In the run up to the launch of No Colour Too Strong to Paint, a CD to raise funds for the Sick Kids Foundation, writer Ali George will be profiling all the artists involved.

She spoke to Rich Paxton of The Remnant Kings (yes, that is an homage to the fabric shop) about their involvement with the CD and their dodgy track record with bass players.

“We have a rotating lineup of seven members, but the three core ones are myself, guitarist Andrew and drummer Kit. Then we have occasional keyboard, harmonica, violin and we’re currently auditioning for a bass player. This will actually be our ninth one – apparently I have a weird effect on them!

"Andrew and I write most of the songs together. He’s an amazing guitarist and I’m not, really! He gives everything an amount of finesse. He’s quite poppy and I’m a little bit darker, so we end up with catchy melodies that have darker lyrics.

"We’re putting out a new EP in May, and there will be a single out around then too. I’m really looking forward to it, because our last EP came out a couple of years ago and our sound has changed quite a lot since then. We’re actually leaving right after the launch gig for the Sick Kids CD to go on a tour to promote it down in London.

"We got a manager last summer, Gary Tait from Ginger Music, and he’s been amazing. He’s much more proactive than us, and he’s got us some great gigs. He basically runs my entire life now!

"The music scene in Edinburgh is in better shape than it ever has been. I’d really recommend Tam’s Railways – they’re a bunch of Leithers with a wicked sense of humour, and a bit like us their sound is a bit eclectic – they don’t necessarily fit into one niche.

"I also really rate Green Man Running, and Epic 26. What’s great about them is that they’re unashamedly poppy.

"It sometimes feels like there’s a bit of a taboo against that in the Scottish music scene, like pop is a dirty word, but I’d get bored just doing serious stuff all of the time.

"You can see that bands like these ones are really enjoying themselves and having fun on stage, which is really important.

"We’ve got some great gigs coming up over the next few months, including Haddow Fest next weekend, and it feels like if we’re going to make it to the next level then this will be the year we do it.

"Having said that I think it’s important not to expect anything, you know? Just get on with enjoying playing the music. Like Aaron Wright - he was just getting on with things, not doing anything different than usual, and then suddenly everything just snowballed, and he ended up doing Glastonbury and supporting The Charlatans on a major tour.

"Locally it can be a struggle to get people out to gigs. In Glasgow, people will come out to see what bands are like even if they haven’t heard them before – that doesn’t seem to happen in the same way in Edinburgh.

"I hate the notion of the scenster standing at the back of the room stroking their chin – just come and join in! It’s almost as if someone jumping about having fun is to be mistrusted, and it sometimes feels as if you’d never know if someone liked you!

"We’ve had some pretty good support slots with the likes of Band of Skulls and The Law… and there was one at Durham Student’s Union where we played with Wheatus and Tinie Tempah, who is the nicest person I’ve ever met.

"Playing live is the best way to pick up new fans. We’re better live and I think that’s at least partly because you can tell live whether someone believes in what they’re doing. I think the launch of the Sick Kids CD will bring a lot of people out who wouldn’t necessarily come to this sort of gig normally, because all the money goes to the charity.

"People in Edinburgh owe the Sick Kids a lot – I know they’re very dear to my heart. And it’s a nice side effect that some bands involved will get a bit of recognition that they may not have had before.

"We got involved through our manager, as his company are doing all the promotion. We were really frustrated that we couldn’t put something new on there, but as I said we aren’t recording new stuff till April/May.

"Basically we put forward the best thing we had, which is a song that was written by Andrew. It’s called More Than I Can Tell and it’s quite a stompy, garagey tune.

"It’s also the song that made us realize how we wanted to sound. The first time we played it live it was just like yes, this is the one. It showed a real departure from the type of thing we’d written before, like a move away from High School mucking about to an older, original sound.

"I remember that gig really well actually – it was at the Railway Tavern in Penicuik.

No Colour Too Strong to Paint is due for release on May 7th 2011 with a launch party at Maggie's Chamber on the same date. Youngteam Records will be pressing a small run of CDs which will be available at the launch for one night only. The album will also be available to download from all major online stores including Bandcamp, iTunes and HMV.

Written by Ali George - an Edinburgh writer and journalist who has embarked on a project to write 12 books in 12 months. Visit her 12 Books 12 Months blog to see how her mission is going.