Scottish Wind, Scottish Rain: Frightened Rabbit's Highland Tour

If history does indeed repeat itself, then some wide-eyed, aspiring young musician will have been watching Frightened Rabbit’s whirlwind tour of the Scottish Highlands intently. Such was the experience of frontman Scott Hutchison back in 2000 when Idlewild, then on a steady ascent themselves, played previously unknown territories such as Skye and Fort William. “I was at an impressionable age and I just thought it looked like a lot of fun,” says Scott of the genesis for his band’s ten-date roam of the nooks and crannies of the west coast.

At the behest of their new label, Atlantic Records, The Skinny is invited along for the ride, joining the ragged five-piece for their mid-point Aviemore show and seeing the venture through to its conclusion in Dunoon, via Stornoway, Portree and Strathpeffer. “We didn’t grow up in these places,” says drummer Grant Hutchison. “But it was a similar thing in the south of Scotland, where bands just didn’t come to play. If they had, I know how big an event it would have been.”

‘Event’ is a choice word. Each of these small communities certainly feels the relative upheaval of normal life as the FRabbits roll through town. On our night at Aviemore’s Old Bridge Inn, a partly humorous sign apologises for the inconvenience, promising that normality will return tomorrow. Inevitably it does, but for one night, a quaint local boozer in a small Scottish town becomes a hub for sweaty euphoric music fans, near and far. “There are definitely enough local people coming to the gigs,” asserts Scott. “But those coming from further afield are getting something a bit different to what they would in Glasgow or Edinburgh.”

Over our five nights on tour with the quintet, the variety of venues certainly provides a range of live experiences, from the aforementioned village pub, through a shiny new arts centre, to a more rustic community hall on sequential nights. “I really like the spirit of adapting to whatever room you might find yourself in from night to night,” continues Scott on the allure of the experience. “Along with being able to really meet and speak to people who are into our music, that’s pretty much the whole point of it.”

The Stornoway show itself (the band’s seventh of the tour and The Skinny’s second) marks the beginning of the full-on electric performances, something the band clearly relish post-gig. “It was great to get back into that sound,” beams guitarist Andy Monaghan. The gaggle of young island kids centre-front, letting loose in ecstatic style didn’t hurt either. “It loosens you up a bit and gets you pulling a few more shapes too,” he confesses.

Yet with a 4am rise for the ferry to Skye the following morning, outright celebrations are kept in check. Instead, the boys indulge in a few convivial whiskies and open up about some of the new material they’ve been showcasing so far. “Oil Slick is one of my favourites,” claims guitar and keys man Gordon Skene. “We played it hella fast tonight though. It’s supposed to be more sleazy.”

The set-list’s perpetual new song is certainly something a little different for the group. Built on a, dare we say, funky bass riff, it slowly evolves into a sombre plateau of propelling vocals. The excellent Government Frost meanwhile is even less identifiable as a Frightened Rabbit song, with a cyclical guitar hook and an intentionally cool vocal delivery from Scott. There’s little sign of the flourishes, the crowd-friendly choruses and the overall sheen people may be expecting from a major label album.

“I made it very, very clear [to the band] that I was tired of my own way of doing things,” begins Scott on the writing process for album number four. “What people have become used to Frightened Rabbit being, that can only go so far. There’s only so much of that kind of music that you can write.” Having been the driving force and, by his own admission, “extremely anal” about the output of the band to this point, it’s a bold, and for the rest of the band, welcome move.

“Before I joined, they were my favourite Scottish band,” admits last-man-in Gordon. “Obviously I took the songs at face value, so to even have a small part in putting new songs together is pretty mind-blowing. It was hard at first, but it’s becoming easier and easier for me to contribute.” Andy, a longer-term member of the group is no-less enthralled. “It’s great to be more involved,” he agrees. “But it’s good having the continuity of Scott’s lyrics. We need that.”  Gordon nods sagely; “It needs to be somebody’s baby, or it ends up getting a bit schizophrenic.”

Though Scott may be relinquishing his captain’s hat in some respects, it’s still very much his ship lyrically and thematically. “You never really know what the overall themes will be until you’ve put it all together,” he says. “But I’ve tried to write some wider stories about society in general. It’s still about human interaction, maybe most songs are, but I think I’ve widened the scope of it beyond my own personal experiences.” At this point Grant helpfully chips in with his own take on the album’s lyrical development. “There’s a lot less ‘fuck you’s’ in it,” he laughs.

With that, we all indulge in a final Talisker before hitting the hay. The following day’s journey to Skye is long but scenic, bringing to mind another reason for embarking on this venture. “Driving through Scotland’s incredible scenery is a huge part of the tour that can’t be ignored,” admits Scott. It’s no less amazing when we hit Portree in Skye, the background for what will turn out to be a great show. With deft foresight, the band opt for a small function room over a more obvious stage hall to set up shop, much to the chagrin of the venue organisers with eyes on extra ticket sales.

