A College News exclusive interview with Frightened Rabbit.
It’s hard to put your finger on what, exactly, makes Glasgow’s Frightened Rabbit such an amazingly powerful band. Is it the pristine and shimmering guitars? The heart-pounding drums? The emotionally raw Scottish-accented vocals? The brash and deeply personal lyrics?
Like many bands from Glasgow; their sound owes a great debt to Post-Rock, Indie-Pop, and Folk, but Frightened Rabbit’s music sounds mysteriously like it’s own entity despite the band’s inviting universality. How do they walk that fine line so successfully? Is that why they’re so awesome?
One thing is for sure: with their recently-released sophomore album, Midnight Organ Fight, the band has created one of the most passionate, accessible, and sonically triumphant records of 2008.
College News spoke with singer/guitarist Scott Hutchison about his songwriting process; the creative advantages to writing songs without the aid of a bass player; and his thoughts on why so much awesome music is coming out of Glasgow, Scotland these days.
College News: Was the writing process different for Midnight Organ Fight compared to the first album?
Scott Hutchison: The first record was written over the period of 2 years, whereas the new record was written over the period of a month. I think that concentrated process made the subject matter a lot more unified. Also on the first album I was writing songs more as a hobby and this one was more as a professional.
CN: What was it like working with producer Peter Katis (famous for his work with Interpol and The National)? What did he bring to the table?
SH: Most people that are familiar with his previous records know that his production style has a dark edge to it. For us, He brought a much bigger atmosphere to the record. Our first record was kind of a “garage” sounding record. He brought a lot of depth to the new record, sonically. And a kind of a pop sound that I’ve really been looking for.
CN: Frightened Rabbit doesn’t have a bassist, right?
SH: We don’t have a bassist per say, we’ve got a lot of members who multitask. We actually just brought a bassist in for the tour.
CN: Does not having a bassist provide for any interesting challenges while songwriting?
SH: I kinda always like to write with limitations in mind anyway. If you’ve got everything at your disposal, it can actually hamper creativity. So, limitations are a really healthy creative companion. Right now in my songwriting, I’m interested in using a lot more non-traditional instruments. So, the next record might be a situation where the guitars are totally at risk.
CN: What is your songwriting process like?
SH: I’ll just have bits and pieces flying around and I’ll stitch them together. I’ll know when I’ve got a chorus but I wont have a verse for it, so I’ll add in something else I’m tinkering with. So the final songs actually wind up being a compilation of four or five songs I’m working on.In terms of vocals: all the melodies come first. And I’ll just mess around with syllables instead of actual words. I’ll write words that fit that kind of rhythm.
CN: Your lyrics sound really personal. How do you come up with your lyrics?
SH: I’m not good at writing stories or making things up. So I really have to write from experience. This album came at a time when I was going through a really emotional and visceral time, personally. I wrote from there. People believe it if its true. No one can argue with someone being completely honest, I guess.
CN: What is Frightened Rabbit’s live show like?
SH: It’s a little less detailed. We’re louder obviously, but it’s more than that. Its much more raw. And our drummer likes to let loose as well. Live you have to change things up so that the emotion of the song holds. I think our live performances are more powerful even than on the record.
CN: You guys are from Glasgow. Glasgow is known internationally as a really huge music town (home of: Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, Camera Obscura, The Twilight Sad, Arab Strap, etc. etc. etc.). Why do you think there are so many great bands coming out of Glasgow?
SH: It’s a case of “law of averages”. Glasgow has such an overflow of bands. If there’s that much music going on, then something is going to come out. Plus, there’s a musical history that everyone is very aware of in Glasgow. And that affects the next crop of bands that come up. But, really, it’s shear numbers.
Frightened Rabbit is currently on tour with The French Kicks. Check them out at a city near you! Check their MySpace page for dates. Chicago fans can see Frightened Rabbit at The Double Door on May 29th.
Midnight Organ Fight is in stores now on Fat Cat Records.
