Electric Picnic 2015: Belle And Sebastian

Did you hear the one about the twee indie band from Glasgow? It’s a good one. They went on to sell millions of records and play major festivals...

“When we started out, there was no way on earth we were a festival band,” reveals long-standing Belles drummer Richard Colburn. “When I think about it, I’ve actually been involved in some of the worst gigs I’ve ever seen.”
We’ll come to all that shortly, but when Stuart Murdoch first gathered a fledgling band comprised of Stow College students, playing events like Electric Picnic – where this year they headline the Electric Arena – was as remote a notion as playing on the moon. 
“When we first got together, our first manager Neil and myself were on a course,” Colburn recalls. “Alan Rankine was a lecturer, who had a fairly successful pop career with Billy Mackenzie in the Associates. We were recording a single as a project, but simply because we had a few extra quid, we ended up making an album. Tigermilk was recorded and mixed in five days. Stuart (Murdoch) likes to call it a product of botched capitalism.” 
Unlike most rock ‘n’ roll bands, the members of this new college band were a mismatched bunch who didn’t know each other from Adam. “It was one of those rare instances that none of us knew each other,” Colburn says. “Stuart had just corralled all these people together, who had no history whatsoever. The age difference was ten years from the oldest to the youngest. The only ambition was to have a piece of vinyl existing in the world with our name on it.
“When the course finished, there was a showcase gig that record companies were invited to. We had 30-odd publishers and 40 labels on our case. We went with Jeepster, who were the smallest label with the least amount of money. We didn’t even take an advance. We didn’t really have any ambitions to do anything.”
Despite their lack of ambition, Belle and Sebastian’s Tigermilk quickly became a word of mouth cult classic. Like James Joyce’s Ulysses, there were only 1,000 copies printed. Copies now sell for in excess of £400 sterling. The album’s reception encouraged Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David to turn the band into a full-time concern. Their Jeepster Records debut If You’re Feeling Sinister is widely considered the band’s best, although personally I much prefer the more expansive pop sound of more recent albums. 
They also won a Brit Award. “For most bands that would have been a platform to bigger and better things or at least a spring board to something,” Colburn reflects. “Mick (Cooke, not to be confused with the current Athlone Town manager!) and I went down to London on the night. It was weird but a good experience. Everyone else was in the studio back in Glasgow.”
Despite all this early acclaim, it took Belle and Sebastian ages to develop their live show. “The first time we played in London, we supported Tindersticks and they were really good to us,” Chris recalls. “Those shows went really well, but because of a lack of practice most of them were poor. On those early records, the whole sound of the band was based around Stuart’s acoustic guitar and voice. He wouldn’t use an acoustic guitar with a pick up, because he didn’t like the way it sounded. Also, because he was used to singing in the studio, he’d sing a big distance away from the mic. In terms of getting a sound together, we could never be loud enough. Everything was a mess.
“Eventually, around 2001, we realised we had to start doing it properly and get a proper crew. We hired a production manager, who told us in no uncertain terms that our entire approach to playing live had to change if we were to get anywhere. We turned a corner and toured more and realised that it could be very enjoyable. The first few times we went on tour, things were quite complicated between people in the band as well. Add that to technical incompetence, and you’ve a recipe for disaster.” 
Geddes is referring to Stuart Murdoch’s former relationship with backing singer Isobel Campbell, who in recent years collaborated with Mark Lanegan. When Belle and Sebastian played their Irish debut in the Olympia in April 1999, things didn’t exactly go according to plan, with tensions between the couple spilling over onstage. 
“To be honest, I quite enjoyed most of that show.” Geddes laughs. “I actually thought it was going quite well. Then, Stuart and Isobel had a blazing row onstage and Stuart smashed up his guitar. It wasn’t even his own guitar, to add even more embarrassment.”
“Oh sweet Jesus, I’d completely forgotten about that show,” Colburn groans. “It is a funny and fond memory now, but at the time it was insane. I’m sure we had to drag the remnants of that guitar around with us. We put it on the bus to remind ourselves what had happened.”
As for their worst ever show, Chris and Richard both agree that a weekend festival at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1997 was beyond appalling. 
“It got so bad I had to keep a bucket under my keyboards in case I needed to throw up,” Geddes reveals. “We had three shows that weekend. Some bright spark figured we should have an after-show party on the very first night. The gig was absolutely awful, so we got completely hammered and I got stuck into the Jack Daniels. We had to do a matinee as well, which meant a very early soundcheck.”
Moving on to other subjects, on the opening track on their recently released ninth studio album, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, Murdoch unveils the most personal song of his career, ’Nobody’s Empire’. In it, he sings about a lifelong struggle with chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that the band’s schedule has successfully negotiated. 
“‘Nobody’s Empire’ is an amazing piece of songwriting,” agrees Richard Colburn. “Melodically, it really stood out from the get go, especially with my own drum part, which is very different to what we usually do. I’m not actually using the full kit, but I’m using the bass drum more, so it’s a slightly different take on things. I always really like Stuart’s piano-based songs and that is one of them." 
Murdoch grew up a literal stone’s throw from the birthplace of Robert Burns. The singer has also been unafraid of asserting his Scottish identity. Like many other Scottish independent musicians, Murdoch called for a Yes vote in last September’s independence referendum. 
“Stuart from Mogwai was especially vocal and played a really big role in the campaign,” Geddes says. “Stuart from our band also talked about it a bit. He actually moved from No to Yes. The Yes voters have become a social movement. It has become bigger than the referendum and will go on way beyond it. In terms of engaging in politics it has been really good, despite the disappointment of the result. I think in the long run if people are re-engaged with politics and see there is an alternative to the Torys or Labour, it is a very good thing. “
Looking ahead to the Picnic, Belle and Sebastian are feeling very enthused to be visiting Stradbally. “We’re very excited to be doing it,” nods Geddes. “When the UK dates were announced, quite a few people were onto us on Facebook and Twitter asking if we were playing Ireland, so it’s nice that we aren’t letting people hang on for too long. Hopefully, we’ll get over and do our own headline show as well, and I’m also hoping it will be sooner rather than later.” 
Well, we can’t wait! Roll on the Picnic...