THE GREEN, GREEN
TRNSMT
R Æ K L O S N E R Ø S
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O T O H P
Ahead of their gig at this summer’s TRNSMT festival in Glasgow, Fiona Shepherd gets the lowdown from Belle and Sebastian on the benefi ts of home recording and the concept behind their forthcoming trio of EPs O nce upon a time, many, many years ago (OK,
about 20), a young Glasgow band whose musical beauty was admired all across the land were wooed by an esteemed suitor, offering to whisk them away on a tour of the nation’s larger indoor venues. But the fair young Belle and Sebastian said ‘no’ because they weren’t quite ready to support a group as righteous and respected as Radiohead. These days, it’s a different story, and the Belles (now a lean, mean live machine) were easily persuaded to join Radiohead on the bill of TRNSMT, the three-day non-camping happening on Glasgow Green, brought to you by the makers of T in the Park. ‘They said to us that Radiohead had personally requested that we be on the bill with them,’ says keyboard player Chris Geddes. ‘Whether that is actually true, I don’t know . . . ’
‘It’s really nice to know you have fans in high places,’ says singer and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Martin. ‘I saw Radiohead really early on in King Tut’s, but they’re not the sort of band that works that well in a little venue and, sure enough, it turns out they are a stadium band.’ Belle and Sebastian have never played at T in the Park (‘by the time it was viable, I was too old to camp in a ditch,’ deadpans Martin) but they are known for their civic-mindedness and love of parks, having organised their own festival in Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens in 2004 and rechristened the Kelvingrove Bandstand ten years later with a concert celebrating the opening of the Commonwealth Games.
30 THE LIST 1 Jun–31 Aug 2017