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Frightened Rabbit exclusive

Written by John Johnston
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 00:00

In the digital days of bands exploding like supernovas and becoming vacant black holes by the time a second album surfaces mere months after the first, Frightened Rabbit seem like a throwback to the old days.

As if following their name, the band could be accused at times of being scared to make the leap from their native Scotland to the mainstream, but with third album “The Winter of Mixed Drinks” it seems they’re ready to make the jump.

Beginning in 2003, Frightened Rabbit was once just lead singer Scott Hutchison doing ‘his best Badly Drawn Boy’ impression as he put it, before adding a new member every year until their current number of five. Speaking with Scott, it quickly becomes apparent that he and Frightened Rabbit aren’t working to anyone else’s plans. "The thing about Scottish music," he notes, ‘"is that there’s a certain kind of bloody-mindedness about it. Every Scottish band really, really wants to forge their own path."

"I’m really happy with our trajectory. The fan-base has been built up and there’s a loyalty there. People have been with us for three years and people have been with us for a month, but there’s something in the way that the band grew from word of mouth that means people have a sense of ownership of the band. There hasn’t been a big advertising campaign behind us that’s responsible for our growth, it’s purely down to people getting involved with our music and it’s old fashioned but I think it’s the way that sets up strongest."

Living in Scotland for a few years myself, it’s clear that Frightened Rabbit have been helped by the strong music community to be found in the region. During their formative years, Frightened Rabbit and bands such as Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks were always mentioned together and institutions such as King Tut’s in Glasgow helped attract listeners. It’s something that Scott is acutely aware of. "You need places that back up local bands. We don’t have big marketing campaigns, so we rely on places like King Tut’s to help us develop our live shows and aspirations. We were lucky, there were a bunch of places that helped us in Glasgow and all over the country."

While thankful for the help and friendships, Scott is also realistic about how long these relationships work before becoming a hindrance to all involved. "I’m thrilled to be mentioned within the same breath as bands like Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks because I love them too. It started off being completely appropriate that we were often together, we did tours together sometimes and stuff, but as time goes by bands move off in their own direction and I think it’s time for that to happen and I think it started with the last Twilight Sad record. They’re moving off in a completely different direction, but it’s an honour to be considered alongside them."

The more I spoke to Scott, the more apparent it became that he hasn’t entered the music business with eyes wide shut. He’s practical about the relationships, mechanisms and even the plaudits of the business. When I asked him for his thoughts on recently being included in NME’s 100 albums of the decade he casually remarked that ‘it’s great to be mentioned as there’s some great records on that list and there’s a small piece of gratification with it but in the end I don’t know how much difference, if any, it makes to the world.’

This practical attitude to everything is on full show when talk turns to the new album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks. "I’ve never been in a position of being aware of an audience of any size that was waiting for our music until now. You have to be aware of it or else it’s totally selfish," Scott remarked when I asked about the increased levels of expectancy placed on the band. ‘"I feel the pressure more so this time, but a little pressure can be good. If you let it cramp you up you kind of miss the positives. Pressure’s good because it means people care and I try to use it positively to make what I do better."

Lead single, “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”, shows that Scott really is using the pressure to up his game. A song of startling simplicity, frailty and warmth, it sticks out amongst the current chart-toppers and their ice-cold bleeps or tub-thumping beats. It’s one of those songs that seem honest, if you can ever fully use that term to a song, because of its searingly personal nature. It’s something that comes from Scott’s approach to a song. "I realised by listening to people like Ryan Adams, Wilco and Teenage Fanclub you can do what you like to a piece of music as long as you have a song at the core.’ I asked him if it was a good indication of what the album will bring. ‘It’s a good way in. It’s got strings on, which a few songs have and we liked that it bridged the gap between this and the last album so we went with it."

"The Winter of Mixed Drinks" was written at the beginning of the year when Scott went to the harbour town of Crail, on the coast of West Scotland. ‘We didn’t have any stragglers from the last record so with a clean slate I went to a pal’s place," Scott told me, "and I was there on my own for a couple of months, so that’s where the coastal theme and idea of isolation that comes through on the record comes from. Then in June we recorded it in a place near Edinburgh. I think that was an important decision to make. It’s a Scottish album and has a lot of references to the land and stuff like that so to make it in Scotland helps keep that feel to it."

The title of the album is a line from one of the songs and showcases the band’s ability to make things a personal affair. "I always like making album titles that are lines from the songs, so the title is instantly identifiable with the band rather than it being something that’s more widely used," Scott said when asked about it. Why this line though?

"I guess it’s really a reference to what the whole album is about; losing your mind and however that’s done, losing yourself. There’s many, many ways to do that and I guess drinking’s one of them. A lot of the album is connected to the sea; a journey or odyssey out to sea if you like, and I didn’t want it to reinforce that because it’s fairly obvious on the record. This lets the idea of going out and losing yourself to be the second focus."

I asked Scott about the decision to bring in label mate Hauschka for the string arrangements found on the new album. "There’s about three songs with strings on. We knew we didn’t want just the standard pop arrangements that you can basically do with a sampler or keyboard if you want. Hauschka does something a lot more interesting that that and the result is that the arrangements are just a lot more unique and interesting so it was great working with him. He really brought a different slant on the record."

I asked him if adding a new member, Gordon Skene, formerly of Make Model, had brought a new slant on writing the tracks, but Scott quickly dismissed this. "The writing and recording has never been about what’s achievable live but about what’s right for us to do at that point in time. You know with things like multi-tracking and stuff you tend to get carried away and I think the band extensions have been part of the increased ambition in the studio so it’s always been the other way round, we do the recordings first and then think, “Fuck! We need to do it live!” It’s just been a case of things got to big for us to handle as a two-piece, three-piece, four-piece."

I then asked him if this would have any bearing on their March tour, which has some of their biggest dates ever. "It might do. We can play three songs live, but we haven’t started rehearsing yet, so there might be a few sticking points especially as we’re loath to use any kind of sampled backing track. We know a lot of bands do but we want to get it so that as close to everything is played live. There are a lot of sampled elements on the new record though, so we might have to incorporate that. It’s going to be a challenge."

When I ask Scott if that challenge and the bigger tour dates will heap more pressure on to the band, Scott loses his pragmatic stance. "Pressure’s good! Koko in London will be our biggest date outside of Scotland, so aye, big stuff! It’s exciting, I’ll be shitting myself on the night, but still, it’s exciting."

“The Winter of Mixed Drinks” will be available March 1st, 2010 and second single “Nothing Like You” out February 22nd.

The March headline dates run as follows, tickets available from www.crowdsurge.com/frightenedrabbit

04/03/10                York                        Duchess
05/03/10                Manchester           Club Academy
06/03/10                Aldershot               West End Centre
08/03/10                Bristol                     Thekla
09/03/10                Oxford                    Academy 2
10/03/10                London                  Koko
12/03/10                Birmingham          Academy 2
13/03/10                Sheffield                Leadmill 2
14/03/10                Norwich                 Arts Centre

Video for "Swim Until You Can't See Land"