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Scott McLennan

Scott McLennan

In 2002, Scott McLennan gave away a promising career with the Australian Federal Police in favour of roughing it as a music journalist. Both vocations offered him a chance to question a litany of undesirables and ne'er-do-wells about where they were and what they were doing last night; only one of them paid him in the currency of backstage meet-and-greets and trolley loads of CDs. 

Scott worked as a full-time entertainment writer and editor for Adelaide's street press citadel Rip It Up Publishing for a decade. In 2016 he turned to the dark side and became a senior marketing manager at Warner Music Australia, pitching creative and enticing campaigns for the likes of David Bowie, Madonna and Michael Bublé… and having most of them rejected.

Although he now has a 'sensible' full-time job that doesn't offer as many opportunities to wear Milli Vanilli T-shirts and debate how t.A.T.u. were robbed of victory at 2003's Eurovision, Scott still freelances on music projects for Warner when time allows. 

A number of Scott's additional run-ins with acclaimed artists including Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne and Slash can be found on Scott's personal website thelinesblur.com.au, which also includes a selection of his gig photographs from the past 20 years.

63 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Robyn: Body Shot

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 2009

Robyn's fronting on mighty pop moments such as 'Konichiwa Bitches', 'U Should Know Better' and 'Criminal Intent' have projected the Swedish star as a bad-ass ...

Future Islands: Singles Night

Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, 10 July 2014

Baltimore's synthpop trio Future Islands are so hot right now, not even Hollywood royalty can stand in their way. ...

Eels: The Canny Everett Show

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Fall 2003

Eels frontman Mark "E" Everett is as slippery as the fish his outfit takes its name from. After weeks of interview schedules aborted due to ...

M.I.A.: Hostile takeover

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Spring 2005

With her father formerly a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and her debut album Arular referencing bombs, warfare and violence, hot new UK star M.I.A. is ...

Foals: The Unforgettable Fire

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), January 2013

As the promotion for Foals' third album Holy Fire ramps up, it's become apparent from press shots there's a notable new addition to the Oxford ...

Arctic Monkeys: It's Up To You, New Yorkies

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), August 2006

Even when you've sold millions of copies of your debut album, earned a Mercury Award nomination, had Oasis, Kanye West and Jack White sing your ...

The Coral: The Invisible Invasion

Profile and Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Spring 2005

"I HATE KNOBS who hang on the very thought of Pete Doherty being on smack and thrive off it – they're dickheads," the Coral's guitarist ...

Groove Armada: Idle Warship

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), October 2004

Unlike their UK dance contemporaries Faithless, the rumours of Groove Armada's imminent demise remain firmly denied by the duo themselves. While Tom Findlay recently commented ...

Tegan and Sara

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), May 2013

Although Canadian duo Tegan & Sara have previously notched up collaborations with artists as diverse as Against Me!, Tiësto and Kaki King, it was still ...

Santigold: New Gold Dream

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), November 2012

If Santi "Santigold" White's strong and independent voice on her two studio albums Santogold and Master Of My Make-Believe hadn't already marked out the performer ...

My Chemical Romance: Saviours Of The Damned

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), November 2006

With talk of ghosts, pesky kids and freaky cartoons, My Chemical Romance's year to date could almost be a warped Scooby Doo cartoon. Although recording ...

Regina Spektor: A Sorta Fairytale

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), April 2010

IT'S A LITTLE-KNOWN fact, but D-grade celebrity oaf David Hasselhoff taught Regina Spektor English. After emigrating from Moscow to New York in the late 1980s, ...

Cyndi Lauper: Still Good Enough

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Summer 2008

It might be hard for her to break away from the wackily tressed imagery that accompanied her 1983 global smash 'Girls Just Want to Have ...

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Dasher! Dancer! Blitzin'!

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), December 2009

THEY'RE PERHAPS the least rural-looking band to emerge in the last decade, but Brooklyn art rock superstars Yeah Yeah Yeahs found solace in the Texas ...

Sarah McLachlan

Report and Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, Fall 2014

REVERED CANADIAN songwriter Sarah McLachlan has never played for the Denver Broncos or the Seattle Seahawks, yet she sustained an injury during the Super Bowl ...

Veruca Salt: Divide To Conquer

Report and Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, 18 September 2014

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Nina Gordon says when she last toured Australia with Veruca Salt in 1997, ...

TV On The Radio: Golden Agents

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), January 2009

Big Day Out commitments might have prevented TV On The Radio's Jaleel Bunton from attending Barack Obama's presidential inauguration last week, but he'd already played ...

