Description

BMX Bandits
?If I could be in any other band, it would be BMX Bandits?, Kurt Cobain.
?Britain?s ultimate cult group?, The Guardian.
?Gentle genius?, Q magazine.
 
BMX Bandits were formed in the ex-industrial town of Bellshill by songwriter and lead vocalist  Duglas T Stewart out of the ashes of The Pretty Flowers, a group that featured Stewart alongside Frances McKee (The Vaselines), Sean Dickson (The Soup Dragons) and Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub).

BMX Bandits' songs mix melodic qualities and humour with, at times, raw and heartbreaking pathos. Duglas describes their songs as being his world put to music.

Starting with the exuberant 'E102' in 1986 BMX Bandits released a series of singles on Stephen Pastel's 53rd & 3rd label, where they were label mates with The Vaselines and Beat Happening. Later they joined Creation Records, home of Teenage Fanclub, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream and many others. The group's most celebrated song is the autobiographical 'Serious Drugs?, recorded in 1991 but not released until 1993.  Oasis did their first UK tour dates supporting the Bandits, as a favour to Creation label boss Alan McGee.

Stewart split with his long term musical partner Francis Macdonald in 2005 but 2006 saw a new wave of concert activity and the release of My Chain. Stewart's writing on the album was compared to Brian Wilson, Michel Legrand, Ennio Morricone and even Alan Bennet.

In 2011 the critically acclaimed documentarySerious Drugs was released, the story of Duglas? adventures in music and struggles with mental health. The film was selected by Sight and Sound magazine as one of their films of the year.
In 2023 BMX Bandits released their soundtrack album for the independent feature film Dreaded Light. Partially recorded during lockdown the soundtrack was the first collaboration between Stewart and his current main collaborator, multi instrumentalist Andrew Pattie (C. Duncan, Isobel Campbell, The Amazing Snakeheads). The album was one of WFMU?s soundtracks of 2023.

In April 2024 BMX Bandits are releasing their 12th studio album Dreamers on the Run on Tapete Records. The album was originally conceived by Stewart in 2014 but due to mental and physical health issues he was forced to abandon the project early on. Now a decade on Dreamers on the Run will be released, featuring unfinished songs from 2014, now completed, and new material by Stewart and Pattie. The album is BMX Bandits most musically ambitious so far, expansive and intimate.

Although the line-up of the group continues to be ever changing the heart and soul of the Bandits remain the same, an extended musical family led by the inimitable Duglas T Stewart.

Follow Duglas on Twitter: @DuglasTStewart

Description

Hamilton Road,

Strathaven,

Lanarkshire,

Scotland,

ML10 6SZ.