Fiona Duncan
Fiona Duncan took over as lead singer of Slalmon D after previous singer, and founder of the band passed away. Fiona never considered herself to be a singer but has started to feel like a real singer over the last year. Fiona writes and performs punk songs with a political agenda.
“Slalom D were started sometime around 2017 by Craig Macbeth. He never really intended Slalom D to be a band that played live but he wanted to record songs to release digitally. After a few line-up changes he was pushed by newer members of the band to consider playing gigs. Craig was a very outspoken bloke, a very political activist who worked with homeless people. However, he wasn’t a natural front person and really struggled performing live. We have that in common.
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Slalom D started gigging with Gary Roberts on guitar, Tony Lindstedt on bass and Iain Murray on drums. They soon established themselves as a hard hitting, political punk band with songs about mental illness, the Grenfell tragedy and Sunderland’s industrial history. They were extremely popular with their home crowd and began branching out for gigs. Craig became an excellent albeit reluctant front man and their gigs were electric. The atmosphere was always exciting. Unfortunately, last year we lost Craig and Slalom D lost their driving force and lyricist.
That’s where I come in.
I was a good friend of Craig’s and shared his passion for politics. The band were booked at the Ivy House to play a gig in the May after Craig’s passing and as a collective, we decided to go ahead with the gig. Six of his friends would sing two songs each and the gig would raise funds for a local radio station that had always championed the band. It was a fitting send off and a great night to remember our friend.
I sang two songs despite never ever singing before or being on stage. When we all went home that night we presumed that was the end of the band. However, the next morning two members of the band turned up at my house and said they’d like to continue with me as the vocalist. I was blown away and very dubious; I had no talent whatsoever and certainly no experience.
I said yes mainly to keep Craig's memory alive and do his words justice.
He’d wrote some brilliant songs and it felt right that there was a way people could still hear them. After saying yes the band dumped me right in the deep end. They had a recording session booked for two days later and a gig at the O2 Academy in Newcastle two weeks later. It was a massive shock but we did it and I’m really proud of the single we produced and how the gig went. The single features some of Craig’s spoken words on it so it’s fitting that we are both on that release.
It felt like a baton had been passed.
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So my gigs are into double figures now, I still find it massively nerve wracking but it is getting a bit easier. I love that we still get a reaction to our message and that people want to see us. It’s great to see so many women in our audience too, Slalom D are a real equality band and I think having a female singer really emphasises that. We’ve written five new songs, which was another challenge as I’d never had to do that before but so far so good.
I’ve written about the refugee crisis, a song called G.L.A.M (go look at me) about women fighting to be safe and 588 about Russian Female bomber pilots in World War II. It still amazes me that anyone is interested but I’m loving writing and trying to reach people who might be isolated or struggling. I love that feeling of unity you get at gigs when you are with people who feel the same as you about injustices and social issues. I loved it as an audience member going to see Angelic Upstarts, New Model Army and I love it even more as a singer!”
Fiona Duncan singing G.L.A.M with Slalom D at the Ivy House, Sunderland.
To find out more about Fiona and her band 'Slalom D' check out their video below and follow them on social media and streaming platforms! Fiona also has a blog which you can check out by clicking below!