Can we start with your musical background – who are you and who are The Placks? The Placks are a fairly new band, how did the band get together and what was the inspiration after your long punk career (if punks can have careers) to bring in strong Celtic influences to your music?

The Placks was a wee idea in the back of my head for years that wouldn’t go away. I have played in bands since I was in school and over the years have been lucky enough to have toured with bands like Dropkick Murphys, Rancid, UK SUBS, The Business and a few others, in my bands Beerzone and Control, and they all used to say the same thing to me, “Iain, being a proud Celt, you really ought to add some Celtic/Folk instruments to songs”. They all thought I wrote catchy, melodic songs so thought it would be very interesting.

 When people like Charlie Harper (UK SUBS), Ken Casey and Tim Armstrong say you should try something other than just straight up punk, you tend to listen!