Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland's Girl Bands

The story of Scottish pop music from the 1960s onwards told by the visionary women who got on stage and made music together.

Year: 2024 

Director: Blair Young, Carla J Easton 

Producers: Beth Allan, Sinéad Kirwan 

Executive Producers: Mark Thomas, David Harron 

Editors: Blair Young, Lindsay Watson 

Production Company: The Forest of Black 

Contributors: The Mckinleys, The Ettes, Strawberry Switchblade, The Twinsets, Sunset Gun, His Latest Flame, Sophisticated Boom Boom, Hello Skinny, Lung Leg, Melody Dog, Sally Skull, The Hedrons, Carla J. Easton

Screen Scotland support: The film accessed £98,990 through Screen Scotland’s Film Development and Production Fund, as well as £15,000 through Screen Scotland's Distribution Fund.


Synopsis

The story of Scottish pop music from the 1960s onwards told by the visionary women who got on stage and made music together. We discover the little-known role that women played in Scotland's emerging music scenes through interviewing those who tried to break the glass ceiling, from the vocal harmony groups of the sixties to DIY indie-fanzine-inspired groups of the 90s, as well as activists, artists, and experts. 

Weaving together personal anecdotes with a scrapbook audio-visual aesthetic, as the film takes us through each decade, a colourful mixtape is formed spanning multiple musical genres.  

Narrated by award-winning musician Carla J. Easton, a former member of the girl band Teen Canteen, the film takes a critical look at the barriers women have faced making music in the past, and still face today. It asks how we can inspire young women to make music, if those who do so are continuously erased from our cultural history.

The image shows five girls in a bedroom, which is decorated in posters and images of girl groups from over the years. The girls stand in a row, yelling at the camera, wearing a range of clothing such as a plaid dress, leather jacket, jeans and t-shirt.


More information

Premiere: Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland's Girl Bands had its World Premiere as the Closing Night film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2024.

Image credits 

Header image: The Ettes courtesy of EIFF 

Image 2: Still from Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland's Girl Bands, courtesy of Euan Robertson