Frightened Rabbit

Hutchinson’s unhinged Scottish brogue is perfectly suited for this brand of cut to the quick lyricism - it could sound stirring merely reciting the yellow pages – and he benefits from working atop a wide ranging folk-pop sound lovingly captured by in demand producer Peter Katis (The National, Interpol). As one would expect given Katis’ involvement there’s some of Boxer’s slow burn magic at play here on dusky ballads like “The Poke” and “Keep Yourself Warm” but the Frightened Rabbit lads are also willing to go pop in a big way, as on the heady rush of the rubbery bass led “I Feel Better” or the R.E.M.-ish anthemic jangle of “Heads Roll Off.” The album’s choicest moments come on hybrid tracks like “The Twist” a spare Spoon-copping voice/piano/percussion ditty at its start which explodes in its latter half into a sun splashed slice of funkiness with a half dozen layers of vocal harmonies and joyously sumptuous keyboards tracked to the heavens.

My favorite musical import of 2008 thus far, Frightened Rabbit could teach more than a few American bands a thing or two about dramatic tension and instrumental arrangement. Hutchinson recently took time out to talk with Reveille from the road near the close of Frightened Rabbit’s recent American tour.

Reveille: The first thing that jumped out at me listening to Frightened Rabbit was the bluntness of the lyrics. They can be really harsh and by American standards are pretty sexually explicit. After a few listens I realized the only other band I had ever encountered with a similar lyrical viewpoint, Arab Strap, also happened to be Scottish. Are you a big Arap Strap fan or is there something about Scottish culture that might explain the similarities?

Hutchinson: It’s definitely a Scottish thing. I was never really an Arab Strap fan, never saw them live, but they’re certainly a staple of Scottish music and I have friends who love them so I was probably influenced by them inevitably to a degree. I think there’s something Scottish about dry humor, where you can be blunt and dark but funny as well. It’s not just “woe is me.” I usually like to write personal songs about a couple of months after the event I’m writing about has happened because then I’m able to have the perspective where I can see the humor in things a little bit. A break up’s never funny at the time, it’s just awful.

Reveille: In previous interviews you’ve made it clear that the songs on Midnight Organ Fight are very much directly inspired by real life personal relationships. From the sound of the album you didn’t really hold anything back. Were you at all tempted to censor yourself?

Hutchinson: I didn’t bother thinking about it. I demoed the record alone in my house, and the lyrics pretty much get set in stone when I demo, the realization of a wider public hearing the songs didn’t actually come into play until much later and by then it was too late anyway. I kind of had a strange lack of awareness that other people would eventually be hearing them (laughs). I’ve had one or two people pull me aside and try and tell me that I made a mistake, that it’s not commercial enough of a style or I might offend people, but I honestly don’t care. If someone hates my music they’ve got their reasons but it won’t be because I was dishonest in my songs.

Reveille: That brings up an interesting point, is it hard to get out there on tour and play these deeply personal songs night after night? I imagine you’ve got to walk a fine line between giving an emotionally charged performance and not outright reliving past relationship trauma every night.

Hutchinson: It definitely varies from song to song and it’s something I’ve been thinking about  a lot on this tour. Some of the songs we’ve actually been playing long enough that the original emotions attached to them are dead now, whereas others are still pretty fresh and I definitely feel a little more vividly still. I mainly concentrate on giving a good performance, I’m learning to take whatever the energy is of that particular day and just sort of using that. I don’t feel the same way as I did when I wrote the songs so I can’t really be working off of those same emotions and if I were it would definitely be unhealthy.

Reveille: Well it’s not like the audience knows what you’re thinking about internally during a performance anyway ultimately.

Hutchinson: Exactly, as long as I’m sweating and rocking the crowd can get into it (laughts).

Watch the music video for "Heads Roll Off" from The Midnight Organ Fight

Reveille: There’s a nice tension throughout The Midnight Organ Fight between the music and the lyrics. Often very ugly words accompany pretty music or a song about losing sounds victorious. How consciously were you of aiming for that conflict?

Hutchinson: It was sort of our manifesto going into the album. I was really interested in pairing kind of straight to the point lyrics with pleasant guitar pop. With what we do musically I don’t think we’re breaking any template really, we just try and twist things slightly enough to keep it interesting. I’m glad you noticed that tension because it was definitely something we worked hard toward.

Reveille: Every record is informed to some degree by where and when it was recorded. How big of an impact do you think recording with Peter Katis here in the States [at a house in Bridgeport, CT] had on the final shape of Midnight Organ Fight?

Scott Hutchinson: I think the biggest thing about recording in Connecticut for us was that there’s actually nothing to do there. There weren’t even really any bars to speak of in Bridgeport. It was very easy to be really focused and not have any distractions. We were in the studio for long stretches of time and in some ways all that nothingness around us definitely shaped the record.

Reveille: As a European band currently finishing up a run of several weeks of shows here in the States I’m curious as to your impressions of the differences between America and Europe in terms of the role independent music plays in the culture. Any big differences that stand out to you?

Hutchinson: People just come to music from such a different place in Scotland, because there’s not the same kind of [indie music] heritage that exists in England or the States. It’s almost trendless and fashionless in a lot of ways, which I think is usually a good thing. We can’t really break in the U.K. because we’re just not the type of band that’s going to get plastered all over NME. I love coming over to the States because it seems to be a healthier scene than the UK, it’s less driven by trendiness. I think just because the U.S. is so huge the internet is able to facilitate things in a different way for bands than it does in other countries.

Reveille: It’s been two years since Sing the Greys was originally released on a very tiny indie. In that time Frightened Rabbit’s subsequently found international record distribution, done headlining tours of the States and gotten some nice press from influential tastemakers. It’s not like the band is drowning in cash or on the cover of Rolling Stone, but a lot of nice things have happened for you guys in a relatively short amount of time. For a band in your situation do you ever stop and step back to sort of enjoy the moment or are you busy staying focused on the future?

Hutchinson: It’s sort of strange to admit this, but I don’t even know how people understood how popular they were before MySpace (laughs). For better or for worse you can definitely tell when more people are starting to listen to your music. For me though it really is still all about the experiences at the shows and how those are going. Little moments start happening and kind of feel like benchmarks. Our recent show in San Francisco was the first moment where I stood back and felt like we were a proper band; it was just a great crowd and show. Those moments don’t happen so often but I think that’s mostly because I’m always looking to move forward even though I don’t necessarily have really specific goals. I’ve never been one to rest on my laurels.