Tune Up - Music Touring Across Scotland

Garry Finlayson

Shooglenifty: banjo, banjax

Originally from Orkney, Garry began his musical career on a battle-scarred acoustic guitar aged around 13 (Garry, not the guitar), teaching himself to play from old blues records.

On moving to Edinburgh in the late 70s, he discovered the legendary sessions then going strong in Sandy Bell's bar, where a surfeit of guitarists prompted the switch to the banjo. His often psychedelic improvisations remain rooted in that jam-session dynamic, though developed through his involvement not only with Swamptrash, but fellow folk futurists Eat The Seats.

The banjax, Garry's uniquely customised electric banjo, also began to evolve during this time, spurred by the urge to boost the instrument's available warp factor, an ambition brought to fresh heights of fruition in the Shooglenifty sound. For the techno-heads out there; Garry uses an active EMG pickup which goes through a Rocktron Taboo processor.