IT started off as an obsession with Adam and the Ants but these days Vic Galloway’s passion for all things musical knows no bounds.
Now a Radio One DJ, the former Loretto School boy, a devotee of the legendary John Peel when he was a teenager, can now consider himself to be a major influence on the UK music scene.
Today, he is looking forward to presenting the television and r
adio coverage for festival extravaganza T In The Park.
“T In The Park becomes more and more successful every year and it really shines a light on Scotland’s live music scene and on Scotland’s live music-loving public,” says Vic.
“The appetite for live music in the UK is phenomenal and T In The Park has been brilliant for the bands and for the culture of Scotland.”
If you think Vic is just being enthusiastic because he’s one of the faces of this year’s BBC coverage – the most extensive yet – then think again. He was one of the first through the gates when T In The Park first launched at Strathclyde Country Park in 1994 – his band the Huckleberrys even once graced one of the smaller stages – and he hasn’t missed a visit since.
The 35-year-old’s passion is for up-and-coming bands and that’s also reflected in his work as an advisor to the Scottish Arts Council, steering their decisions on which musicians to give financial support to.
At this year’s T In The Park, he’s particularly looking forward to seeing Scots foursome Isosocles, The Twilight Sad, the jolly indie band Frightened Rabbit and The Joe Acheson Quartet, who will grace the T Break Stage.
“I’ve got an insatiable desire, I love discovering new bands and hearing new sounds,” says Vic. “I’m also a massive champion of the underdog, I like the little man to get his airplay as well as the more successful commercial artists.”
Music has always been a major factor in Vic’s life with parents Douglas and Kathleen, who live in Haddington, East Lothian, also having an appreciation.
While Douglas, an Arabic teacher and translator, loved the early rock ’n’ roll hits of Little Richard and Eddie Cochran, Kathleen, a retired nurse, preferred more of a Motown sound.
But it was the raw energy of Adam and the Ants that really got Vic interested.
“The incredible tunes, the two drummers, the noisy guitars, and the fact that he was dressed like a pirate or a red Indian . . . what’s not to like,” laughs Vic. “It was theatre, it was drama, music, it was fashion, it was attitude all rolled into one.”
As a teenager growing up in Haddington, Vic also spent many a night listening to Peel – a DJ he cites as being a major influence on his career.
“John Peel, he’s my hero in terms of radio,” he says. “Every time I listened to his programme you would hear stuff you’d never come across at all and that
I’m just one of these people who lives life to the absolute limit
just opened my mind. He didn’t seem to have an ego or be a big showbiz show-off. You get a lot of radio DJs that think they are more important than the music and I always thought that John Peel put the music first.”
As T In The Park has grown, Vic’s career has also gone from strength to strength.
“I just like to make hay while the sun shines,” shrugs Vic, pointing out that he’s not taking a thing for granted. “The media’s so fickle, you never know where your next job’s coming from.
“I really enjoy doing television and, while I’m happy doing music-related things, I’m happy to do what ever comes my way.”
He’s certainly got a busy time ahead – in the week after T In the Park, he’ll be hosting eight radio shows in just one week.
As well as the three shows he regularly fronts, he’ll also be sitting in for Radio Scotland favourite Tom Morton.
The time he devotes to broadcasting inevitably means he hasn’t been able to spend any time performing and with that in mind it’s unsurprising to learn that his band The Deaf Mutes have now split.
However, not one to rest on his laurels, he’s building a studio in his Leith flat where he plans to record some new songs – music that he may compose when he’s having a well earned rest during a visit to Skye later this month.
“I’m looking forward to no mobile phone, internet or TV – just reading books and walking, maybe doing some painting and making some music,” he says.
“Because my life involves meeting lots and lots of people and listening to loud music and running around the place doing stuff, when I've got some time off I like to chill out and do next to nothing.”
The person Vic likes to chill out most with is his artist girlfriend, Alexa, 25, who he met at a barbecue five years ago.
The pair also have a shared love of body art and Vic says he’s boasted an “addiction” to tattoos since getting a phoenix – an Inuit symbol for communication – across his shoulder blades a decade ago.
Since then, his left arm, from his shoulder to his elbow, has become slowly covered in an intricate flower motif, while he has a pop art theme in mind for his right arm which is a work in progress.
“It’s nature on one hand and man and machines on the other,” he says. “It’s like watching a piece of art come alive. When I see really good tattoos on other people it can look beautiful, impressive and exciting.
“I’m just one of these people who lives life to the absolute limit, to do as much as possible and to savour it all.
“People go ‘what the hell are you going to look like when you’re 60’ and I’m quite happy to say I’ll look like a little wrinkly fat old man with loads of faded tattoos. So what. At least I’ll know I’ve lived a crazy life.”
• T In The Park takes place at Balado Country Park, Kinross, from July 11-13 and extensive access-all-areas coverage is planned for BBC One, Two and Three.
Vic Galloway will also be hosting a highlights show with Annie Mac on Radio 1 on the July 14 between 9pm and midnight. Live video coverage, highlights and exclusive content will feature online at
www.bbc.co.uk/tinthepark where performances will be available for a full week following the event.