Brandi Carlile: The NeverEnding Story

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), August 2007

AFTER YEARS of slogging it out in any Seattle venue that would offer her a free meal in exchange for a music set, American songwriter ...

Bob Dylan, Daniel Lanois, U2: Daniel Lanois: The Compromise You Make For Some

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2006

The "Fifth Beatle" moniker has been bandied about numerous times over the years in reference to everyone from George Martin to Pete Best, but if ...

Marina and the Diamonds: Marina & The Diamonds: Inside the Outsider

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2010

AS FAR AS revelatory points in music history go, the moment Marina Diamandis points to as her breakthrough seems impossibly inane. In late 2007 the ...

La Roux: Together In Electric Dreams

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), July 2009

ELLY JACKSON is lying under her duvet in the same bedroom she's occupied since birth, but recently something feels different. The David Bowie albums are ...

Icona Pop: Girls Of Summer

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), December 2012

IT'S TRUE: drinking to excess really does makes you rich and famous. The temperance movement might shake their heads in despair, but for Icona Pop's ...

Michael Jackson, Steve Lukather, Spinal Tap, Toto: Toto: Get in the Van…

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), February 2008

Steve Lukather's resumé over the last three decades not only showcases a prolific musician, it also suggests a wildly divergent talent unafraid of variety. The ...

Lady Antebellum: Nashville Skyline

Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, 13 March 2015

"YOU'VE GOT to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?'" After playing golf with Dirty Harry himself, Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood, Lady Antebellum's Charles ...

Bloc Party: Running on Bravado

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Summer 2005

ALREADY CLUTCHING the seal of approval from Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and the Chemical Brothers, London's Bloc Party have burst onto the international music scene in ...

The Vaccines: Kicking Against The Pricks

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), January 2011

AFTER A WHIRLWIND 2011, the Vaccines' Árni Hjörvar is retreating to his Icelandic homeland for a festive feast of smoked lamb and Christmas ham. Set ...

Elbow: Golden Years

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2012

ELBOW'S 2011 Glastonbury performance at sunset in front of 100,000 punters was another spine-tingling moment in the history of the legendary English festival, but beefy ...

Tinted Windows: Cherub Rock

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), April 2009

IN 1997, THE world of commercial music was experiencing a notable change. After five years of indie rock raking in the cash, cheery pop made ...

Kasabian: Circus Envy

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), July 2010

KASABIAN FRONTMAN Tom Meighan laughs when talking about how his band's fame took another delirious turn a few months ago. Winning last year's Brit Award ...

Wilco: Kiwi Polish

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), October 2009

IF CHICAGO'S Wilco sound at ease on their current release Wilco The Album, perhaps it's due to the climes in which the album was recorded. ...

Aztec Camera, Madonna, The Smiths, Talking Heads: Seymour Stein: Siring Greatness

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Summer 2005

IN A WORLD where the longevity of most rock stars is fleeting, record magnate Seymour Stein has nurtured a vast array of successes across the ...

The Prodigy: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2005

AFTER A SEVEN year wait for the follow up to 1997's The Fat of the Land and more than a decade on from the career-transforming ...

Kate Nash: Singing oh oh on a Friday night

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), January 2008

WHILE TOM MORELLO strums away in his Nightwatchman guise around the corner, British newcomer Kate Nash is sitting backstage in her dressing room at the ...

Linkin Park: Things Falling Apart

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 2 August 2012

They made their fortune on the back of punchy hit singles such as 'What I've Done', 'In The End' and 'Numb' tapping into a 21st ...

Jamie T: Panic On The Streets

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), September 2007

NOTE: This is Scott's original version of the article that appeared in Rip It Up. ...

Dave Stewart, Joss Stone: Joss Stone: Hey Soul Sister

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Summer 2011

THE TWO MEN apprehended for a kidnap attempt on soul singer Joss Stone a few months back might have underestimated their proposed victim. Not only ...

Kings of Leon: The Best of Times

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Spring 2007

TAKING AIM for the stadiums with their staggering third album, Because Of The Times, southern brethren Kings Of Leon have expanded their musical textures by ...

Tori Amos: Roses And Thorns

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), April 2005

In her 25 year recording career, Tori Amos has been many things. Hairsprayed rock chick, prodigious pianist and enigmatic lyricist are some of the deliciously ...

Judas Priest: Lost Prophets

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), September 2008

IN AN AGE when youth learn their rock history from Guitar Hero, some music constants remain. Judas Priest, who helped transform the global metal scene ...

Courtney Barnett: Truth Blurts Out

Interview by Scott McLennan, mX, 31 July 2014

Humble Aussie singer returns from an explosive U.S. tour ...

