Former H2O frontman Ian Donaldson says new solo album is the culmination of a life’s work

Drawing comparisons with David Bowie is no mean feat for an artist, but one Glasgow singer-songwriter has been called just that, “Ian is a unique talent, like a Scottish Bowie. His music NEEDS to be heard,” the former Creation Records label boss Alan McGee said of his ex-bandmate Ian Donaldson.

Ian released his second solo album, Dreams From Tenement Land, in late October. He said it is the culmination of a life’s work, seeing him pulling on resources from everywhere he could to get it made.

“It's about storytelling, it’s about life stories. I had to borrow money to make it, to make it the way I wanted it to sound,” Ian explains. “It was a question of when I got money, I would book studio time and so on. I was trying to find musicians that would work on this project, which I managed to do, and they have now become my live band as well, which is great.”

“I would kind of die on the hill defending this album. If I never get to make another one, this is the album I've always wanted to make,” he adds.

The new album draws on influences from across the spectrum, and it’s not just limited to music. The 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner has also been an inspiration for one of the tracks - the noir-esque Rachel Tyrell, named after Sean Young’s character in the film.

However, perhaps one of the greatest influences has been the aforementioned David Bowie.

“When I was about 11 to 12, I'm sitting in front of the TV and David Bowie came on to start singing Starman. And I'm just like, ‘I don't know what that is?’ I really have no idea, because Glasgow, at that time, was a pretty grimy place. It's all black and white, and all of a sudden, glam happened, and it was the first time Technicolor really happened on TV in my life,” Ian explains. “And I remember putting his arm around Mick Ronson [Bowie’s guitarist] and saying, ‘I had to phone someone. So I picked on you’ and I took that personal”.

That resonation left Ian with a plan for the rest of his life that might have been less than common in Glasgow at the time.

“I turned around to my mum, who was reading the paper, and said, ‘I know what I want to be when I leave school now’, she looked over the paper and I said, ‘I want to be an alien’, because that's what I thought he was,” Ian laughs. “That's how naive it was back then. But I've never looked back from them.”

He has never looked back in what has been a storied career, and not one that he intends on bringing to its final chapter any time soon, “there's another great, big adventure in me,” he tells me.

That storied career began more than 40 years ago, as frontman for H2O who released two UK Top 40 hits in 1983 with the singles "I Dream to Sleep" and "Just Outside of Heaven". In 2016, he released his debut novel A Rainbow in the Basement, before making his return to music with the release of his debut album in 2018 - From Stars We Came.

Looking back, Ian says that he is “kind of last man standing of my age”. However, if he is the last man standing, it is of an age when the Glasgow live music scene was an energetic place to be, in the throes of punk and new wave.

“The live circuit in Glasgow was great. There were maybe about a dozen really good pub gigs in Glasgow at the time, the Dial Inn, the Burns Howff, the Kind Man, all those places,” Ian says. “They all catered for different audiences. The Burns Howff, for instance, we used to call it a hippie pub, because it was really kind of like it was, guys with long hair and ‘tashes.

“We were like 17 or 18 and Alan McGee and I were going in there and playing, and these guys were wondering what we are, what we're doing.”

Those experiences built up a resilience according to Ian, even if the audiences were at times hostile. One of the most famous of the nights Ian remembers was a Sunday evening slot that would be filled by a band that would go onto superstardom.

“The Mars bar was always a brilliant gig. That was one where Simple Minds used to do a Sunday evening residency. And that was a great gig. That was a place you really wanted to play, if you loved new music, like punk and new wave,” Ian remembers.

Ian also namechecked a former Sauchiehall Street haunt, the Amphora as a favoured venue. “We used to play things like Dr Feelgood and Lou Reed and among the originals, and they were a really appreciative crowd,” he said.

However, there is one Glasgow venue that has taken on near-mythical status among Glaswegians. And it was one that Ian said gave him a life-changing experience.

“The Apollo was a great place because everybody played there, or they played Tiffany's, and that was a great place to go and see who you loved, like The Jam and The Clash were playing. I remember seeing one of my first gigs as a teen, I saw T-Rex being supported by The Damned. That was life changing,” Ian said. But an early exit 10 minutes after the main act came on, allowed Ian to come face-to-face with a now legendary punk icon.

“Captain Sensible from The Damned came down into the foyer. I said ‘Hi, Captain’, he said, ‘I'm just going to visit my auntie in Maryhill’. I said, ‘Do you mind if I could you get your autographs?’” Ian remembers of first meeting the beret wearing Damned member.

“In those days, in the foyer, there used to be glass panels all around the wall and whoever was playing that day would have their album covers stapled onto the wall behind these glass cases,” Ian said. “So he just put his elbow into the glass and smashed it, took the album cover off the wall then took it round to the band. They signed it and brought it around to me. He said, ‘Look after yourself’ and jumped into a taxi and I've still got that.”