This site is just a fan site. The band itself split in 1997 after releasing just one almighty album. However I feel their music should be remembered as they were one great band that through time have been forgotten about. Like Velvet Underground or Big Star they failed to set the charts alight in their day but may be rediscovered...rock'n'roll is full of stranger twists! Below is a rough biography...
Spring 1989. We're in Kirkcaldy, Fife and Chris Miezitis and Alan Moffat meet at school playing in different bands at a lunchtime concert. Alan remembers Chris showing off playing 'Norwegian Wood', and later being around his house listening to his Dad's Beatles and Wings records. The next two years see the pair in and out of various line-ups, but they keep in touch.
By August 1992, they were sharing a flat in Glasgow, and by the start of the New Year had become The Diggers Mark 1, performing their first gigs as a duo, but joined in the summer by Hank Ross and John Eslick.
Over the next year, The Diggers became a fully operational band, playing their first gig at the 13th Note In Glasgow. More shows followed and demos were recorded. Meanwhile, Alan was thrown out of art school, and tragedy nearly struck when John was involved in a car accident (reportedly involving driving into cows on the M8!) that put him in a coma - and the band on hold for six months.
When the band resumed, Alan McGee came to see them rehearse on the strength of a tape he had received, passed from John Eslick to Martin Carr of The Boo Radleys. Four months later, just after their performance at the T in the Park festival, The Diggers signed to Creation.
The next six months were spent blowing their advance on "fast cars and fast women" and generally losing the plot a bit...before getting down to recording some of the most brilliant acerbic pop songs you will ever hear. The band got back to working on their songs and their harmonies. Their "sound" really came into focus, a glorious blend of big melodies, jangling guitars and soaring harmonies, the songs simultaneously looking to a bright future while casting a rueful, slightly bitter look over their shoulder.
Some of you may have heard The Diggers at the time through the Creation/NME Singles Club -'Limbo Lounge'- the track in question, 'Passport To Rec' featuring on one side of the disc.
Three singles were released-- "Peace of Mind" (sounding like Badfinger playing the theme tune from The Sweeny), "Nobody's Fool" and "O.K Alright" (both awesome pop songs with a sunny 60's feel), but all failed to chart despite the then-current interest in all things Creation thanks to the huge success of Oasis. Tours with other Creation acts like Heavy Stereo and Hurricane No.1 also failed to attract a wider audience.
On March 10th 1997 the debut album "Mount Everest" was released then a few months later they split.
It's a shame The Diggers didn't reach the bigtime in the heyday of Britpop. The music scene seemed ripe for a band playing great guitar-based pop tunes with a distinct 60's influence...maybe there were just too many bands at the time ploughing that furrow, or maybe their sound as released didn't quite capture them in their full glory (live, they sounded a lot rawer...the guitars were heavier, the harmonies more upfront)...maybe Creation didn't nurture them to their full potential. At the time most of Creation's focus was on two things--Oasis and taking cocaine--so maybe its no wonder they weren't able to break through. (Alan McGee told us when we asked him about it that The Diggers only had one good song, "Peace of Mind"...all we'll say is, listen to the other songs and you can clearly hear they had LOADS of good songs!)
Final words from Alan Moffat:
"At the end of the day you live and die by the music that you make - which is what you want people to get interested in, not you, yourself. We're not into the cult of the personality stuff, or paying homage to the past ... we're striving towards being a truly original pop band - Take That with guitars!"
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