We’ve reached the end of the line with our chat with Graeme from The State Broadcasters but we’ve left the biggest (and best) to last. Today we are going to learn all about the band and some of the times football and music have overlapped for them.

So Graeme, tell us a bit about The State Broadcasters?

GB: We’ve been around for six years in a variety of different guises but its three-ish years with the current settled line-up.

That is our sound, we have a six piece line up and we released an album last year through Electric Honey. We’re quite happy with it and we are now at the stage where we are halfway through recording something else. Hopefully we’ll record an album but we have no label.

We do the recording ourselves, we’ll take our time and then use it to go to labels and say, this is what we want to put out, are you interested.

If we can’t get a label and the music industry is a fairly strange beast at the moment, we’ll look into releasing it ourselves as a download. You can do that fairly simply and cheaply but before all that, we are putting out a single in May. It is called ‘Dusty Record Collection’ and is the last thing we will be doing with Electric Honey.

GB: It’s a poppy commentary about a young man who is sexually aroused by vinyl records.

Well, that’s the interview done there I think!

GB: It is poppy and that means it won’t sit too well with some of the other stuff we are recording for the new album.

Cos everything else is miserable?

GB: No, not quite! This just has a different feel, it has rip-roaring drums and is a two and a half minute thing and I’ve always really liked having single only releases. Bands like The Smiths or New Order always released single only songs that didn’t appear on albums…until the compilation albums came out.

So I’ve always thought that was a really nice thing to do but unfortunately, we don’t have the money to do it as a physical single, hence why it’s a download. That could keep it true to that Smiths vision.

Does the single only release fit a wider vision for the band?

GB: Yes, cant you tell, there’s always been a huge plan for us! We have a massive wall planner in the studio where its all mapped out.

Yeah and then you get the A&R boys and the marketing team to chip in ideas.

GB: I just phone Max Clifford and he tells me what to do.

No, there’s never really been a plan and that has maybe been to our detriment. There was a period of time before and after the release of the album when we should have stepped it up a bit. We were doing a lot of gigs around Glasgow, people were coming to see us and we were getting a lot of play on the radio. We should have taken that opportunity to get down to London and play some gigs but for a variety of reasons, it never happened.

Maybe it won’t happen now but my preference is about the writing process. The performance element is my least favourite but these days, it is key to being a success. Recorded music is less vital to making a career unless you become a songwriter for someone like Cheryl Tweedy.

Some of your songs of broken hearts and love loss would be perfect for her new direction

GB: I could write her divorce album

I’ll get my people to speak to her people and we’ll have that sorted.

GB: Yeah, I can send her a text picture of my naked torso, which will be something for her, it will make a change in that relationship!

So, she’ll be a Dolly Parton man-hating, world-loving singer…that would go down massively well

GB: Haha, that’ll be excellent, I’m going home to write that album now.

That aside, should we expect any live shows around the single release?

GB: Probably not. I think we exhausted ourselves a bit, which sounds absurd as we weren’t playing every night but I felt we were going through the motions a bit…the short answer is probably not.

One of the best nights I saw you guys was in the G2 when Scotland best France at Hampden, do you have any other music and football mash-ups?

GB: We played a gig on the night of the Scottish Cup final last summer, the one Falkirk were in, so that wasn’t great for me.

Our very first gig, in the old Stereo at Kelvinhaugh, was the night after Greece won the European Championships, so a Monday night…the place was rocking!

We played in Bloc the night of the epic Champions League final that Liverpool won. We were meant to be playing when that game was on but it all got rather exciting so we ended up playing about midnight.

So yeah, we are intrinsically linked with football, which is kind of unfortunate.

We played in Aberdeen in the German World Cup, the day Argentina scored that amazing goal with all the passes. We had that and we had a band practice the night Rangers played the Uefa Cup final, so that was good we missed that. Is that not enough?

Have you had any footballers at your gigs?

GB: Probably not!

If you could write a song for a footballer, who would it be?

