Interview: Lonely Tourist / Plume of Feathers

First dates, lock-ins and dodgy regulars: Adam Burrows meets Lonely Tourist and Plume of Feathers frontman Paul Tierney. 

Booze, relationships, the treacherous passage from youth to adulthood – this is the story of life as told by Paul Tierney. A Glaswegian songwriter who found his voice in Bristol, he recently turned an extinct Hotwells pub into one of 2016’s most thought provoking albums. 

“I’ve been writing songs for years. Not all stuff you would want to hear, mind. I spent years in a band in Glasgow, and moving here gave me a chance to start something different.” He’s released three albums as Lonely Tourist, with a fourth planned for early next year. Dripping with bathos and self-deprecating wit, Paul’s songs have been championed by 6Music, Radio 2 as Radio Bristol. 

There’s a sense in the lyrics of time running away, of unfulfilled potential and failure to seize the day – The Ballad of Paul Tierney being a perfect example. Inspired by a footballing namesake whose career nosedived after a stint at Man United, it’s a tale of youthful promise and rapid decline. “I saw him play for Livingston when he played in Scotland and noticed him because of his name. It made me wonder if it was better to have played at the top level even for a short period of time, or to have never played at all.” 

Another theme is alcohol. The first Lonely Tourist album has a (two-thirds empty) pint pot on the cover, and then there are songs like Too Old For Clubbing and The Last Glass. Drinking is so central to British life it’s surprising more people don’t write songs about it. “Aye, I’ll need to write about something else,” says Paul. “I do a lot of gigs in pubs and venues and it’s what I see. Alcohol can give you the best and worst of times. There’s no point saying it’s all bad or all good because it clearly isn’t and I know plenty of people who’ve had problems with it.” 

If anyone was born to write a concept album about a pub it’s Paul, and a very fine job he’s done of it too. How did it happen? “Plume of Feathers is an album I wrote with Chris Webb about pubs and pub culture and uses the story of a Bristol pub to link the songs.” The pub in question closed in 2013 after serving for 238 years. 

“The songs relate to things that go on in pubs: first dates, lock-ins, dodgy regulars and the like”. There’s even a song from the perspective of a disembodied bar in a reclamation yard, most likely destined for a new life in an upmarket home. “If you play around the UK you see loads of ex-pubs in ruins or turned into flats or shops…it’s a wee bit of social history that you won’t get back.” The album’s been featured by Steve Lamacq and described as “an excellent record” by Gideon Coe.

The Plume of Feathers album spawned a band of the same name, whose shows are a treat for the eyes and ears. “We wanted Plume of Feathers to be more than just an indie band. If I was to stick on a leather jacket and roll around the floor like Van McCann I’d look bloody ridiculous.” Stephanie Black – the artist who designed the album cover – has made a film for each of the album’s songs. “We play our set along to the films and run almost all the songs together…people say the gigs are quite intense as there is a lot to take in.”

Paul sees the band – which features Jim Evans, Brian Price, Chris and himself – continuing beyond the lifespan of the album: “We’ve got the No Tabs EP coming out in September, written by the band rather than just me and Jim.” Let’s hope they don’t call time on it for a while. 

Lonely Tourist plays Musicians Against Homelessness at Exchange on Sunday, September 25. No Tabs EP by Plume of Feathers out Sept 30. Listen at lonelytourist.bandcamp.com and plumeoffeathers.bandcamp.com