FROM the Stone Roses to Bros, old bands reuniting have dominated music over the past few years.

Don’t expect to see the Beta Band joining that trend, though.

Singer Steve Mason has plenty to be content with on his own these days, with solo album Meet The Humans a hit when it was released earlier this year.

And he’s not a fan of going back to the past, either.

“Nostalgia is destroying culture,” he says, ahead of an Art School show tonight.

“When nostalgia is the driving force behind your culture then it’s going nowhere. For me it began with a lot of things, but in the mainstream music scene it was when Oasis arrived that culture started eating its own excrement and just regurgitating itself.

“At the grassroots level people started realising there was a market for that, and you’ve got all these tribute bands sucking the life out of the local band scene, because new acts can’t get gigs on Friday and Saturday nights, and you’ve got folk giving up on writing their own songs in favour of covering Oasis.

“There’s a million other things, but I’d happily put a bullet in that head and move on. It’s the same with films and all these remakes, and it’s horrible. If I was homeless and someone asked if I’d do a Beta Band tour I’d say yeah, but things are going well so I can sleep indoors if I chose!”

Steve has previously spoken in the past about his struggles with depression and mental health issues, but these days he seems full of good vibes. That energy and enthusiasm runs through Meet All Humans, an album full of zesty pop songs and earworm melodies. His third solo record, it continues the path he’s been going down ever since the Beta Band first appeared in 1996- namely, to provide clever pop music.

While the tunes are mostly of a sunny disposition, the lyrics aren’t always so bright.

“I managed to take a sad subject and make it sound quite happy, which I’m quite pleased about,” says Steve.

“There’s the song To A Door, and I’ve had conversations with people where they talk about how pretty it is, and what is it about, and I have to explain it’s actually about death. So I think that’s quite an achievement, to make a subject like that sound reasonably up.”

For the album Steve worked with Elbow keyboardist Craig Potter, who produced the album, and with the singer-songwriter Iain Archer, who co-wrote a couple of tunes on the record. The first time Steve met Craig was when they stepped into the studio to start work.

“We’d spoken a hell of a lot on the phone beforehand, and he seemed to have a really good attitude,” he says.

“He seemed to understand the sort of music (that Steve wanted) and I think it’s always good to have a little element of risk when you start working on something. If everything was too nice and shiny then that’s not a good thing, so you need some risk in there too.

“I really had a great working relationship with Craig – he likes a good party like me but when it comes to work time then he’s really serious and focused, so it was easy for us to work together and then get drunk together.”

As for the more upbeat outlook running through the album, that was partly down to the singer’s relocation.

“I guess I’m thinking a bit better about things in general,” he says.

“I think moving to an urban cohabitation rather than on my own in the woods made a difference, and that obviously translates into the music, because it’s all about me and how I’m feeling at that specific time.”

That urban move took him to Brighton, where he seems happy. However there’s a countrywide issue that vexes him.

“Brighton’s like everywhere else, where there’s a lot of good venues being closed down by the establishment, but there’s a busy live scene,” he explains.

“It’s really tragic what’s happening everywhere. In London Denmark Street is getting bulldozed down and that’s a criminal offence in my book because that’s 100 years of musical history going.

“London’s getting destroyed – Glasgow has been lucky to avoid that aggressive policy of smashing history to bits in favour of cheap flats that’ll sit empty, although it was unbelievable what happened to the Arches.”

Steve Mason. Art School, tonight, £20, 7pm

JOHNATHAN GEDDES