, I like that. I hated being in it, but it definitely gave me something to write about. Again, something to get my teeth into.

Splendid: What was your worst job?

Colin MacIntyre: I suppose the worst job I did was at BT (British Telecom), at the call center. You'd call it "411" here, "112", we call it. I mean, I was a student at the time, so I was kind of doing that to subsidize myself. But then I left uni, and I was just stuck in this job for three years. My head was full all of the time, writing down stuff, and I was really inspired by the people around me. They probably have no clue how much I kind of wrote about them. But then, they were good to me, when things started to develop they gave me time off. It was just me putting myself in that position, and only I could pull myself out of it. I'm just quite glad I did, because it could've ended up very different. I can identify with people in jobs they don't like, who are kind of on edge a bit.

Splendid: Is writing really catchy melodies something you were always able to do, or is it the product of writing four hundred-or-so songs?

Colin MacIntyre: I think I always had it in my head; there were times when I was a teenager when I thought I would have some sort of fucking breakdown or something. I had so much...I wanted to leave school, didn't want to go to university, and I didn't end up going until I was 24, as a mature student. I left school at eighteen and said I was going to do music, and people said, "Well, what do you mean? How are you going to live?" But I always had, almost, a radio playing in my head or something. I think what happened was at that age it was storing up and storing up, and nearly driving me crazy. So I think I always had those melodies, but writing four hundred songs makes you better at capturing what's coming through your brain, and get it right down. Whatever you do, the more you do it, the better you get at it. I used to write so much...if I could write fifty words instead of five, I'd do it. Now, it's just the opposite.

Splendid: What do you think is going to be different between this record and the next record? What's evolving, and what's staying the same?

Colin MacIntyre: Well, I should be able to answer that, I guess. I've been walking around New York listening to rough mixes of my next record. The engineer, who owns the studio, and who's pretty close to me in a creative sense, thinks it's a step up from what I've done. I don't like talking about the music as if one song's better than the other. There are, though, a couple of songs that are the best things I've ever written. They're not very big, but very melodic. They're just more direct. To be honest, though, the arrangements are generally very much the same. Lyrically, I suppose it's just evolving. One difference is that I used a lot of samples, and on this record, I've just had this incredible string section from the BBC Symphony Orchestra. They're just quite young guys, but they're going to be very big on the classical scene. The difference between (samples and live musicians) is, of course, massive, and it's nice to be able to use both the strings and the samples, where I want. I want the next record to sound a bit more real, or natural, but still very poppy.

Splendid: Last question. Since you're from Scotland, I have to ask: What's the best sheep joke you know?

Colin MacIntyre: What do you call a sheep on the edge of a cliff?

Splendid: I don't know.

Colin MacIntyre: A leisure center. It's got that kick-back motion. What more do you want? There's loads more; I've got a mate who e-mails me whole lists of the things, but I just look at them once and then bin them. I guess that will have to be the joke I go with.