Trashcan Sinatras' frontman Frank Reader reveals how the band were dropped by their record company and made bankrupt... but fought back over eight years to release new album Weightlifting, out October 18.
How does it feel to release your first album in eight years?
It's a bit strange. We just dropped out of the music business - we felt like we were out of it. It feels good now, though. I'm really proud of the record but we've all got a pact - we're not going to say it's the best thing we've ever done.
It's a pretty concise and direct record for us. We have a reputation for making rambling idiosyncratic records. Always when you go out with a new record you're shy about your new songs and how they come across but it's not been like that with this record.
The songs have been translating really well live and we've been living with them for so long. We're fighting fit and ready to face anything.
Why the long break and what have you been doing?
Time just kind of moves on. All the bad stuff - such as being dropped and bankruptcy - really dented our confidence. It took a while to get that back. We had to run and hide for a bit.
But there were still some songs lying around that just wouldn't go away and kept knocking on the door. About four years ago we got an invite to go to America to record but we tried to push it too soon. And we had to raise the money - we got an Arts Council grant.
They were great at the Arts Council. It covered about a tenth of what we spent but it got us started. We went to Riverside Studios in Busby, Glasgow, with money collected from selling on the website.
Before that we were just sorting out our personal lives. We had been living together for four years. Went to San Diego for a year. I just did things like read the paper and did the crossword. We were trying to write but we weren't happy, we didn't have the confidence to stand by what was good.
We started writing again during 2002 when the World Cup was on. Then it all started falling into place. We were hermits in Kilmarnock, we weren't aware that anyone actually liked us. It was good to get out and find out there were people who did. There's been a lot of people who have helped us and without the encouragement we would have been stifled. |
|
But we tend to forget there are people out there that don't know what we do. There's a great mass of people that we want to reach.
What made you decide to put this record out on your own label, Picnic Records?
We're not in a good bargaining position. We did talk to a few record companies in London but we felt it was wrong.
We felt like it was taking a step back in time. We've been there before, although we could have done with the backing. But we've also done well ourselves selling on the website. It's also more interesting. It's pretty mysterious and it's still unveiling itself as we go along.
You're just about to go on an extensive tour across America. Are you looking forward to it?
Yes, although don't like flying but I'm really looking forward to going out playing. We played in LA in March and sold out without any advertising.
It's funny because we phone up and they are reluctant to put us on. We say 'please' and then we sell out. We sold out two nights at the Troubador. People seem to remember us fondly and have retained a place for us.
What are your favourite tracks from the new album?
Weightlifting seems to be a favourite with most people. The song started off being about a girl who wouldn't let someone go - she kept clinging on - but then it started being about us, which it usually always does, and about accepting ourselves and moving on from the past.
There have been a lot of happy accidents on this album, just things happening at the right moments.
Originally appeared in the Sunday Mail. |
