A sight for sore eyes

Interviewing The View proves an extremely difficult proposition. Not because the Dundee quartet are unusually reticent. Indeed, frontman Kyle Falconer and guitarist Peter Reilly are extremely personable and chatty. However, they have the thickest Scottish accents this side of Rab C Nesbitt. Even Kenny Dalglish was easier to decipher.
The fact that a linguistics expert would have trouble understanding their Ps and Qs hasn’t stopped them from becoming the most successful new band in Britain, with a number one album, hit singles and sell-out tours all par for the course. It’s been something of a dream come true.
“We were just content playing Dundee, hoping it would go someplace,” admits Peter, “but the last six months have been crazy. We now need to get some new dreams.”
They’re living their particular dream, and loving it too.
“We just did a gig in the Royal Albert Hall with Noel Gallagher, and got a standing ovation after our set,” adds Kyle. “That was amazing.”
It transpires that Oasis were one of the formative musical influences on The View, and one of the main reasons they started a band.
The elder Gallagher, however, isn’t the only one of their heroes they've played with. Two of their earliest tours were with Primal Scream and Babyshambles, which must have been some introduction to the world of touring.
“It was like ‘this is how touring goes’,” laughs Peter. “It was a good introduction, though, straight in at the deep end.”
The fact that they now consider these musical luminaries as mates is not lost on them. While describing Bobby Gillespie as a “sweetheart”, Peter reserves his biggest awe-struck moment for former Stone Rose and current Primal Scream-er, Mani.
“We were sitting in Mani’s house, and I was playing his bass,” he smiles. “It was the bass he used to play in The Stone Roses and I was there thinking, ‘I’ve got a poster of you on me wall’.”
This summer sees the band embark on the festival circuit, a challenge they’re seriously relishing.
“The only festival we’d ever been at was T In The Park, before we were in a band, and Reading and Leeds were the only ones we did last year,” enthuses Peter. “But this year, we’re playing the main stage at Glastonbury and headlining at T In The Park. Up in Scotland, people look forward to T In The Park nearly more than they look forward to Christmas.”
Their T In The Park appearance is the same day as their Oxegen slot, with the result that The View are getting a helicopter over to Scotland once they come off stage in Kildare. Not that they’re going to take it easy at Oxegen, though, far from it.
“I love playing Ireland ‘cos everyone seems to really go for it, very similar to Scottish crowds,” smiles Peter.
The band themselves have a reputation of going for it, particularly in respect of their hedonistic lifestyle. They’ve already been banned from the entire Travelodge Hotel Group, due to the small matter of a flooded hotel room.
“We went to a party and I was pissed when I got back to the hotel. I put the bath on and fell asleep,” admits Kyle.
“Actually, I think there’s only one hotel in West London we’re allowed to stay in,” Peter muses.
They also have trouble with even getting into the US, thanks to the small manner of Kyle being arrested for possession of cocaine, and subsequently fined £1,000.
“It is a spanner in the works but we’re only young and we’ve got our whole career ahead of us to go to America,” Peter admits. “But we’re trying to get a waiver, which you can get if you’re going to work in America and it’s going to be good for American business, us filling a hall or something. We just need to keep our noses out of trouble and then hopefully we’ll get in.”
So their reputation as party animals is pretty much deserved then?
“We were brought up like that, partying all the time,” Kyle muses. “Some bands take it really seriously. We take it seriously as well, but it’s not going to change the way we are. Just because we’re playing in front of thousands of people doesn’t mean we’re not going to bevvy. We’ve always done that.”
“What is life if there’s not a party involved?” asks Peter. “If you’re partying too hard and it’s gonna fuck you up, I can see a reason to chill out for a bit but life should be a party.”