GB: It’d have to be Roddy Manley. My first Falkirk hero, it would have to be about his graceful elegance and his flowing locks, he was an artist as a footballer. However, there is probably more material about Crawford Baptie.

I’m amazed his name hasn’t come up yet, one of the standout names in the game, I was tempted to drop it in at some point!

GB: Astonishing he made a career out of being a footballer. He got sent off a lot. He got sent off in a game for a second yellow card and he claimed he got it because he was deaf in his left ear.

He turned his back on the ref and walked away but he claimed he was turning to hear the ref better. So a song about big Crawford would have a lot more to say.

To be fair, he was a great servant to the club and was the general manager at the club up until very recently.

It would be great though if that was true – if Crawford reads this interview and then thinks, “I am deaf in that ear and I’d thank you to not bring it up”

GB: Haha, yeah, sorry!

Could we draw any link between Morrisey and Baptie both wearing hearing aids as a reason why you liked them?

GB: Now you mention it, could be. I think Morrisey was a better footballer than big Crawford.

Some would say Crawford was a better singer…not me though….

Thanks very much for your time Graeme and all the best of luck for the single release and the fight against relegation!

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It is less than a month to the split but the fixture list for Rangers is already looking very busy and if they overcome Dundee United in the cup replay, it will get busier.

The fixture list is looking like this:

Sun 21st of March – St Mirren – League Cup final
Wed 24th of March – Dundee United – Away in Scottish Cup
Sat 27th of March – Hearts – Away in league
Tue 30th of March – St Johnstone – Away in league
Sat 3rd of April – Hamilton – Home in league
Wed 7th of April – Aberdeen – Home in league
(If they beat Dundee United in cup replay – Sun 11th of April – Raith Rovers – Scottish Cup semi)
Wed 14th of April – Dundee United – Away in league

Even though Rangers may not be in the Scottish Cup semi, the fact that they were scheduled to face United in the league that weekend, guarantees that one of them will be on duty in the semi-final.

Hence why the last league game before the split has been rearranged already.

Rangers have 5 league before the split and if they can take 15 points, they will be on the cusp of clinching two in a row. In fact, if Celtic drop points along the way, there is every chance that Rangers will be crowned champions before the post split fixtures.

Just think, it could be the third season in a row when the league was won at Tannadice. Always the bridesmaid and ever so rarely the bridge for the Tangerines.

When do you expect Rangers to clinch the league title?

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As Kermit sang, “It’s not easy being green”, we’ll overlook the advert on TV at the moment but point you in the direction of our t-shirt stall and acknowledge that it has been a tough old time for Celtic fans.

Not to mention the dropped points and the honest mistakes they’ve been witnessing, the lack of Saturday home games this year has been a scandal for Hoops fans.

This year kicked off with a game against Rangers, which was in the traditional New Year holiday time, so that was perfectly acceptable. Following that was the home game against Falkirk, a Saturday afternoon 3pm kick-off.

Celtic’s next two home games were midweek affairs versus Hibs and Hearts. After that, there was another Saturday 3pm home game against Dundee United on the 20th of February.

And that’s been it, Celtic have been on the road since then and don’t return home to Celtic Park until Saturday 20th March, where they play St Johnstone. A whole month without a home game, that’s not great.

Celtic are then at home to Kilmarnock on the 27th of this month, and are set to conclude their pre-split fixtures with a match against Motherwell.

Due to the clubs involvement in the Scottish Cup semi-final, this game, originally set for Saturday 10th of April has now been moved to Tuesday 13th, depriving season ticket holders of another Saturday match.

According to the Celtic website, this match will be shown live on Sky Sports.

So from January up until the split, that will be four Saturday 3pm kick-offs for Celtic. It is accepted that the away games will all be moved but when there is no stability to the home games, can you blame fans for turning away in their droves?

Modern life has changed and more people work weekends than in previous generations so it is not as if Saturday is perfect for everyone but with normal working constraints, midweek games cause extra problems for people to get to.

Then again, Celtic fans would rather have the midweek match versus Motherwell because if they didn’t, it would mean they were out of the Cup. However, it will just add to the further sense of apathy that many hoops fans will feel about this season.

