Colin MacIntyre

Colin MacIntyre
Dumfries, January 2014
Background information
Also known as	Mull Historical Society, INK
Born	(1971-04-08) 8 April 1971 (age 46)
Origin	Isle of Mull, Scotland
Years active	2000–present
Labels	B-Unique Blanco Y Negro Xtra Mile Recordings
Associated acts	The Reindeer Section
Website	colinmacintyre.com

Colin MacIntyre (born 8 April 1971) is a Scottish musician and novelist. A singer, song-writer, and multi-instrumentalist, he has released five albums under the name Mull Historical Society as well as two albums under his own name. His most successful album, Mull Historical Society's Us (2003), reached number 19 in the UK Albums Chart. His debut novel, The Letters of Ivor Punch, was published in 2015.

MacIntyre's father Kenny Macintyre was born in Oban then moved to Mull, an island off the west coast of Scotland. He was a bank clerk, a gift-shop operator and then BBC Scotland's Political Correspondent for ten years. His paternal grandfather, Angus Macintyre, was a poet and his brother Kenny Macintyre is a radio journalist for BBC Scotland Sport.

MacIntyre was born on 8 April 1971 on Mull. He wanted to be a musician from a young age and grew up listening to his uncle's covers band. He formed a covers band of his own called Trax, later renamed Love Sick Zombies, while still at Tobermory Primary School. He was influenced by his art teacher at Tobermory High School, and considered going to art school. He also attended Oban High School. In the late 1980s he and his brother moved to Glasgow, where he attended Glasgow Caledonian University, trained with Queen's Park F.C., worked for a stockbroker, and then for telephone company BT's 192 directory enquiries service for three years.

MacIntyre coined the name Mull Historical Society after seeing an advert for an organisation which has since changed its name to the Mull Historical and Archaeological Society. His first album under the name, Loss in 2001, was inspired by his upbringing on Mull and the sudden death of his father in 1999. It contains samples from a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry and the waves in Calgary Bay in Mull.Q magazine named Loss as one of its top 50 albums of 2001. "Public Service Announcer" is about MacIntyre's time at BT, and is based on the rhythm of a telephone ring tone. "Barcode Bypass" is about a small shopkeeper threatened by the supermarkets. "Watching Xanadu", a song about watching the film Xanadu, was included on STV's Scotland's Greatest Album as one of the top tracks of the 2000s. In 2000-01 Mull Historical Society played support for Elbow and the Strokes, and in 2002 for R.E.M., the Delgados and The Polyphonic Spree. MacIntyre was named as "Scotland's Top Creative Talent" at the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards in 2002.