The Scottish musician Kyle Falconer has been in the news for years, sometimes for the wrong reasons, but these days, it is his fiancee Laura Wilde who is stealing the show.
At this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she debuted a musical that she and her boyfriend co-wrote and which was based on their experiences as new parents with rock star partners.
In a brand-new documentary titled Love and Chaos, Scotland tells the tale of how the couple first met in Dundee eight years ago. The story takes place at the only pub in Dundee from which Kyle had not been banned.
Before Kyle had even turned 20, his band The View had already achieved mainstream success with the track Same Jeans. The band had originated in the city.
Their CD, “Hats off to the Buskers,” became a huge hit all over the world, and the band spent years performing all around the globe.
Photograph taken in 2006 at The Astoria in London of the Scottish indie band The View.
A snapshot taken of The View from The Astoria in London in 2006
At first, Laura shared Kyle’s lifestyle by accompanying him on tour and attending his parties.
When they initially came into contact with one other, Laura recounts, “We were in this drink-fueled situation which was so amazing.”
“But then everything became chaotic, and I wasn’t sure whether this was the life for me. Drinking was the center of their existence.”
According to Kyle, “I’d been with the band since I was 18 years old.” I have no experience with any other way of living. I believe I simply wanted to make sure that I didn’t let the name down.
A drunken outburst on an aircraft led to Kyle’s arrest and subsequent charges in 2016.
He received a $25,000 fine in addition to a lifetime ban from flying with that airline.
“I was supposed to be at Martin Compston’s wedding the following day, and he sent me a message to say that you’re on the top pages of all the papers,” recalls Kyle. “You’re on the front pages of all the newspapers.”
“Every time I think about it, it makes me feel a little bit down.”
Kyle Falconer of The View performs at TRNSMT Festival 2023 at Glasgow Green on July 7, 2023, in Glasgow, Scotland. The event took place on July 7. Today marks the beginning of the biggest music festival in Scotland, which will include performances by Pulp, Sam Fender, and 1975 throughout the course of the weekend. (Camera work by Jeff J.
This year, Kyle will be performing at the TRNSMT Festival.
Laura regarded it as something that may spur forth change.
She adds, “I believe that’s the universe’s wake-up call to say stop behaving like you’re in a fantasy world where you’re untouchable.” “I think that’s the universe’s wake-up call to say stop acting like you’re in a fantasy world.”
“After then, everything started to seem more genuine.”
Laura quit her work and moved into a home she leased so she could be closer to Kyle when he checked into a rehabilitation center in Thailand.
She kept an eye on Kyle while also concentrating on her own work during this time she had free.
She explains, “I was utilizing the leisure time to write, and I composed a horror tale.” “It was only a teeny-tiny amount of evidence that I could write,” she said.
At the conclusion of her stay of three months, Laura learned that she was expecting a child.
In 2017, they welcomed a daughter into the world, and in 2019, they welcomed their second little girl.
However, despite The View’s announcement that they would be taking a sabbatical, Kyle continued to tour in order to promote his solo work.
Laura Wilde and Johnny McKnight at the musical’s rehearsals, where they both had a hand in writing it.
Laura was abandoned at home with two infants and post-natal depression when her husband went back to work.
“I never sat down and said, ‘I’m really hurting; I need your support,'” she adds. “It was incredibly lonely.”
“I came to the realization that my own business was on hold. I was writing, but my thoughts were all over the place.
Because I was alone myself, I began to feel extremely unhappy, I stopped eating, and I stopped taking care of myself, and I would get panic attacks just before I left home.
“I didn’t want to end up as a disappointment. I didn’t have a job at the time. Because I’m a woman and I’m not supposed to be able to have children, I decided not to inform anybody.”
Now, she is using that experience as the basis for her new show titled No Love Songs.
It was co-written by Johnny McKnight and Kyle, and it is centered around the music from Kyle’s second album, which is titled No Love Songs for Laura.
The musical had its first performance in May at the Dundee Rep, and it is presently playing at the Traverse in Edinburgh as part of the Fringe festival.
However, there was further offstage drama that occurred.
Pictured are members of The View, from left to right: Darren Rennie, Kieren Webster, Pete Reilly, and Kyle Falconer
After an altercation onstage between Kyle and bassist Kieran Webster, The View’s reunion tour came to an abrupt end in Manchester two days before the first gig was scheduled to take place in Dundee.
fight on stage, band members make amends after a “brotherly” altercation
The band was forced to publish an apology on their official website, which caused them to cancel another event.
Only in part did Kyle feel remorse for his actions.
He claims that everyone already has their own view of him regardless of the situation.
Due to the fact that the event was still being spoken about in the media, Dundee Rep requested that Kyle not attend the preview.
The phrase “kick in the gut.”
The documentary shows Laura going to the event by herself while Kyle remains at home with the children.
She utters the following phrase: “It feels like a kick to the gut that he’s not here.”
“It’s causing me a little bit of pain. When I first began out, I had a lot of doubts, but Kyle provided me with the push I needed to get going.
“I’m sure that I’m a wonderful mother, but in addition to that, I wanted to pursue something that I’m really enthusiastic about.” And I’d want for him to be in attendance on the first night.”
In both Dundee and Edinburgh, Kyle was able to see a performance of the production, which features Dawn Sievewright and John McLarnon as the leads.
She states that the event “brought us closer together.”
“I have, in a sense, discovered who I am. It’s the beginning of a new chapter in my professional life, and I already feel like I’ve accomplished something.”
“I couldn’t ask for a more thrilling period in my life.”
“I’d want for us to have our own place with the kids, be able to travel, and for me to have my own thing to do, whether that’s writing or anything else.”
What about Kyle?
“I’d want to be the stay-at-home parent and have the positions reversed,” he adds. “I’d also like to see the roles switched.”
.