Frightened Rabbit have just headlined their first festival – but they’re equally excited to be playing in a Glasgow house next week.

The Selkirk outfit are to play their smallest show in many years as part of Amnesty International’s Give A Home campaign on Wednesday, September 20.

They’ll be joined by the Fratellis and We Were Promised Jetpacks for the unique gig, which will take place inside a lucky local’s home and is to raise awareness of the ongoing refugee crisis.

More than 200 shows are taking place across the world to mark the event, and for Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchison it was an easy decision to say yes.

“It’s such an amazing worldwide event,” says Scott.

“I know that it’s a house with no PA system so it is acoustic as you can get, and we’re stripping back our gear for it, so it’ll be a quiet, intimate show.”

This isn’t the first time that the band have tried to help refugees. The singer believes that it’s important that bands do what they can to help those less fortunate, and take advantage of their position.

“We’ve released money on tour in the past for the Scottish Refugee Council by auctioning off drum-heads and things like that. We should always welcome those who are trying to make a better life for themselves.

“The creative arts can be quite a selfish existence and it’s important to remind ourselves that there’s more that we can do than just writing albums and playing shows. We can use the voice that we have to raise awareness, and cash as well.”

That’s a viewpoint that not everyone will share, with online debate about refugees often falling into mud-slinging and arguments. Scott has been caught up in that before, but won’t let it affect his views.

“We did post once about raising money for the Scottish Refugee Council and there were vitriolic comments underneath that, which surprised me,” he says.

“I thought our audience was a bit more open-minded. But although we’re not necessarily going to change people’s minds we’re taking the stance that we’ll keep doing our thing.”

There’s an added bonus for Scott, as the gig might be quite near his own flat. After spending time living in Los Angeles, he returned to Glasgow last year and is enjoying being back in the city.

“I really enjoyed my time in LA, but coming home feels all the better after being in an alien place for the past 18 months,” he says.

“It’s good to be closer to the band, I’m 15 minutes away from the studio and that’s made progress on the next album a lot quicker.”

A new album suggests a bright future for the group, but the past year had both highs and lows. The band’s future looked uncertain after Scott talked critically about both himself and the band on Twitter last year, saying that people shouldn’t buy his music. He regrets taking to social media to talk so publicly, but feels there were some silver linings in the public support he received.

“I turned to Twitter rather than doing the sensible thing and turning to family and friends, which I would recommend to anyone going through a turbulent time mentally,” he reflects.

“Mental health issues can come even at what are outwardly perceived as the highest points in your life. We were touring the world, celebrating releasing an album and all those things going on meant that I should be happy, but it’s not always the case.

“Right now I feel much more stable. I guess part of being a creative person is that you have a masochistic tendency to tap into those feelings, and it can overwhelm you if they take hold. It’s a balancing act and I haven’t mastered it yet.”

However since then there’s been several highs for the lads, including a three night stint at the Barrowland last December, and a headline slot at the Electric Fields festival in Dumfries a few weeks ago.

It was their run of gigs at the Barras that carried a special emotion for Scott, though, coming after such a tough year.

“There’s something about the Barras that brings out a nutty edge in people and I enjoy that,” he says.

“The crowds were like nothing we’d ever experienced before and it feels like a dream now… It was a celebration because it’s amazing to overcome obstacles like that and come out the other side stronger.”

Give A Home Day takes place on Wednesday, September 20. Visit www.sofarsounds.com/giveahome for more information.

JONATHAN GEDDES