Is Saturday at 3pm still your preferred time for a kick-off?

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We all like money don’t we?

We’ve all got different opinions and values and many of us wouldn’t wish for too much of it but being comfortable will make your life easier. Not saying it will make you happier…but it should take away some of the stresses.

Okay, we are getting somewhere with Scottish football, we haven’t went mad or trying to bring in social commentary to the site.

So, money helps and if it is something we are entitled to, then you’d be annoyed if you didn’t get it. For instance, if your contract states if you reach a certain target you will receive a bonus of X, you would be annoyed if you get told you are taking a bonus of half of X.

There may be a lot of reasons behind this bonus cut but it will rankle slightly.

Therefore, it is positive that on the surface at least, the Rangers squad appear to be making the right noises before their League Cup final against St Mirren.

The financial problems of the Ibrox side are well documented and it has been reported that at the start of the season, the squad agreed to dramatically reduce the bonuses received for winning domestic cups.

Given that since Walter Smith returned, Rangers have made every domestic final and lost only once, this could equate to a considerable sum of money for the players.

Okay, the players agreed this reduction:

a) When the club was in severe financial difficulty
b) When there was no guarantee they would be in finals
c) When they already receive a handsome wage for kicking a ball about

All of they comments are valid but nevertheless, if Rangers come out all guns blazing determined to win the cup, their fans may take a little bit of extra pride in their performance.

The days of playing for the jersey are long gone in most players, it’s a career and you can’t blame players for wanting to make money but this move by Rangers will help their club out slightly.

Of course, they could help their club out further by losing the final and saving any bonus payments to be made…but we can’t see the Rangers fans taking that act of altruism too kindly.

Are we too harsh on modern footballers at times…are they alright?

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You would have thought that the deadline day move to Middlesbrough would have seen the end of Scott McDonald bumping his gums in the media about Celtic and what is going wrong at Celtic Park.

At the weekend he was pontificating about how the replacements for the band of brothers who fled to England during the window have been replaced by inferior players.

Yes, Scott, your replacement is clearly an inferior striker compared to you.

Strewth!

And now today, he is back in the Evening Times with another Ronnie Cully exclusive, Ronnie certainly has the ear of some players doesn’t he?

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not entirely McDonald’s fault, it is not as though he phoned up the Evening Times asking for his opinions to be published. He will have been asked to give his opinion and has probably gave it as honestly as he can.

“Even with me not at the club, Tony Mowbray likes to make changes at that period in games, for reasons unknown to players who will question, if you’re having not a bad game, why are you taking me off?

It was not something I was completely happy about, and I’d be honest about it and say. But, he’s the boss and, accordingly, he does what he sees as right. You’re not always going to agree with it, though.”

The substitutions made by Mowbray have been questioned by many fans this season, some have worked, like away to Dynamo Moscow or Saturday at Rugby Park, whereas others have disrupted the team.

McDonald suggests that the team was not consistent enough in the first half of the season and that the signing of Keane was too little, too late. Again, it is hard to argue with this but some of the responsibility must fall on McDonald’s shoulders.

Too often McDonald looked uninterested playing under Tony Mowbray. Fair enough, you may not like the boss but if you are being paid handsomely by the club and McDonald’s new contract ensured that he was being paid handsomely, to put in so many below par performances came close to cheating the fans.

McDonald’s first season at Celtic, his goals were a massive reason in the side winning the league.

McDonald’s last season ended in disappointment but his all-round play and work-rate kept the side in the hunt. The Australian striker never had a partner worthy of the name for the majority of 08/09 and in WeKnowSFA’s eyes was Celtic’s best player for the season.

This season though, it was almost embarrassing at times watching an overweight McDonald bawl and moan at team-mates who at least were trying to work hard on the pitch.

Scott McDonald may have only been sold on deadline day but he checked out of Celtic Park a good while before then.

Continuing to make these comments will diminish the goodwill he built up with Celtic fans in his first two seasons.

It’s a shame but that’s modern day football for you.

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