Selkirk’s Frightened Rabbit will be hopping over the Atlantic this summer to play a free show in front of tens of thousands of fans at NYC’s Siren Festival. The next day, the Rabbits will find themselves in Chicago, playing before another massive crowd at the annual Pitchfork Festival.
They’ll also be playing a few east coast US and Canadian gigs along the way. The band are currently working on a follow up to the brilliant 2008 LP, The Midnight Organ Fight, which they hope to release later this year.
C: The critics over here have been giving The Midnight Organ Fight some pretty glowing reviews so far. Were you expecting such a positive response from our unbelievably picky (and at times snobby) music journalists?
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S: Being picky is their job! I never take reviews terribly seriously given that they tend to be written after one or two listens at around 4am. That said, one fellow at SXSW whom I was talking to, said the thing he liked most about our band was that we seemed able to soften even the hardest of industry hearts, and remind them that outside of the rat-hole of the music media, they are people who experience emotions and even maybe get their heart broken.
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C: During your recent trek to the US, did you end up returning home with any interesting noteworthy stories from the road? Any random weirdness while in Austin? Problems getting into the US? All around culture shock?
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S: Random weirdness is all over Austin. We went to a party at a children’s museum, where the drunks rubbed shoulders with trains and teddy bears. We always comment on the meat too. Its a big part of your trip to Austin, and I swear if you cut me open that week, I would have bled barbecue. Upon our return to the east coast we played a show in Boston with Sons and Daughters. We all got hammered, but our drummer in particular became so enthused by the Sons and Daughters show that he insisted on shouting ‘DRUM SOLO!’ again and again. The whole crowd seemed to agree so by the end of the set Dave was forced to execute a solo. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
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C: For our readers who might have only heard bits and pieces of your music so far, how would you describe the sound of Frightened Rabbit?
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S: I can never describe it, and that’s not because it’s in anyway groundbreaking or experimental. It’s the opposite in fact. We use the standard rock/pop templates and skew them ever so slightly so as to be a little less recognisable. That, at least, is what we aim for. As for what comes out, I haven’t a fucking clue.
Tour dates below. Who’s going?
www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkS9TXOjkes