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

In UK cinemas from 18th October, 2024 (sold out) more dates to be arranged in October.

Popstars, post-punks and pioneers: a new documentary platforming Scotland’s defiant trailblazing girl bands

Glasgow Film Theatre and Mono on 18 October, 2024

80s Glasgow girl band Sophisticated Boom Boom reform for one night only and perform alongside Jeanette Gallagher (The McKinleys), Louise Rutkowski (Sunset Gun/ This Mortal Coil) and Hen Hoose as the cinema release launches with a special screening and live gig event at Glasgow Film Theatre and Mono on 18th October.

The cinema release follows the film’s World Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival on 21st August which sold out in under 30 mins.

Scottish film distributor, Cosmic Cat, are delighted to announce a UK cinema release for Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands from 18th October. This feature-length documentary platforms the trailblazing popstars, post-punks and pioneers who challenged a male-dominated industry, acknowledging their rightful place in music history and examining the enduring barriers faced by women making music.

Carla J Easton and Blair Young

Written and narrated by Carla J. Easton (the award-nominated solo artist and member of  TeenCanteen) and co-directed by prolific music promo director Blair Young (collaborator with Belle & Sebastian, Biffy Clyro, Teenage Fanclub and many more), Since Yesterday unearths the rich history of Scottish girl bands from the 1960s onwards.

Strawberry Switchblade

Blending personal anecdotes from a host of bands including Jeanette Gallacher from The McKinleys (the first Scottish girl band to break into the charts in 1964 and the first girl band to ever play Wembley Arena), The Ettes, Strawberry Switchblade, The Hedrons, Sophisticated Boom Boom, Sunset Gun, His Latest Flame, The Twinsets, Lung Leg and Hello Skinny with a scrapbook-style audio-visual aesthetic, the film takes us on a decade-by-decade adventure, crafting the ultimate visual mixtape. Discover unheard demos, lost archives, and rare performances that celebrate the women who never compromised, and subsequently got lost in time.

In Since Yesterday, Easton tells a powerful global story through a local lens, asking how we can inspire young women to make music, if those who do so are continuously erased from our cultural history?

Sophnisticated Boom Boom image credit Peter McArthur

Following its instant-sell-out World Premiere as the Closing Gala for Edinburgh International Film Festival on 21st August, Since Yesterday will be released in cinemas from 18th October. The cinema tour will kick off with a very special screening at Glasgow Film Theatre on 18th October, with ticket holders gaining access to a live after-screening gig at Mono where legendary 80s Glasgow girl band Sophisticated Boom Boom (Libby McArthur, Tricia Reid, Irene BrownJacqueline Bradley and Laura Mazzolini) will reform for one night only. Also on the bill will be Scottish female and non-binary songwriting collective Hen Hoose performing songs from the film joined on stage by Louise Rutkowski (Sunset Gun/ This Mortal Coil) and Jeanette Gallagher (The McKinleys).

Henhoose image credit Demelza Kingston

Carla said: “Since I first suggested to Blair the idea of a documentary about the history of women who had formed bands in Scotland way back in 2016, we’ve been excited about letting an audience hear all the great music we knew about already, and then all the music we subsequently discovered. But more than that, it became about letting people hear the experiences of the women who made the music tell their stories, something they had never really gotten the opportunity to do before.”

The Ettes

Blair said: “I’m excited for people to hear this music and meet these amazing characters, both in the film and through the live events happening in conjunction with the screenings and beyond and I hope it can go some way to help change things for the bands of the future.”

Ged Fitzsimmons from Cosmic Cat said: “We are thrilled to be releasing this sensational feature in cinemas across Scotland and the UK in October. The film is a celebration of the best female bands Scotland produced in the last few decades and we can’t think of a better way to kick off the release than bringing cinema and live music together for what will be a memorable night in Glasgow.”

Twinsets

Tickets for the special screening and live gig at GFT and Mono on Friday 18th October go on sale at 12.10pm Friday 16 August – Buy tickets online/ By telephone 0141 332 6535 or in person at GFT Box Office. Tickets for screening and gig £20 / screening only £11.50. Screening starts 18.30, gig 21.30

Tickets and dates for other cinema screenings, including select special events with Q&As, will be on sale from Monday 19th August at sinceyesterdayfilm.com

Since Yesterday: The Untold History of Scotland’s Girl Bands is produced by Forest of Black and financed by Kickstarter Crowdfunder, Screen Scotland and BBC Scotland.

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