Supernaturals

In the days of Britpop the Supernaturals were the sort of band you could rely on each to appear on TOTP, Radio 1 and TFI Friday with sing along tunes like "Smile" and "I Wasn't Built To Get Up". Fast forward to the year 2002 and the band are back to rescue us from dull acoustic drivel and to remind us just how much they influenced bands such as the Mull Historical Society. Read on to find out what you've been missing all these years

Q: Its been a while now since the whole Britpop scene folded in on itself. You chose to comeback on the Proclaimers tour. Some people would see that as a bit of a strange route?
A: I've always been quite a big fan of The Proclaimers, particularly their second album which is a real classic with songs like "500 Miles"....it was quite a big album for me when I was a teenager. We were only supposed to be doing 3 or 4 gigs in Scotland and they asked us to tour the whole of UK with them. They are actually really exceptionally good live because a lot of people view the Proclaimers as a novelty Scottish band.

If national radio doesn't play your records then you have to find an outlet to sell your records and the obvious route is just through gigging.
 

Q: The scene is quite different when you guys were last around. How do you think people are going to take to a guitar pop band in the midst of acoustic melancholy and nu-metal?
A: Its just getting like when we used to gig and there would always be loads of bands with Snowboarding jackets and Liam Gallagher shades on and loads of attitude. Now its getting to the point where all the support slots are two guys with acoustic guitars who are dead sensitive. Its like fucking hell....is there no originality!!!
 

Q: So how have you guys progressed since Britpop then?
A: Well the lyrics are the same and its still be singing but the new stuff is a bit more electronic. We've not gone and done an imitation of Badly Drawn Boy but people will be able to see a progression from 1998. I mean I still listen to my old Kinks records, reggae and soul but just because I'm getting older you start to feel that music should move along and be a bit more original.

I don't like knocking other bands but when your older its a bit different than if you're 17. If your 17 and you hear Starsailor you may think they're the most original thing in the world, at my age you've heard that 100 times and you get a bit more cynical.

Q: I think a band that sound exactly like you guys are fellow scots Mull Historical Society. Would you say they've taken a fare bit of inspiration from you guys?
A: The guy's been kicking around Glasgow for the best part of the last 10 years. I like Mull Historical Society and one of their songs is a total rip off of "I Wasn't Built To Get Up" - some highlander came up to me at a gig biting my ear of about it and I hadn't heard it at the time. But good luck to MHS, they're a good band and they're going about it the right way and making their own records. They seem to have a certain amount of self contained about them.
 

Q: There does seem to be a return to that mid 90s indie Britpop sound with bands like MHS and Gloss?
A: There were a lot of great singles in Britpop and I have to admit that it will be judged a lot better with time than alot of this acoustic stuff. There's not a lot of great singles or tunes and its all just about people being very sensitive and singing along with acoustic guitars. Fair enough some of its brilliant...Badly Drawn Boy and the second Travis album but there just seems to be too many and there isn't anything original really.

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"What We Did Last Summer" is out in the Spring

For more information check out:
www.thesupernaturalsofficialwebsite.com
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