Remembering The Lapelles' Gary Watson

Gary Watson, frontman of East Kilbride band The Lapelles, was a talented songwriter, a champion of new music from Scotland and beyond, and an enthusiastic promoter of his home town. His untimely death, aged just 22, is a devastating blow to the hundreds of musicians, promoters and fans who had the privilege of working with him or watching his band perform live.

The five piece indiepop group were the cover stars of the July issue of The Skinny's Scotland edition, in recognition of their rapid rise to prominence in the first half of this year. The band had enjoyed a series of high profile support slots; they toured with the Last Shadow Puppets, The View and The Kooks and were due to open for The Jesus and Mary Chain in Glasgow at the end of August. Gary was a huge fan of the Mary Chain in particular. Like him, the Reid brothers hailed from East Kilbride and enjoyed the limitless potential of three or four chord melodies.

I met Gary and Lapelles keyboard player Chris Ballantyne in June to chat about the band and its future. Interviewing some musicians can be like wading through treacle, but spending an hour in their company was a joy. They were both warm, witty and hugely enthusiastic about music in general. The band had just released their second single, Grab Life By, and were delighted with the reaction from their growing fan base and the wider music industry. They had not long signed a heavyweight management deal with the same London agency that looks after the Arctic Monkeys.

Such endorsements could easily go to heads of other bands, but Gary remained grounded. He spoke about improving their live performances and honing his songwriting. He was keen to point out that The Lapelles were just one of several bands from East Kilbride who were worthy of attention. He was looking forward to writing the next chapter of the group's story. "We've never imagined doing anything else other than making music," he told me. "We have that shared mindset, all working together.  All we've done for the past month is play gigs. It's been great to step out of our comfort zone."

Gary had been performing in public since the age of 16 when he used to busk at an East Kilbride shopping centre, performing covers of bands he would go on to share a stage with. The Lapelles only got together in 2012 but were already well on the road to success; this was a band he had worked hard to build from the bottom up. The loss of someone so young and so talented is heartbreaking. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go to Gary's family, friends and bandmates.