Belle and Sebastian guitarist says having Trnsmt festival in backyard is brilliant

The Glasgow legends are second top on Friday’s night bill behind Radiohead, and playing a festival in their backyard was always going to appeal.

“We were offered T In The Park a few times, but generally we were away gigging elsewhere or there was some kind of hurdle to it,” explains Richard Colburn, the band’s drummer.

“I don’t know what will happen with T in the future, but at least we’re doing Trnsmt. It was crazy we never played T, because it was Scotland’s biggest festival for so long.

“T In The Park has obviously moved venues a few times and the last one didn’t really work out, but having something in your backyard like Trnsmt is brilliant.”

As a band rooted in Glasgow, Stuart Murdoch and company were obvious picks to play Trnsmt, but a rumour going around suggests that Radiohead themselves had requested them to play on Friday.

“Someone did tell us that Radiohead had asked for us to be on the bill, but I have no idea if it’s true or not,” he says.

“I know back in the 1990s Radiohead did want us to support them, but we were just starting out, and we weren’t good enough for gigs like that. We were too all over the place and they were cooking on gas at that point. We were too amateur – we’d have taken nine years to sound check and then fallen apart after two songs. But we have always had such respect for them musically.

“We fly in from Madrid on the day, so I’m hoping that we get in on time, and can see some of the other bands. A friend of mine helped produce the London Grammar album, so I want to see them as I’ve never seen them live, and I love Everything Everything, so it’d be good to catch them.”

Festival season is well underway, and already the Belles have found themselves playing shows across Europe. Richard has played at festivals big and small over the years with Belle & Sebastian and with other bands he’s been involved in, like Snow Patrol and the Reindeer Section, and not every experience has gone smoothly.

“I remember a small German one with Snow Patrol, and we didn’t really want to do it,” he says.

“The Dropkick Murphys were on before us, who are totally different in style, and there was only a few hundred people there. Everyone was already hammered and just as we arrived the heavens opened, a thunderstorm started and a typhoon pretty much blew the tents away.

“The whole thing got cancelled, so we just headed off right after arriving. There’s been a lot of good ones though – Benicassim was unbelievable the first time we played, maybe about 20 years ago. Coachella was amazing too. Those two very much stand out.”

When not on the road Richard still stays in Glasgow, and he feels that the city remains a hotbed for new talent, even if he struggles to keep up with it all.

“Glasgow is so synonymous with music, because it’s like a revolving door of new music,” he says.

“As soon as you look away from what’s going on for a bit, there’s 100 new bands coming out! I always try and just keep up with what’s going on, which is difficult.”

Friday will almost certainly be about delivering the hits (or, at least, songs that people recognise) but the group are also well underway on new music, which would be the follow-up to 2015’s Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance.

However it won’t be an album lined up.

“The last three albums were all recorded in America, and this time we wanted to stay closer to home, partly because we have families but above that was wanting to self- produce some stuff,” says Richard.

“We’ll bring it out at various points this year, probably with EPs to start with. When we first started the band we brought out some EPs that stood alone, and after a while we compiled them into a box set and we wanted to get back to that idea.

“There’s a bit more freedom with EPs. With an album you need a common denominator through the songs, but this way you don’t have to worry about how this one song will fit in with the other 14, so we can be more eclectic.”

Trnsmt, Friday to Sunday.

JONATHAN GEDDES