90s Glasgow band back with new album of 'covers and collaborations'

Glasgow Times

11-06-2025

'Being asked to tour Hungary as part of a Scottish contingent for the British Arts Council in 1996,' she says, 'and performing as part of a Creeping Bent Organisation label night at John Peel's Meltdown in 1998.'
'At the first, the audiences were pretty hard core, which The Seret Goldfish definitely is not. The trip is immortalised in the song 4 Excited People."
She adds: 'The second was a spectacular night, which included performances by Adventures in Stereo, The Leopards and a brief appearance by Vic Godard, and it was brilliantly compered by the much missed poet, Jock Scot.'
The Secret Goldfish will be launching their fourth album, Empty Holster, at a special showcase on June 21 in Glasgow's Glad Café. Ex-Orange Juice guitarist James Kirk will be performing with the band and The Cords will be appearing as special guests.
The Secret Goldfish
BBC presenter Nicola Meighan will be interviewing Katy about 30 years of The Secret Goldfish, her early music career with the Fizzbombs, and her memoir of music and family, Matilda in the Middle.
Nicola will also be interviewing Katy's husband, the musician and songwriter Douglas MacIntyre, about three decades of running The Creeping Bent Organisation record label, which is closing down at the end of the year.
Katy Lironi and her husband Douglas MacIntyre (Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)
Empty Holster has been many years in the gestation, explains Katy, who has been collating songs by her favourite songwriters since 1996.
The album tracks have been recorded sporadically over recent decades and were finally completed at Green Door studio in Glasgow and mastered by Samuel Joseph Smith.
'Why now? Well, this is the final year of operation for CBO and I am someone who needs a deadline,' she laughs.
'I guess the planets have just aligned and this is its moment.'
It is a record of covers – Holiday Hymn by Subway Sect's Vic Godard, Get on Board by James Kirk and tracks by The Shop Assistants and The Beach Boys – and collaborations, including Adventures in Stereo's Jim Beattie and Davy Henderson of Fire Engines and The Sexual Objects fame.
It includes an impressive array of musical guest appearances, including Mick Slaven of The Bluebells, Campbell Owens of Aztec Camera, Francis Macdonald of Teenage Fanclub and Katy and Douglas's daughter Amelia Lironi, of up-and-coming funk-popsters QUAD90.
QUAD90 (Image: Chris Hogge)
There is also a new song on the album, says Katy.
'Louche Life is a song we wrote with James Kirk and it seemed to fit with the overall spirit of collaboration of the album,' she explains.
'I love working with James because you never quite know what direction he'll take or what lyrics he'll sing.
'We appeared on Marc Riley's 6 Music show a few years ago and James rewrote a whole load of lyrics in the car on the way down to Manchester for the session.'
Katy adds: 'Collaboration is the root of all the very best creativity and it also brings out the best in us.
'To have my absolutely favourite songwriters and artists on this album is magical - perfectly topped off by singing in tandem with my daughter Amelia, who was still space-dust when the earliest songs on the album were initially recorded.
'It's fairly surreal.'
Katy's book, Matilda in the Middle, is a memoir of music and family.
Choir 21 (Image: Ginger Horticulture)
'It's largely about how important music is the lives of many in the Downs syndrome community, my own daughter Matilda included,' she says. 'Bringing out the book has been a highlight of the last year for me and being able to take it to so many festivals has been an amazing experience.
'I've really enjoyed introducing the audiences to Choir 21, the Makaton choir of teens and adults with Ds that I run in my role with Downs syndrome Scotland.
'We took a small contingent from Choir 21 down to the DSS garden at the Chelsea flower show last month.
'We performed an original song, Our Chelsea Anthem, co-written with Douglas and Ken McCluskey of The Bluebells, who are our patrons.'
She adds, smiling: 'It was an amazing experience for our young people and Chelsea didn't know what had hit it.'
The release of the Empty Holster does not mark the end of The Secret Goldfish – far from it, says Katy.
'There's always another album in the making,' she says. 'And we are always open to touring. When CBO finally comes to a close, we expect to have loads of time between work and family, to fill with more musical adventures.'
The Secret Goldfish are at the Glad Café on June 21.