Watch Falkirk's Guitar Phil play his 'apocalyptic' lockdown hit

Fledgling musicians may remember Phil Rasmussen from his days as the guitar tutor above Revolution Music in Falkirk High Street, but that shop sadly closed at the start of the year.

Phil said: “I taught there since 2007, helping a lot of students train for their exams and also teaching a lot of retired guitar enthusiasts.”

Before the COVID-19 crisis hit, Phil also fronted the Glasgow ska band RaRaRasmussen, performing their song There’s No Tomorrow, which could have been written about the situation we all find ourselves in.

Phil, who lives just outside Glasgow, said: “One of our videos, a performance at Westerton Bowling club from last September, has had 6300 views on You Tube since the lockdown began. The song has an apocalyptic theme and we think that’s why its getting popular all of a sudden.

“The video has been shared in far away places including Jamaica, New Orleans and Germany.”

Not bad for a song that was written back in the mid 1990s when Phil was but a teenager.

“I was into the X-Files back then and the song was either about some kind of nuclear disaster or alien invasion. I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s when the Cold War was going on with Russia.”

Not only are people logging on to watch the song on YouTube, they are also checking out Phil and the band to see what they are about.

“They have been looking at really early stuff we did when I was 18 – it’s like they are watching the There’s No Tomorrow video and then looking to find out more about us.”

While the song keeps gaining new fans for RaRaRussen, Phil is continuing to give guitar lessons online and has even lined up another premises in the Arcade in Falkirk High Street to resume his teaching in the town when the COVID-19 crisis is eventually over.

Visit www.rararasmussen.com for more information.