Scottish art-rockers EBB burst onto the prog scene with their dynamic, edgy sound and hypnotic live shows. Such was their impact, Prog readers voted them Best New Band in last year’s Readers’ Poll. We catch up with Erin Bennett and Anna Fraser to discuss supermassive black holes, interpretative dancing and their future plans.

Words: Alison Reijman

From a chance meeting in a café in Alabama to gracing the best prog stages here in the UK, EBB are determined to be different.

Images: Boudicca Records

“Kitty is someone who interprets the music through her physical being. We tease her and tell her she’s as mad as a box of frogs. But she’s our resident frog!”

Erin Bennett

There were celebrations in Scotland when art-rock collective EBB heard they had picked up the Prog Readers’ Poll’s Best New Band award. Speaking from EBB HQ near Dumfries, Erin Bennett and Anna Fraser are still buzzing from this very unexpected accolade.

“We’re really very surprised. We put it out on social media and said: ‘Hey, the Readers’ Poll is out: vote for us.’ But never did we expect to get the email which said, ‘You’ve won!’” enthuses Bennett, the band’s vocalist, guitarist and composer.

Their debut album, Mad & Killing Time, coupled with live appearances at three notable festivals –Fusion, Summer’s End and Prog The Forest –sealed their reputation for bringing a unique, show-stopping gritty dynamism and individuality to the prog party. But it was a one-in-a-million meeting back in 2005 that originally brought them together. EBB’s producer-bassist Bad Dog (Finn McGregor) managed a band touring the USA. It included backing vocalist/percussionist Kitty Biscuits, multi-instrumentalist Nikki Francis and synth player/backing vocalist Suna Dasi.