The Dykeenies

by Mark DemingTaking their name from a bit of dialogue from the fantasy film Willow (spelled "daikinis," the word referred to unusually tall people), Scotland's the Dykeenies hail from Cumbernauld, a town near Glasgow. The group was formed by vocalist Brian Henderson (who doubles on keyboards) and his brother, lead guitarist Alan Henderson, in the summer of 2005. Writing songs that reflected an arty but enthusiastic fusion of pop, rock and electronic accents, Brian and Alan recruited their brother Andrew Henderson to play bass in the new band, and rounded out the lineup with two longtime friends, Steven Ramsay on guitar and John Kerr on the drums. After cutting their teeth playing small gigs around Glasgow, the Dykeenies got their first big break when they won the "Your Sound" competition at Glasgow's celebrated rock venue King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, and in July 2006 they released a single through the fledging King Tut's Recordings, a label launched by the club's management to showcase new artists. Lavolta Records signed the band to a contract, and their first release for the label, a four-song EP, arrived in time for the Dykeenies' appearance on the NME Rock ‘n' Roll Riot tour, a package show also featuring The Horrors, The Fratellis and The Maccabees. After extensive gigging in Scotland and Britain, the group issued the "New Ideas" single in April 2007, which marked their first entry on the British charts. The "Stitches" single arrived in UK shops on September 10, 2007, with the group's first full-length album, Nothing Means Everything, dropping a week later. Dykeenies