Muse: Hard Dazed Knights

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2008

SITTING IN the Adelaide Hilton dining area and eating a banana in the superstitious hope that it will ward off his jetlag, tired but genial ...

Iggy Pop & James Williamson, The Stooges: Iggy & The Stooges: Gimme Danger

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2013

IT'S 7,000 KILOMETRES from Michigan Palace, Detroit, to The Prince's Palace, Monaco, but for Stooges guitarist James Williamson, the emotional distance is even greater. One ...

Fall Out Boy: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 15 March 2007

They're arguably the world's foremost emo band, yet for a brief moment in 2006 it looked like it could all unravel for Fall Out Boy. ...

MGMT: Electric Dreams

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 4 December 2008

Elvis Presley's vintage tune 'Old Shep' was written about a pet canine, Michael Jackson's 'Ben' was an ode to a rat and The Beatles' 'Martha ...

The Prodigy: Two Tribes Go To War

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2005

While last year's underachieving Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned album was released after a break of more than seven years between records, The Prodigy's European shows ...

Electric Six: Where There's Smoke There's Fire

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 20 October 2005

HAVING BEEN introduced to live rock music through an Aussie double bill over 20 years ago on the outskirts of his hometown Detroit, it seems ...

Sandi Thom: Lie… It Confuses People

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 14 December 2006

IN THE SPACE of a year she's risen from performing in a dank basement to smashing Australian chart records with her debut single 'I Wish ...

Def Leppard: British Steel

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), October 2011

Considering Def Leppard's Phil Collen generally performs gigs shirtless, it's little wonder the hard rock guitarist enjoys performing in the warmer climes of Australia. First ...

The Bangles: Here Right Now

Retrospective and Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 3 November 2005

With the format only just beginning to be embraced in the mid-1980s, it seems music video programs were made for bands like The Bangles. Far ...

Simple Minds: Shine On

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), March 2007

"THAT SONG lives on its own planet!" laughed Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr in a Glaswegian brogue undiminished by a Sicilian residency. "I heard it ...

The Donnas: Heavy Medal

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), Summer 2004

WHILE THE IDEA may seem great when conceived in the back row of a Friday afternoon geography class, the fact remains that high school bands ...

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Breaking The News

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), June 2006

IT'S REALLY very simple: with their second album Show Your Bones, New York act Yeah Yeah Yeahs blasted themselves beyond insular, ragged rock with the ...

The Zutons: Fever In My Head

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 22 December 2005

WHEN IT COMES to festival appearances, the Zutons like to stand out from the crowd. At this year's Glastonbury Festival in regional England, the Liverpool ...

Does It Offend You, Yeah?: We Are Rockstars

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 25 September 2008

Severed legs, poltergeist and zombies. Rather than being a breakdown of Stephen King's latest horror thriller, this is a brief summation of macabre moments from ...

Seasick Steve: Little Ghost Song

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 19 April 2009

Not only is hobo bluesman Seasick Steve the most unlikely music star to emerge in the last decade, you also couldn't hope to chat with ...

The Flaming Lips: No More Mr Nice Guys

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 8 June 2006

Their surreal live shows offer fans magical musical epiphanies, their last studio album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots caused a meltdown in rock magazine rating ...

My Chemical Romance: Three Cheers For Sweet Success

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 1 February 2007

Although allegations of either illness or internal band problems have seen guitarist Frank Iero depart the current world tour prior to their Big Day Out ...

Kaiser Chiefs: Heads Will Roll

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 23 October 2008

Hefty sales figures might be helpful when the whim strikes you to take the Learjet to the Virgin Islands, but some bands have realised the ...

Robyn: Blonde Ambition

Interview by Scott McLennan, Attitude (Australia), Summer 2007

IN 1987, ROBYN Carlsson made her stage debut with the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. ...

Cat Power: Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide

Live Review by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 7 March 2013

WHY DO CIGARETTE packet warnings have to always be such a downer? ...

Snow Patrol: The Finish Line

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 6 September 2007

IN 2002 WHEN Rip It Up first spoke to Snow Patrol's frontman Gary Lightbody, his Scottish-based band was at a pivotal crossroad. ...

Marina and the Diamonds: Marina & the Diamonds

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 23 December 2010

One of the breakthrough acts of 2010, Marina and the Diamonds shone brightly this year via her debut album The Family Jewels and colourfully skewed ...

Wolfmother: The Empire Strikes Back

Interview by Scott McLennan, Rip It Up (Australia), 15 October 2009

BLAME LUKE STEELE and Nick Littlemore. ...

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