Interview with Mo
Dundee indie-punks The View have come a long way in a short space of time. Chart successes, festival favourites, championed by their heroes… And they’re still bloody young as well. I don’t need to ask who the lightweights in the band are, as drummer Steven Morrison is the only one of the foursome to be conscious after a heavy night in Hull, so we sit and chat about their meteoric rise, Thin Lizzy and collaborating with Gwen Stefani…
Welcome to Manchester. Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
Aye, I’m Steven Morrison and I play drums.
You’ve just started a 36-day tour of the UK. How’s that going so far?
Excellent, it was good to start off in Scotland as well like!
The venues you’re playing are quite intimate. How does this differ from, say, the festival or arena atmosphere?
Any place that has a good crowd reaction gives us a good vibe. Plus, we’ve got these new in-ear monitors in any case, so it doesn’t matter where we play. It’s great.
You’ve done a few high profile support acts over the past couple of years, such as for Primal Scream. How has this helped your exposure?
It’s helped out in a big way. It’s good being associated with big bands, and it’s good being friends with them as well. Babyshambles helped us out loads.
Bobby Gillespie was rather impressed with you. How was that for an ego massage?!
It was outstanding; he’s an absolute legend. He’s really close to us, we can have a pint and we’ve got loads in common.
Now you’re headlining your own tour, how important are your support acts to you?
They were a really big part of doing this tour. We’ve brought The Law with us – they’re fucking great. When we started to get noticed, people started to pay a bit more attention to the Dundee scene and more bands have come out of it.
Did you ever envisage that you’d do this well?
Not at all! It’s just been crazy and gone so fast. You have to pinch yourself sometimes.
So when you were growing up, what bands made you want to form your own band?
Queen and Thin Lizzy - absolutely. I could listen to them all day and die a happy man. Honestly, ask the boys, when I’ve had a few pints I start singing Lizzy songs dead loud.
Would you ever like to do collaboration with someone?
Aye, any hot birds that play! People like Gwen Stefani or Pink. That’d be a good mash-up that!
You have a new single out, ‘5Rebeccas’. What’s the story behind this?
Well, Kyle knows a lot of people called Rebecca, and it’s basically just going through them and their day-to-day lives really; that’s about it.
Can we expect a new album soon?
It’s just been mixed, so it only needs mastering now. It’s gonna be a stormer! Everyone that’s heard it has gone mental.
Are you moving in a new direction or keeping the same sort of sound?
Na, it’s a lot darker, mysterious, more mature. There’s keys and strings in places. Paolo Nutini came down and did some singing on a track, and Drew from Babyshambles played double bass for us.
Do you have any surprises in store tonight?
Well just seeing Kyle (lead vocals) on two feet by the start of the show would be a surprise in itself!
Lastly, tell Second City readers something random about yourself that you’ve never mentioned before.
I pissed on the roadie when he was sleeping last night. He’s my drum tech and doesn’t know yet. I’ll probably tell him at the end of the tour…
Manchester Second City, 2nd November 2008
Welcome to Manchester. Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
Aye, I’m Steven Morrison and I play drums.
You’ve just started a 36-day tour of the UK. How’s that going so far?
Excellent, it was good to start off in Scotland as well like!
The venues you’re playing are quite intimate. How does this differ from, say, the festival or arena atmosphere?
Any place that has a good crowd reaction gives us a good vibe. Plus, we’ve got these new in-ear monitors in any case, so it doesn’t matter where we play. It’s great.
You’ve done a few high profile support acts over the past couple of years, such as for Primal Scream. How has this helped your exposure?
It’s helped out in a big way. It’s good being associated with big bands, and it’s good being friends with them as well. Babyshambles helped us out loads.
Bobby Gillespie was rather impressed with you. How was that for an ego massage?!
It was outstanding; he’s an absolute legend. He’s really close to us, we can have a pint and we’ve got loads in common.
Now you’re headlining your own tour, how important are your support acts to you?
They were a really big part of doing this tour. We’ve brought The Law with us – they’re fucking great. When we started to get noticed, people started to pay a bit more attention to the Dundee scene and more bands have come out of it.
Did you ever envisage that you’d do this well?
Not at all! It’s just been crazy and gone so fast. You have to pinch yourself sometimes.
So when you were growing up, what bands made you want to form your own band?
Queen and Thin Lizzy - absolutely. I could listen to them all day and die a happy man. Honestly, ask the boys, when I’ve had a few pints I start singing Lizzy songs dead loud.
Would you ever like to do collaboration with someone?
Aye, any hot birds that play! People like Gwen Stefani or Pink. That’d be a good mash-up that!
You have a new single out, ‘5Rebeccas’. What’s the story behind this?
Well, Kyle knows a lot of people called Rebecca, and it’s basically just going through them and their day-to-day lives really; that’s about it.
Can we expect a new album soon?
It’s just been mixed, so it only needs mastering now. It’s gonna be a stormer! Everyone that’s heard it has gone mental.
Are you moving in a new direction or keeping the same sort of sound?
Na, it’s a lot darker, mysterious, more mature. There’s keys and strings in places. Paolo Nutini came down and did some singing on a track, and Drew from Babyshambles played double bass for us.
Do you have any surprises in store tonight?
Well just seeing Kyle (lead vocals) on two feet by the start of the show would be a surprise in itself!
Lastly, tell Second City readers something random about yourself that you’ve never mentioned before.
I pissed on the roadie when he was sleeping last night. He’s my drum tech and doesn’t know yet. I’ll probably tell him at the end of the tour…
Manchester Second City, 2nd November 2008
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