Biffy Clyro - Next? The World!

We don't walk about in kilts or anything, but we love where we're from!

...Ben Johnston of Biffy Clyro assures The Skinny. Breathing down Rihanna's neck in the album charts and gracing the front cover of rawk rags up and down the country, it would seem that Biffy are no longer just Scotland's favourite band. Their growth from local heroes to national stars has been well documented but Johnston assures us they're not about to forsake their Scottish roots, indeed that's what he attributes the trio's success to.

"The element of Scottish culture that is apparent in us, is our fighting spirit. We always feel like we have something to prove, and if we lacked resolve, we wouldn't have made it this far."

Despite not being an overtly demonstrative group, this patriotism seeps into their political views. Johnston admits the band are "thrilled that the SNP have won. It's great that Scotland are able to make their own choices." And what of the nation's music scene? Having grown within it, the band are placed in a unique position to judge just how good a condition it's in. And Johnston waxes lyrical: "In Scotland I don't think there are any negatives... we have everything from Mogwai to Snow Patrol. Texas to Jesus and Mary Chain, and they don't seem interested in copying anyone. We are proud to be part of such a creative country."

However, such praise is not wholesale. Whilst Johnston seems genuinely enamoured by the majority of the industry folk, of course there are exceptions. "There is the odd arsehole. We didn't get on with The Ordinary Boys or Towers Of London, who bizarrely both ended up on Big Brother, you work that one out."

Despite hitting harder upon the big-time only recently, Biffy Clyro have enough experience under their belt to qualify for semi-veteran status. Shameless self promotion a la Donnie Tourette and Preston must surely be an alien concept, though Johnston is quick to point out the main pitfall to taking the back door. "I feel sorry for them. It's a quick way in, but a rapid demise."

Whilst a rapid demise is not on the cards for Biffy, their rise has been steady and anything but meteoric. Having been shunned by the NME a few years back, they now find themselves riding the crest of a wave partly generated by that same publication. Does this blatantly fickle attitude grate with them?

"Not at all. It was frustrating at first when the NME were slating us, but I guess they just didn't get us. The people at these mags that hated us seemed to have left anyway, so it's all good."

Ben confesses that whatever the motivation of the press, "like every other band we want to be on the front covers, but it's not THE most important thing for us. In saying that, we do get a real thrill when we walk into a newsagent's and see our faces looking back at us."

It looks they've got many more to look forward to.