Turning Point Scotland is hosting a fantastic night of live music and comedy Music Connects, to highlight the work we are doing around homelessness, in particular Housing First.

Fresh from a host of live dates on the festival circuit at the likes of Butefest, Belladrum, Dunoon and Glasgow Music Moments, we caught up with one of our headline acts, Dogtooth, to find out why the band decided involved with our event and get to know them a bit better:

Cheers for choosing to play Music Connects! What made you decide to get involved?

Craig:  We play lots of gigs for mental health and social issues charities, we especially try to look at raising awareness for teenage and young adult help groups, Social Bite, Shelter and The Teenage Cancer Trust are a few we have been involved with, so delighted to be playing for Turning Point Scotland.

What can people expect from you musically on the night if they’ve not seen you live before?

John: We have been playing mostly our own songs for a while now, that’s been great for us, as that’s always been the long term goal.

Craig: People probably know us more for playing covers, but we have been playing our own material for a while now.

Can’t be easy to try and make a go of a career in the music industry. What are the challenges you have faced and overcome so far?

Robert: Our age has been a problem at times, more now as we try to break into the Glasgow band scene, lots of great bands out there so the competition for festivals and bigger gigs is very strong.

John: At the beginning it was hard to be taken seriously as we were only 10,11 and 13 years old.

Was any particular moment growing up when you thought, ‘that’s it, I want to get into music, join a band and make a go of it?’

Craig: From as young as 4/5 years old, I think this is what I wanted to do, started playing bass about that age, loved listening to music and trying to learn the songs.

John: listening to Noel Gallagher led me to ask for a guitar for my 10th birthday, that’s been it since.

Robert: I had been in a few bands before but not going anywhere, as soon as i joined Dogtooth and bonded with Craig and John was the moment i realised we could go somewhere, still a long way to go yet but hope to make it a career.

A lot of people Turning Point Scotland supports use music to forget about everyday hassles or negative past experiences. What does being in a band and playing live mean to you guys?

Craig: Love being in the band, we are really close friends and have a great time.

John: we have become really good mates and bounce off each other really well, I love playing live and love discovering other bands out there, I hated school with a passion but music helped me escape, if our music helps someone thats a result for me.

Robert: Playing live is amazing, being so close as mates makes it even better and you can escape for a short time from any worries you might have.

Do you find being on stage and playing live give you more confidence and self-belief?

Craig: it gives you confidence doing something you enjoy so much.

Robert: Yes, there’s nothing better than playing live where everything is just right, it can leave you buzzing for days.

John: people seem to enjoy what we do so that gives us confidence.

What’s the moment so far as a band, you have thought ‘Wow, I can’t believe this is happening. Look at us now!’

Craig: The EP launch at HMV was pretty special and selling out our own gig at the 02 abc was great, and of course playing the Barrowlands.

Robert: There has been a few, playing the Barras, EP launch, selling out 02 abc twice.

John: EP launch, the Barras and selling out the ABC.

Any lessons you have learned along the way you could pass on to other aspiring musicians?

Craig: practice, enjoy what you are doing, and listen to advice from people you respect who are trying to help you.

Robert: practice, don’t worry about what other people are doing, be friendly to people, and enjoy what you are doing.

John:  practice and gig as often as you can.

For fairly young guys, you seem to have a lot of live experiences under your belt already. There’s no shortage of live events, gigs and festivals. Does this make it easier to get noticed or harder to stand out from the competition?

Craig: we were pretty well known as a young covers band and played some great venues and gigs. It’s much harder now as we try to break through and play original music, the competition and the standard of bands coming out of Scotland is incredible.

Robert: the amount of gigs we have done has helped us build a good following, and we hope they stick with us, those gigs exposed us to lots of different people because we were willing to travel and play all the time.

John: we just love playing live and try to play as often as possible.

Any other upcoming live dates or new music we can look forward to?

All: We have a few new songs recorded but unreleased, and are in recording more new material at the beginning of September, Coquetfest on the 18th August, then Millport(where we first met)on 25th August, then a few charity gigs, one for yourselves, The British Heart Foundation, Mental and social health charity gig at the Barras on 12th December should be great, and really pleased Turning Point Scotland will be part of that night.

All the best

Dogtooth.

Indie/Early Mod/punk influenced Band

Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals -John Hewitson

Bass Guitar -Craig Morrison

Drums/Backing Vocals -Robert Lang

Music Connects 2018 will take place on Wednesday 19th September @The Ferry Anderston Quay, Glasgow

Doors @ 6pm

Advance tickets £10 + b/fee

On the night price £12

You can buy tickets 01698 360085 now from the Ferry box office but they will also on sale via https://tickets-scotland.com/  

Thanks to Faxco for sponsoring the places of people being supported to attend. They have been providing managed print services for 24 years, including to Turning Point Scotland.

Faxco have long been recognised as a supporter of  3^rd Sector Charitable Organisations across a broad spectrum of charities & services.

We are delighted to be supporting Turning Point Scotland’s Music Connects event at Ferry and see this as a positive and supportive message to send out, that highlights the urgent requirement to help people experiencing homelessness in Glasgow and across wider Scotland.