Unless you have a fanatical interest in, and encyclopedic knowledge of, unsigned British punk bands from 1977, chances are you've never heard of Bastards From Hell, the Glasgow quartet who later evolved into art-punks The Dreamboys. But there's every chance that you'll have heard of at least one of their members, for their line-up included two now-famous faces, Dr Who/The Thick Of It star Peter Capaldi, and comedian/actor-turned-talk show host Craig Ferguson.
In a new interview with The Guardian,. Capaldi looks back upon his punk rock past. recalling that The Dreamboys, formed while he was a student at the Glasgow School of Art, were influenced by David Bowie, Talking Heads and The Cramps.
"This was around 1977," he recalls, "and back then you could take a tape to a venue and get a gig. The art school had a very staid student body that looked after entertainment. They tended to bring in hippie bands, jazz acts and George Melly. We wanted more aggressive music, so we ended up providing it ourselves. But our shows weren’t full of people spitting. There was quite a schism between London and the rest of the country – I think the people of Glasgow frowned on all the spitting and that kind of nonsense.
"At the time I thought I just loved showing off," the 66-year-old actor continues, "but really what I loved was being able to create a whole world on stage and presenting our ideas to people. We kept at it. We tried and tried but we weren’t getting anywhere. Eventually you run out of steam because you have no money and you’re eating Pot Noodles on Christmas Day. It seemed like everybody else in Glasgow was getting signed or doing a Peel Session and we weren’t. I would get the coach down to London and go round all the record labels but nothing ever happened."
Capaldi's punk career ended soon after he landed his first acting jobs. His big break occurred when film-maker Bill Forsyth, who had directed Altered Images vocalist Clare Grogan in Gregory's Girl, offered him a part in his 1983 film Local Hero, perhaps best known for its Mark Knopfler score.
"It felt like fate was pushing me towards acting and away from music," Capaldi recalls, "so I embraced that."
The actor didn't totally abandon his musical dreams however, and released his debut solo album, St Christopher, in 2021. His new solo album, Sweet Illusions, is out now.
