OFF THE GRID/ON THE RECORD: MEET ‘IN REFLECTION’

INTERVIEW | IN REFLECTION by Anne Kelly

This week, Glasgow‘s most exciting new music spectacle is set to take the city by storm as B12 Entertainment presents Off The Grid. A live series that brings 50 rising bands from across the country to some of Glasgow’s most iconic grassroots venues.

Ivory Blacks will host one of the first dates in the 12-show run on Friday, 28th August, hosting Modern Ruin, Klozer, One Nine Eight and Central Belt surfers In Reflection. We caught up with the band to talk influences, their latest single ‘Escape’, cutting their teeth across the wider scene and – of course – Off The Grid.

First of all, introduce yourself. Who makes up In Reflection, where are you based, and how long have you been together?

We’re In Reflection, a four-piece prog/metal/rock outfit from in and around Central Scotland. We are all sort of dotted around all over the place, between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Falkirk. We started this band at the start of 2025.

The line-up is Frazer Smith on vocals and guitar, David MacPherson on guitar, Cameron Jamieson on bass and Amy Blair on Drums.

Picking 3 of your biggest influences, what bands would you say match your sound?

Influences are a hard one since there are four of us and we are all into a few different styles and loads of different bands. I’d say the bands we most get compared to are Alter Bridge, Tremonti and Karnivool, which I’ve always thought was kinda cool.

Your latest single ‘Escape’ was released earlier this year; can you share a bit about how long this one has been with you and what it means to you?

This song has been with us from the very beginning! It was one of the first riffs Frazer wrote when he started playing 7-string guitars. The song is about what we do to escape. Sometimes these things can be relied upon too much and are used to avoid the things we need to confront.

In terms of the rest of 2026, do you have any other new music plans?

Hopefully get a few more gigs in the bag and record more of the material we have sitting in the wings. We’re still fairly new, so we’re also trying to build up a fan base.

Events like Off The Grid are all about music discovery. Do you have a personal moment when you went into a gig blind and came away with a new favourite band?

A few years back I went to see SikTh at the Glasgow Garage G2, and they had a support band with them called Press To Meco. By far one of the biggest sounding three pieces I’ve ever seen! Unfortunately, they aren’t together anymore, but what a band!!!

The vague “Central Scotland” badge for the band suggests you aren’t from one of the bigger music cities like Glasgow or Edinburgh. What’s one town or city music scene that you think gets overlooked and should be celebrated more?

As I mentioned before it’s just down to the fact that we’re dotted around all over the place, haha. I’d probably have to say personally, I think Stirling gets overlooked for music and talent. From what I can remember, Stirling used to have quite a big music scene.

If you were to pick a favourite though, what city edges it for its live music – Glasgow or Edinburgh?

I’d say for us personally it has to be Glasgow. I just think Glasgow seems to be busier with more iconic venues!! Plus our “fan base” is mostly Glasgow based…so maybe we’re just biased.

In terms of playing live though, what’s the most gruelling side that the average gig-goer doesn’t see?

The kind of gigs we have played so far have been pretty easy. They’ve all been fairly close, and we’ve had to just step on stage, set up, sound check and then play!! Some of the members of the band have experienced gigs in the past where travel has been involved, hard load in’s and set-ups.

I’d say the most gruelling side of gigging is selling tickets, advertising and trying to get a buzz about the event. I think these days you really have to be up on your social media. Constantly doing reels, posting, thinking of imaginative ways to grasp people and get them to come along to enjoy some live music! We absolutely love being on stage for the time we’re up there though, and I think it really shows during our sets.

Looking across the wider Off The Grid lineup, if you were to buy a ticket to check out any other show on the bill, who are you going to see?

Other than our night… which everyone should buy a ticket for!!! It would probably be 18th of September at the Garage Attic. We’ve played with Too Red and The Drive a few times before and they always put on a great show!!