Idle Wild History

Idlewild, named after the quiet meeting place in Anne of Green Gables, formed in December 1995 in Edinburgh, Scotland when 19 year-old Roddy Woomble met drummer Colin Newton at a party. The two discovered that they had much in common, including similar musical interests and record collections. By the end of the night, they had discussed forming a band together. On the same night, the two were introduced to guitarist Rod Jones and the three kept in contact afterwards, meeting up to listen to music. Soon, the trio began writing songs together, and, in need of a bassist, they brought Phil Scanlon into the fold, due to the fact that he owned a bass guitar.

Idlewild played their first show on 16 January 1996, at the Subway Club in Edinburgh to a crowd of thirty friends, which led to many more shows around Edinburgh throughout the course of the year. In May, 1996 the band, now with over twenty songs written, entered Split Level Studios to record. The tape of these recordings earned the band many bookings at various venues around Scotland, including Glasgow. Local publications that heard the tape reviewed it favorably.

Phil Scanlon decided to leave the band in February, 1997 to concentrate on his studies. Since leaving Idlewild, he has become a highly successful chemical engineer and currently resides outside San Francisco. Woomble asked Bob Fairfoull to replace the departing bassist. Fairfoull had been present at every Idlewild show since the summer of 1996, and had impressed the others with his spoken-word, solo acoustic shows as well as his performances with Edinburgh band, Pussy Hoover. Fairfoull's debut with the band took place on 28 February at Glasgow bar, Nice N' Sleazy's.


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