The first song I loved
Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘By The Way’
“This was the first song that made my ears prick up. It was from the music channel days, when my gran had Sky TV. All the gibberish that came with Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrically just kind of worked for me as a child.”
The album that changed me
MGMT – ‘Oracular Spectacular’
“That’s one of those albums. It’s got so many hidden gems – a masterclass in songwriting. I was 14 or 15 when I bought it. it was one of those records that helped me [and my friends] step out because we were proper indie kids, painted-on skinny jeans and bracelets up our arms and really dodgy haircuts and stuff like that. It allowed me to see that there was more to alternative guitar music.”
The festival that defined my youth
T In The Park
“It’s the most mythical festival. It was just absolute chaos, man. Festivals now are super organised and safe. But T In The Park was proper Hunger Games, man. I remember hearing a story from one of the first T In The Parks. Everything was cash back then and the promoter was going around all the vendors at the end of the day, collecting all the money that was due from merch, food and stuff. He took all the money home in a couple of big duffle bags, millions of pounds’ worth. These big guys just followed him home with shotguns, tapped on his door and said, ‘give us the money’ and that was that!'”
The first gig I went to
Razorlight, Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, 2009
“That was the first show I went to with the bass player in our band, Callum Wilson, who’s still my best friend. I think my dad actually drove us and stood up the back. It was amazing, just being in the middle of the front row, not even drunk or anything, just proper high on life and on the music.”
The song that reminds me of home
Big Thief – ‘Change’
“I’s a song that me and my missus put on around seven or eight o’clock at night, when we’re cooking dinner or just had dinner. We live in Glasgow. [Scotland is] a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful country.”
The song I wish I’d written
Phantom Planet – ‘California’
“There’s something about it. It’s proper being in a garage as a band… I don’t even know The O.C. [which it was the theme song for], but I love that big, nasally American accent.”
The song I can’t get out of my head
Orlando Weeks – ‘Look Who’s Talking Now?’
“It’s just a really cool song. It sounds like it could be from the ’80s or the ’90s or the noughties.”
The song I can no longer listen to
The Snuts – ‘Glasgow’
“When it comes to gigs, it’s our biggest song – our fans just fucking love it. But I wrote it so long ago and we recorded the demo in a way that no human should ever record. We put it online and some people are [still] super attached to that version which makes me sad… I like that rough and ready sound, but it sucks when it’s you!”
The song that makes me want to dance
The Temptations – ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’
“I’m a big fan of party music. You know, the stuff you hear at your gran’s 60th party at the bowling club. That shit’s really stuck with me. It’s always soul music. All the old women would be in their fancy dresses, twisting away and stuff.”
The song that makes me cry
Nathaniel Rateliff – ‘Something Beautiful’
“It was the first dance with my wife at our wedding. Oh man, I cried so much. I’d seen this video on Instagram where the groom is waiting for his wife to come down the aisle and he’s absolutely bubbling by the end. I was like, ‘no fucking way will I be like that’. And the minute my wife pulled up in the car outside, I was howling, right through to the end of the ceremony.”
The song I do at karaoke
Rod Stewart – ‘You’re In My Heart’
“I actually don’t do karaoke man. When it’s your job to sing, karaoke is like the least fun thing on earth. It’s like going to work on a night out. But if I did do it, I would sing this song. Where I’m from, the divide is pretty 50-50 between Celtic and Rangers [football teams]. But this song, I’ve always found even though it has Celtic correlations, seems to bring everybody together.”
The song I want played at my funeral
Bob Dylan – ‘Forever Young’ (acoustic version)
“It’s like a big beautiful poem that anybody could understand. I think he wrote it for his mum… I know a lot of people have been to see him recently and said it’s the fucking worst thing ever. But I went to see him in Glasgow, maybe a year ago, and it was fucking amazing. He only plays piano now and he never played a single, just the new record. I respect that.”
The Snuts’ new single ‘Millionaires’ is out now. Their third album ‘Millennials’ is out on February 23 via Happy Artist Records/The Orchard. They play an intimate sold-out show at London’s Lafayette on February 1