Frightened Rabbit Interview

After a successful 2010 which has seen Frightened Rabbit firmly cement themselves in the hearts and minds of an ever-increasing section of the record-buying public, the band are rounding the year off with a UK tour. We caught up with singer Scott Hutchinson after their show at Northumbria University for a chat about how life is treating him...

At the start of this year when The Winter of Mixed Drinks was coming out, following the fantastic reception The Midnight Organ Fight received, I think a lot of people were expecting this year to be your year. How do you feel it’s gone?

I think it’s been great. We’ve always said that as long as we’re moving forward then we’re happy. I never pay too much attention to people saying that it’s going to be your year or whatever, because, well they can say what they like, but I’ve had a fucking fabulous year, I’ve really enjoyed it. The reception to the record has been good, and the more time that people have had with it, the better the reception to the songs has been, because I think the Midnight Organ Fight was an album that so many people took really strongly to...

It was a very intense record...

A completely intense record, and we were never going to repeat that. You don’t write two Midnight Organ Fights, so I think people were, like, ‘oookaaay...’, and now they’re getting used to it and I think it’s been fantastic.

It must be nice seeing a room of this size so full for you?

Yeah, we’ve been talking about trying to move forward in a lot of ways creatively and developing the songwriting and stuff, but, hell, we want to see more people getting into the music and this tour we’ve seen that.

In comparing the two records, The Midnight Organ Fight was very obviously a break-up record, but you didn’t have that ready-made subject matter in place this time out, so was it difficult, or was it liberating having to start from scratch?

It was a challenge, but it was a good challenge, because it came to the point where I could write these songs about heavy angst, torrid times and black periods easily, it’s an easy language to get used to. It’s more difficult to write a song about being content and happy and enjoying yourself without sounding too cheesy, so that was a challenge for me, and I liked it. I don’t want to repeat myself.

So is the next record already in your mind?

I’m formulating ideas, and I’m thinking about it a lot just now, although I’m not actually acting on it just yet because I don’t write on tour. I’ve got bits and pieces floating about and it’s going to be different again. I want to strip it all back, strip all the shit that went on on the last record, all of the orchestration and stuff...

Yeah, The Winter of Mixed Drinks was definitely a much fuller sound...

Oh, it was huge, and I went a bit over the top, I’ll be the first to admit, and it was symptomatic of me feeling that The Midnight Organ Fight wasn’t quite right. I didn’t get to finish it, if you like, and doing The Winter of Mixed Drinks was almost like venting my frustration and getting everything on there, and then going fucking way over the top. I think now is the time to pull it back, yeah.

These days, we’re living in a world where it’s commonplace for people to help themselves to music off the internet, particularly before albums are released. How do you feel about that, and what sort of impact do you think it has on Frightened Rabbit specifically?

I’ve never really known a period of time when people make money from selling records, so actually it’s not changed the way that I feel. I think that it makes it easier for people to hear your music and that can only be a good thing. You can’t replace a live show, so as long as people have heard us and they want to come to a show and they want to buy a t-shirt and all that, then bands can survive, and I think, actually it’s put the power back into the bands’ hands. Labels are wondering how they can survive because records aren’t selling , but lots of people are coming out to the shows, and you get a much broader ocean of competition. There’s so much for people to consume, it’s really easy to get lost.

For a punter, there’s so much out there to explore, you almost feel like you’re not spending enough time with an album to do it justice...

Yeah, I mean I’m still seeing people writing on the internet about ‘giving this new Frightened Rabbit album a listen’, and it’s been out since March! It’s understandable, at one point I’d have maybe been a bit dismayed by that, but I think of myself as a listener as well. For instance it was only a week ago I got into the Bon Iver record, which is fantastic. I’d been thinking, ‘ah, fuck it, I’ll do it sometime’, and then last week it happened, so I completely understand that point of view.

In order to keep yourself ticking over, do things like the Lottery advert become a necessity to be able to continue doing what you do?

Until very recently, we were label-less, so we were paying for everything. I’m completely unapologetic about all that stuff because I do this so that I don’t have to do anything else and stuff like that goes back to the culture of downloading meaning you don’t make money from selling records. I have to make money somehow, and that’s one of the ways of doing it.

Have you had much stick for it?

A couple of people have been a bit... And I came to understand it, and now, I think I probably would be more wary of doing that in the future. I understand now that that album, and that song, will mean a lot to some people and to hear it in that setting might cheapen it a little bit, but, well, I don’t really care, because, it’s going to be on for about two months, and it’ll be forgotten about by Christmastime. I won’t listen too much stick, because try working your arse off for four years for very little return financially, and then see if you’re going to give me shit for it! I don’t care. I haven’t actually even seen it. We’ve actually turned a lot of adverts down in the past, and there are a lot of companies I wouldn’t advertise. My thinking is that if somebody hears it and likes it, then it’s one more way of hearing the music.

You’re playing Bowlie 2 soon. Are you excited about the festival?

It’s insane. I first looked at the line-up about two months ago and they added some more bands about a month ago, and it’s fucking even better. I think it’s probably one of the best festival line-ups I’ve seen this year.

Who are you looking forward to seeing?

This year I was surprised how much I loved the Foals album, it’s fucking amazing, because I didn’t really like the first one, but this one’s got something extra to it, so I really want to see them, and really want to see Wild Beasts again, I like them. I want to try and see all the Scottish bands! It’s our last show of the year, and it’s going to be the office party. It’ll feel extremely Christmassy.

Just to close things off, what does next year hold for the band?

Writing and recording the next record. We’re going to really spend a long time doing it, I’ve got almost nothing written, so I’m going to have to go and do that at the start of the year, and I want to spend some time at home too. It’s my favourite part of it all. Touring is fine, but recording is why I started the band, so I just want to keep making records.