Friday, October 31, 2008

SFTW catch up with The View

OUT on the road is where party-loving band The View feel most at home.
SFTW caught up with the the Dundee gang in Manchester, seven nights into a 35-date tour.

It is their first tour of the year as the lads have been in Wales recording their second album Which Bitch? — the follow-up to their colossal debut.

Not only did Hats Off To The Buskers fly straight in at No1 in the album charts in January last year, it also earned them a Mercury Music Prize nomination as well.

Mop-haired singer and guitarist Kyle Falconer, 21, says: “Touring’s the best bit. Just getting out there and seeing the fans. We had a good dose of the studio so we were itching to get out on the road.”

Some would think The View are mad to embark on such a mammoth tour with the album due next year, but the band — Kyle, bassist and vocalist Kieren Webster, guitarist Pete Reilly and drummer Steven Morrison — wanted to get back to their legendary on-tour blow-outs.

In the past, there’s been boozing, bans from pubs, the Travelodge hotel chain — and even a ban from America.

All of this is reflected on the new album. Kieren says: “Aye, it was great fun making this. We managed to get banned from all the local Monmow Valleys pubs in Wales so took the party back to the studio. All our mates were down with us and we had some fun.

One song on Which Bitch?, Double Yellow Line, is about having to drunkenly find your way home following road lines. Another, One Off Pretender is about the time Kyle and Kieren spent the night in an Aberdeen jail cell.

Kieren explains: “That song is about the injustice of what happened. We were DJing and tried to split up a fight on the dancefloor.

“Then when we were on the bus, this policeman arrested Kyle and me and chucked us in the nick.”

Kyle also landed himself in hot water when he left a bath running at a Travelodge hotel and fell asleep — causing £7,000-worth of damage.

Which Bitch? is more expansive than their debut and even features a collaboration with fellow Scot Paolo Nutini on the track Covers.

Kyle says: “Working with Paolo was a brilliant night. He really is a star.”

Kyle feels the band has unfinished business, particularly in America where he was refused entry following a conviction for cocaine possession last year. That forced the band to cancel a tour over there.

Kyle says: “I was stupid. We’re still trying to get back but it’s hard.

“I hope we get back there. I think we will — I’m hoping this album will open doors there.”


By JACQUI SWIFT, The Sun, 31st October 2008

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