Interview: Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit

BY CHERYL CHENG
PHOTOS BY DAVE GOURLEY AND CHRISTOPHER HEANEY

Though the name Frightened Rabbit sounds rather twee, this Scottish three-piece makes such powerful folk rock that you might be surprised by how much it affects you. The band is currently on tour in the States for second album The Midnight Organ Fight, which has received much critical praise, including an 8.1 rating from Pitchfork. Frightened Rabbit will visit Los Angeles on June 22 with a show at the Roxy, and singer-guitarist Scott Hutchison took some time a few days before then to chat with The Scenestar about the tour, the new album and which of the band members he thinks would win in a midnight organ fight.

SS: Hey Scott! Congratulations on the new album. How’s the tour going right now?
Scott: It’s been going a lot better than the first tour. We did five weeks in the fall of last year, so this is our second U.S. tour, and it wasn’t really something most people knew about. It was completely under the radar and not many people came to the shows. But this one’s been going a lot better. The people are coming out and seem to like the record. It’s more of a success story than the last one.

SS: Could you explain why the new album is titled “Midnight Organ Fight”?
Scott: It’s a line in one of the songs, apart from everything else, but I guess it seemed to sum up a lot ... The whole thing, when I look back at [the record] is a lot of references to body parts and bodily functions and things like that, so it kind of seemed to work as a header for the album as a whole. But it’s a line in a song on the record as well.

SS: In a midnight organ fight, who in the band would win?
Scott: If we were to have one, [drummer] Grant is without a doubt the strongest. About a year ago, we decided to have a wrestling match—we were drunk—and he completely overpowered me, so he would kill us all.

SS: I read somewhere that Grant goes through a lot of sticks during a show just because of how hard he drums.
Scott: I don’t know his record, you’ll have to ask him, but he can definitely go through ... He really needs a sponsorship deal or something. He goes through so many. He’s kind of a beast.

SS: That wrestling match you mentioned, is that where those press photos came from? The ones where you’re wearing Lucha Libre masks?
Scott: We did those two and a half, maybe three years ago. We did those shots when Grant and I were just playing as a two-piece. So that has almost nothing to do with an “organ fight.” I mean, we don’t always get along so it was a nice way of playing on the fact that we sometimes have arguments.

SS: I like those masks. They looked like they were made of cloth?
Scott: Yeah, I went and got some fancy cloths. I made them myself. Quite crafty.

SS: Oh, you should sell those on tour!
Scott: That would be good! We’re making our own T-shirts, so why not wrestling masks? If you would think they would sell.

SS: I think it would be funny.
Scott: Well, I went and got them from motorcycle shops and you know how some hardcore motorcyclists wear face masks with only eye holes, so I don’t see why not. I just passed a motorcycle shop right now ... maybe they have some.

SS: I don’t know if you’ve heard of this American singer named Ben Kweller, but on one of his album covers, it’s of him brushing his teeth. So on a tour, he sold toothbrushes, which was a great tie-in.
Scott: Maybe we should sell raw meat at shows.

SS: Um, that might be gross.
Scott: [Laughs] Yeah, it would be.

SS: The first single for Midnight is “Head Rolls Off,” which sounds like an anti-religious song.
Scott: It’s not really aggressively anti-religious. I don’t believe in any particular religion myself. But I think it’s more to do with the fact that you can’t live life relying on the fact that there’s going to be more afterwards. I think that’s more of where my belief stands, and it’s more like believing life is your chance to actually do stuff, as opposed to living it so purely that you hope to get a chance to get somewhere afterwards. But it definitely reflects the fact that I don’t believe in God or Jesus or any of that.

SS: I wanted to talk a little bit about the band’s background. Why is the band named “frightened rabbit”?
Scott: That came from my childhood. I kind of started off myself as a solo artist, so I was trying to call myself that. And my mum used to call me that because I was not well adjusted to social situations when I was younger—and I’m still not really to a certain extent. I used to sit in the car as she called me “a frightened rabbit,” so it came from that, just being socially awkward. And I think I still am. Even though I present myself on stage, it’s a totally different scenario as opposed to having an actual conversation with someone.

SS: Is it like being a performer on stage, you’re projecting another persona?
Scott: Yes, it’s a completely different thing. It’s just a persona. You can totally switch. I don’t talk a lot during the day. I like having conversations with people, but socializing is something I find hard still. [Performing] has kind of always been a way that I connect and present myself. It’s not like I’m Alice Cooper or anything on stage. It’s definitely like a switch, and it kind of works a little better that way.

SS: With your brother in the band, is your family pretty musical?
Scott: My mum and dad used to sing together in folk clubs in the north of Scotland, wearing really thick jumpers and stuff like that. And they used to do that in the ’70s, but they stopped that a long while ago. It’s nice that our parents have encouraged us to do this, because I think they felt like perhaps they didn’t have the option to do what we’re doing right now.

SS: And your brother?
Scott: We didn’t really play together in the house or anything. It was just a case of, he moved to Glasgow and he was the best drummer I knew. Simple as that. It was really before the band started that we got playing together.

SS: I first heard of Frightened Rabbit through Twilight Sad. And I first heard of Twilight Sad through Idlewild, so I thought it was great that all these Scottish bands are promoting and supporting each other. How would you describe the music scene in Scotland?
Scott: It’s really healthy. It’s gone back to proper songwriting. More romantic sounds. There’s generations at work as well. There’s a definite generation that involves Belle & Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub and Mogwai and things like that. And then there’s a whole new generation that we find ourselves a part of, Twilight Sad and couple of other bands. I think it’s never been better.

SS: Just as those bands gave me recommendations, who would Frightened Rabbit recommend I listen to right now?
Scott: I would recommend a band called We Were Promised Jetpacks. I’m really surprised they’re touring the U.S. next year. They’re going to be fairly popular I think in the near future. They’re Scottish. They live in Glasgow. They’re on our MySpace, so you can look them up. They’re a great, great band.

SS: I noticed that in band descriptions, it often says that anyone can be in Frightened Rabbit.
Scott: Yeah, yeah. If they bring something along and if it’s in the right key. And singing along, then you’re in the band as well. There’s no point in being exclusive. Life’s about being able to communicate with people in that way.

SS: Does the band need any help in L.A.?
Scott: Yeah, I’d love a couple of trumpeters to come along who can blow for a good hour solid. It might ruin things, but it would be fun.

Hear that Los Angeles trumpet players? And to anyone else who can sing along and enjoys to have a good time, Scots Frightened Rabbit will be in town this Sunday at the Roxy, and The Scenestar definitely recommends that you check them out. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.

Comments

[mychelle]

Fun interview! These guys are a lot of fun live. Definitely bring your instruments along and take them up on their offer!

[Oscar]

Me gusta! Good job =)

[fdjvwijov]

YAY! AN IDLEWILD PLUG! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[paulag]

i love luchadores. muack. !!!