A brilliant local jazz-agitator variously described as "Stirling's answer to Sun Ra" and "a Zen-like commander of vibrant psalms", groove alchemist Bill Wells' lavish, life-affirming art traverses dexterous avant-garde improvisation and soaring, cinematic awe.
He's recorded for the Geographic imprint; performed with the likes of Will Oldham and Jens Lekman; collaborated with Isobel Campbell, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Future Pilot AKA. And he further confounded sonic boundaries and enchanted music fans when he joined technoid Swedish dreamboats Tape onstage, (at the fevered behest of Arab Strap), for a special one-off Triptych performance in Aberdeen in 2006.
In anticipation of his Triptych appearance, Wells spilled the beans on Pinocchio, "pig-headed arrogance", Neil Diamond, and his forthcoming Japanese release. "It's like looking in the mirror and not noticing how fat you are," he wryly decreed...
You're often revered as a 'self-taught visionary' - is it true you musically instructed yourself from scratch? What inspired you to do so, and then to experiment?
"Yes, it's true: I didn't start music till after full-time education, and I was probably inspired by pig-headed arrogance: playing Neil Diamond covers in a cabaret band was the extent of my early experimentation..."
You've previously worked with the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Jad Fair and The Pastels, and you're collaborating with euphonious Stockholm brainiacs, Tape, at this year's Triptych: have you played with them before? Any hints as to what we might expect at yr show?
"No I haven't worked with Tape before, but I met Johan from the band in Stockholm last year - he seems like a really nice guy - and I thought their album, Rideau, was one of the best records of 2005, so who knows?
"That said, I haven't a clue how they work or what we're going to do together..."
Can you please tell us a bit about yr other current / forthcoming releases and collaborations?
"I've got a record called Osaka Bridge that I recorded in Japan with [technicolour Triptych veterans] Maher Shalal Hash Baz coming out on the German Label Karaoke Kalk very soon, and there's a Bill Wells Trio 'Live in the Studio' type album coming out on P-Vine in Japan in April. Beans from Belle & Sebastian recorded it at Banchory HQ."
You've also just returned from a tour with Swedish pop-minstrel Jens Lekman: how were the shows?
"Great: Jens and his band played my music and then we all returned onstage to play Jens' set. I first met him when we played on the same bill in London just over a year ago, and I just thought his set was one of the best things I'd heard in ages, so it means a lot to me that we've ended up working together.
"As for the tour and how it was: you mean constantly in the company of Jens and his all-female band? I'm sure you can imagine how tough that was..."
Do you perceive many artistic parallels between your largely instrumental, improvised music, and that of your more 'song-based' collaborators, such as Jens and Norman Blake?
"For me it doesn't seem that much different - but maybe that's just like looking in a mirror and not noticing how fat you are."
Haha. What five records are you listening to most at the moment?
"Isobel Campbell's Ballad of the Broken Seas, the new Concretes album, In Colour - I only heard it once but it sounds really great. The new Directorsound album - sorry Nick, I forgot the title - Saya and Nika's record and Belle & Sebastian's The Life Pursuit"
Your music often conjures cinematic vistas: are there any films you'd cite as influential to your art?
"Pinocchio is a big favourite..."