Mike Scott (Scottish musician)

Michael Scott (born 14 December 1958) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and musician.

He is the founding member, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of rock band The Waterboys.

He has also produced two solo albums, Bring 'Em All In and Still Burning.

Scott is a vocalist, guitarist and pianist, and has played a large range of other instruments, including the bouzouki, drums, and Hammond organ on his albums.

Scott remembers that, "from the minute [he] bought" Last Night in Soho by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich in 1968 "knew [he] had to be in music", and mentions listening to Hank Williams as a "life-changing" experience.

The next year, Scott was playing in school bands and formed the band Karma, named after the tenet in Hinduism, with a friend named John Caldwell.

Karma's sound was inspired by David Bowie, The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

Having begun a musical career in the 1970s, Scott has been making music professionally since the 1980s and is well known for his radical changes in music genres throughout what he refers to as his "allegedly unorthodox" career.

Scott lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Scott was born and raised in Edinburgh, the son of Allan and Anne Scott.

In 1977 Scott entered the University of Edinburgh, studying English literature and philosophy.

Scott would later arrange poetry from William Butler Yeats, Robert Burns, and George MacDonald for The Waterboys recordings.

Other literary influences on Scott's career include C. S. Lewis and The Diary of Vikenty Angarov.

Scott left the University of Edinburgh after his first year.

Scott became interested in the British punk music scene, and began writing for fanzines, eventually starting his own, Jungleland.

Scott was especially interested in the music of The Clash and Patti Smith, a tribute to whom, "A Girl Called Johnny", would become the first Waterboys single.

Scott and a guitarist named Allan McConnell formed a band, The Bootlegs, which gave way to Another Pretty Face in 1978 when Caldwell and two other friends joined.

The friends created their own record label, named New Pleasures, "obtained financial backing from the enigmatically named Z" and began releasing Another Pretty Face's singles.

The band achieved some success with their first single "All the Boys Love Carrie" / "That's Not Enough" when New Musical Express named it "Single of the Week".

The band signed a contract with Virgin Records, was featured on the cover of Sounds magazine, and toured with Stiff Little Fingers.

Virgin, after receiving a demo tape from Another Pretty Face, released the band four months after the signing.

Nikki Sudden, who had interviewed Another Pretty Face in Edinburgh for ZigZag magazine, asserts that "the APF stuff is still some of Mike Scott’s best work".

In 1980 through 1982 Scott, amongst other projects, worked occasionally with Sudden.

Another Pretty Face continued to release music and recorded a Peel Session on 18 February 1981.

The band eventually came to the attention of Nigel Grainge, founder of Ensign Records.

Grainge signed Another Pretty Face to the label, and the band moved to London, changing its name to Funhouse (taken from the name of The Stooges' album Fun House).

Scott had become dissatisfied with the band.

He later described Funhouse's sound as "similar to a jumbo jet flying on one engine".

Scott began working on solo songs and recordings, a decision that led to the creation of The Waterboys.

A December 1981 session at Redshop Studios formed the beginnings of The Waterboys' first album, The Waterboys.

The Waterboys' membership has changed a great deal throughout the group's existence.

Anthony Thistlethwaite, Karl Wallinger, Kevin Wilkinson and Steve Wickham all made major contributions, but Scott describes the band as his project.

"[T]o me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."

The Waterboys' first release was a single of "A Girl Called Johnny" in March 1983.

The first album came out that June.

His father left the family when Mike was ten years old, but the two were reunited in 2007.

Scott's mother was an English teacher, exposing him to the greats of English literature from a young age.

Scott was interested in music from an early age.

At age 12, after the family had moved to Ayr, he began a serious interest in learning guitar.

Scott is also a published writer, having released his autobiography, Adventures of a Waterboy, in 2012.