CULTURE
the sound of renfrewshire
BENSIDER
From growing up Lewis to making a new home in Renfrewshire, Graham MacIver has a wealth of life experience to divulge. Now, as the frontman of Bensider, he’s channelling it through intimate folk and Americana.
You came to songwriting in your 40s. What inspired you to take the leap? I’ve played music since I was about 12, but I was always just a party guitarist. When I was growing up on Lewis, it was stuck in the 60s in terms of music. So, I was really confused as I was supposed to be into punk, but I was all about Skynyrd, Deep Purple, Allman Brothers and all that. I played in a covers band until I was about 18, but I had a bad accident and almost lost the tip of my forefinger and I thought well, my 46 MILL
career is over. Cut to my early 40s when we moved to Lochwinnoch and suddenly, I was meeting up with other musicians for a jam and a dram. I’d earmarked some songs for a solo project but I wasn’t that confident in my abilities, so Roy [bass], Mike [trumpet]and my old friend, Seth [drums], came aboard and Bensider was born. Thankfully. They more than make up for my musical shortcomings (laughs). I bring the music and lyrics, then these guys elevate it to something special. It’s a wonderful thing and I never take it for granted. In my life, I’ve been blessed to come to a lot of things later on. When I was younger, I tried to write songs, but I think you have to have lived first. In my youth in Lewis, a lot of us were listening people like Springsteen, Steve Earle and John Cougar, who were all singing about trying to break out of a small town. So, while I always related to that, it’s the country ideal of ‘three chords and the truth’ that really inspires me.
