Clydebank musician invited to record at Abbey Road Studios

Dean Freeman was left “speechless” after his group The Odd Socks were contacted by a producer offering them the opportunity to join the likes of The Beatles and Oasis by recording tracks at the studio in London.

The group performing on the steps at Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow (Image: Byron Turner)The 29-year-old, who grew up in John Knox Street, told the Post that the band is set to make the trip early next year and admitted he is feeling slightly nervous about it.

Dean said: “We were contacted by a producer around six months ago, he works for Mad Fox Manchester and also produces down in Abbey Road as well.

“He said he really liked our sound and asked if we had any other demos we could send over. After that, he said he’d like to work with us and mentioned us going down to Abbey Road to record from January 22 to 23.

“We are going to record two debut singles. Funnily enough, we did two demos in January this year and exactly one year later we are going down to Abbey Road.

“We’re ecstatic, it’s hard to explain exactly how I feel about it. It’s nerve-wracking but I know we are ready for it.

“All of the people who influence our music have recorded songs there, I know as soon as we walk in we’ll be able to feel the history.”

The Odd Socks were formed around a year ago and consist of Dean who is on vocals/guitar, Oran McBride on vocals, and Hassi White on the drums.

Over the last 12 months, the group has played gigs at The Classic Grand, Bridgend Festival, and HMV in Glasgow.

Dean explained that their ultimate goal is to take to the stage at the Barrowland Ballroom and revealed the meaning behind the band’s quirky name.

He added: “The goal for now is to stay focused, go down and get the tracks recorded, and hopefully get to do some festivals.

“The biggest goal for every musician in Glasgow is to play the Barrowlands, I hope that will be in sight for us one day.

“When we formed around a year we started gigging around the city with a different name – The Mundos.

“We eventually decided to change the name and my drummer always wears odd socks so I thought that was perfect as we all have different personalities so it suited us.”

The musician told of how his childhood, growing up in Clydebank has had an influence on his work. Particularly the influence of other musical family members.

Dean first got into music at the age of six when he started playing the violin before later moving on to the guitar and vocals.

The 29-year-old explained that music is a form of self-expression which is why he enjoys it so much.

The band recently played a set at HMV in Glasgow (Image: Byron Turner)Dean said: “I was brought up around music. My auntie and uncle were singers and had a studio so I’ve always had that influence.

“One of my mates, Ross Weir, taught me how to play the guitar and it went from there. I was brought up listening to The Beatles, Oasis, The Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix – who all inspire me.

“I was born in John Knox Street and brought up in a place called ‘the scheme’ across from Clydebank Docks.

“All of my family stayed in the one maisonette, there were twelve houses and they were just full of my aunties, uncles, cousins, and my gran.

“Music allows you to express yourself. Being brought up in the town it was a wee bit of a tough area and we saw a lot of violence growing up.

“You can hear it in our music that there are emotions from throughout my childhood.”