Frightened Rabbit Interview

With their summer festival round complete and a UK tour set to take place during November, I managed to speak to Scott Hutchison from Frightened Rabbit, one of the UK's current most outstanding bands. Here's how it went...


It’s been a hectic summer for Scottish alt-rock outfit Frightened Rabbit. Between Glastonbury, T in the Park and V, they have been a regular name on this year’s UK festival round, they’ve played the major European festivals, been to America and somehow found time to also tour Australia.
“We’ve been really busy but it’s been great actually,” says frontman Scott Hutchison. “It’s a perfect way to gather a new audience over a short space of time, so it’s been really good for us.”

The Glasgow-based five piece might not have yet achieved the commercial success they deserve, but have a huge cult following particularly from their 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight. An intensely personal album, it charts Scott’s breakdown and the beginnings of hope after a devastating breakup. It’s an outstanding album, and on release received exceptional critical acclaim and worship from fans. Whilst the subject of the album was certainly a painful one, Scott explains that he’s fine to play the songs live.

“Our old songs, for me anyway, when I play them live I’m acutely aware that in a lot of ways some of the songs and the material means a lot more and is more pertinent to the people in the audience,” he says. “I’ve really let all that go, now it’s a joyful experience to play them.”

With a new album released this year, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, to yet more acclaim, the band felt the pressure while writing the new material. How to follow up an album loved by so many?

“I did feel pressure but it was positive – you can either let it crush you or you can try and use it to better yourself. I didn’t want to make Midnight Organ Fight part two. I wanted to make a different album that couldn’t really be compared to that. It brought a whole new audience to the band.”

Now everything seems to be on the up, with this year including some of Frightened Rabbit’s best moments as a band, with a crowd “beyond my expectations” at T in the Park and their first ever Glastonbury appearance.
“Glastonbury was special for a ton of reasons. It was the first time we’d ever been, let alone played.”

However, they’re not ready to leave behind the intimacy of smaller festivals and gigs.
“I always love the low-key festivals,” he explains. “At the big ones there’s the feeling that you’re part of a revolving door of bands and it’s slightly less personal. At small festivals it’s much more enjoyable – you get to actually interact with people.”

With an excellent live reputation, Scott promises fans “a really good, solid set and a really long one as well. We try and inject a good amount of energy and sweat into our performances and play to the crowd.”
He adds: “I’m still learning how to be a frontman, and what I’ve learned over the summer I’ll be able to bring to our shows.”

Take the chance to see Frightened Rabbit in the smaller venues on their upcoming UK tour while you can, before they move onto bigger (but not necessarily better) sites when they receive the attention they truly deserve.

To buy tickets for Frightened Rabbit's UK tour visit click here