UTR - Arab Strap

Arab Strap are just fucking guys from Glasgow as well, two of them to be exact. They’ve been making their own brand of slow and deliberate indie rock since 1996, somewhat in the vein of Mogwai, but not quite so loud. Some have deemed them miserablists for their often realistic examinations of sex and relationships, but Arab Strap aren’t having it, “I don’t think there’s anything remotely sad or miserable about it, I think it’s a very positive experience, quite uplifting,” claims Moffett about their music, adding, “A lot of people just presume because it’s of a certain tempo or a certain atmosphere that it’s intended to be miserable in some way, but that’s not the case. Obviously it does convey certain unpleasant aspects of experience, but it’s not intended to make anyone miserable, no.”

Moffett does admit that most of their lyrics are autobiographical, “Ai they all are except one song on the first album, unfortunately. I wish that they weren’t, but they are.”

Whatever you might say about their sound or lyrics, Arab Strap have garnered a devoted fan base, including some that are more recognizable to the rest of us. “I heard Claire Danes was a fan of ours,” Moffett explains, “I don’t know if that’s true, but if it is she’s perfectly welcome to be in any of our videos.” More documented is the fanship of a certain supermodel by the name of Helena Christiansen, who the band met when Britain’s Face magazine put them in a room together hoping sparks would fly. As Middleton explains, “It was a bit twisted, like lets get a super model and these two stupid wee guys from Scotland who don’t know any better.”

“ I think the journalist was disappointed because he didn’t get what he wanted and we actually got on quite well,” says Moffett, “We talked about normal things and just had normal human being conversations. I think he wanted something a bit more sensational. We compared our nerves from being on the stage and being on the catwalk and things like that, it was quite funny. She’s a lovely girl.”

They also recently had an encounter with Michael Stipe, who they found eating Sunday lunch with his parents in a cafe in his native Athens Georgia. “None of us are mass REM fans apart from the keyboard player and we were just thinking, lets leave him alone,” Middleton relates, “but when he left our keyboard player followed him out the door and got his autograph. He gave him a copy of our album, but he already had it. He came to our gig the night before, but apparently when we walked into the cafe he was too shy to come up and say hello. Apparently The Edge from U2 like us. Fuck off. A guy from Detroit came up to us and said, ‘man you make The Edge look like shit,’ I said, ‘no, he does that himself.”

In between dealing with famous fans, Arab Strap have found time to record four albums, including their latest on Matador, The Red Thread. Moffett explains the title: “It’s from an Eastern belief, especially in Japan, that you’re connected to your soul mate with an invisible red thread, and you can find eachother because of it. But it’s also used as a con trick as well, to con people into thinking that you’re connected in someway. And it is the name of the prostitutes union in Amsterdam.”

Despite all their supposed miserable seriousness and band bashing, the boys are quite game for laugh discussing which superhero they’d be (Moffett:”Wonder Woman, she’s got a really really sexy suit, and nice tits.” Middleton: “Spiderman or the Human Torch”) and which actors would play them in a film of their life. Middleton quite fancies Ewan McGregor to play him. Moffett reckons Josh Harnett would be good for a young him, followed by Bruce Willis and then Christopher Walkin as his older self. “I’m trying to think of somebody who isn’t handsome, so it doesn’t sound like I have a huge ego. Christopher Walkin could play me when I’m old, because he’s got a good measurable face like me.”

Echoing comments made by Idlewild, Mogwai and The Delgados (who’s label, Chemikal Underground, Arab Strap are on), the band are reluctant to declare a Scottish scene. Says Middleton: “It’s not so much a scene as just a bunch of good bands came out around the same time, but I suppose to outsiders there’s a scene because we’re all from Glasgow and we’re making music that kind of stands out from the crowds. But I think all the bands don’t sound like each other.”

All in all the band seem to be happy touring: “These past few weeks are the best we’ve had on tour ever,” although Moffett admits “I need to go home and wash them clothes.” They also seem to want to be in it for the long run. As Moffett puts it, “God knows what I could do in the real world, fuck knows.”