“The whole idea of this was to get smaller venues,” explains Scott. “Wee sweat-boxes where everyone feels a bit crammed and we feel close to the crowd.” It’s a gamble that pays off. The sound hits a sweet-spot of volume and warmth, the atmosphere is electric from the start and the crowd are, well...“There was something a bit wild about the audience there that I didn’t see coming,” says a visibly euphoric Scott immediately backstage. “That’s the nice thing about this tour – not knowing what everyone is going to be like from night to night.”

After the usual round of photos and autographs with fans, the band hit a nearby bar for, yes, a wee dram or six. A quiz machine is spotted in the corner and all five Rabbits gather around to strip a virtual Noel Edmonds of a few quid. Scott even displays a canny knowledge of Celebrity Big Brother contestants. A prompt closing time ensures things spill out onto the streets and The Skinny is briefly reminded, via a couple of young, drunken town dwellers, that even on an island as beautiful and remote as this, Friday nights can still get a bit ‘fighty’.

A slight change of plan on Saturday means a detour to a local whisky distillery near Strathpeffer, the penultimate night of the tour. After perusing the oats, vats and barrels of Glen Ord, the brothers Hutchison load up on supplies for the remainder of the tour. “If my voice is a bit shot then, funnily enough, whisky is probably the best cure I’ve found – on a purely medicinal level,” claims Scott clutching his carrier bag. “I should probably get it on prescription.”

With the weekend’s shopping done, we arrive at the Spa Pavilion in Strathpeffer and, with the band set for a week of rehearsals the day after the tour, talk resumes on the new album. “I tried something with the last record [2010’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks] that I don’t think necessarily worked,” admits Scott. “It was supposed to be a really, really big sounding album with lots of epic pop songs, but I think we reached a saturation point with it.”

For its follow up, the band will be holing up in Monnow Valley Studio in South Wales with producer Leo Abrahams (who counts David Byrne and Brian Eno among his credits). “We’ve been taking lots of elements from the demos over into the studio tracks,” continues Scott of the process so far. “It’s that kind of ethos, where those bits in the sketchbook maybe make it over as well. It helps to stop it becoming this polished studio affair.”

It suggests that those put off by the band signing to Atlantic Records should perhaps hold fire. “We want to make sure that it’s not clouded in massive, pompous arrangements,” assures Scott. “So string sections, luscious horn arrangements and layers of sound are just not really interesting to us anymore. It’s going to be sparser and rawer but with a familiar thread. I just feel that re-treading old ground would be like treating your fans like pricks. That said, some people definitely won’t like what they’re about to get.”

For tonight in Strathpeffer though, fans are getting exactly what they want. “I just chucked my bag in the hotel room and there was a bunch of folk in the bar, chugging the beers and singing Keep Yourself Warm,” laughs Gordon. “Maybe we should play that one,” he states deadpan of the tour’s habitual closer. And surely they do, to the biggest and rowdiest crowd of the tour, making it something of a highlight for the band. “I’ve never seen a mosh pit with crowd-surfers at a Frightened Rabbit gig,” marvels bassist Billy Kennedy.

Celebrations move to a packed pub across the street where Scott is given some career advice from a ‘fan’. Words are inaudible, but from Scott’s demeanour the band look worried that things are going to get ugly. It eventually dispels and Scott fills in the gaps. “He was just telling me we needed a better guitarist, less ‘woah-oh-ah-woahs’ in our songs and that we’ll never make it as a stadium band at this rate,” he shrugs with a what-can-you-say look. His credentials in this field? “Oh, he was a roadie for James once,” smiles Scott.

With hangovers aplenty it’s off to the resort town of Dunoon for the tour finale. The scenery en route is Tweeted by the band as being more like middle-earth than west Scotland, and it’s hard to argue. A school night and ferry trip for out-of-towners compounds a slightly smaller crowd than may have been hoped for, but it’s a rousing send-off nonetheless.

Backstage, the band ready themselves for the long trip back to Glasgow, followed by a week in rehearsals from tomorrow afternoon. “We’re just going to be hammering out the songs, then taking them up another level in the studio so when they get to people’s ears, they’re as honed as they can possibly be,” states Scott. And after the album is finished? “I’m fairly sure we’ll be touring for about a year or more. I hope so anyway. We’re really prepared to hammer the arse out of it, so to speak.” Grant eyes his brother wearily. “I dunno, I’m not planning on hammering any arses,” he laughs.

As a final question, we ask Scott if the tour has been all he had hoped for. “There was a romantic picture in my head of what it would be like and what kind of shows we would be doing,” he begins. “And it has totally met those expectations. Normal tours with purpose-built venues can get a bit samey. It’s also been great from the point of view of a tourist. You might not have time to go and see the sights but you see a side to places when you’re on tour that’s a little different to what most people get. Some of the experiences we’ve had, I will genuinely never forget.”