In the spring of 2013, Mike Peters told Classic Rock that he would stay with Big Country “as long as it stays fun and is being done for the right reasons”. So why did he quit soon afterwards?
He was asked to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of one of his own albums [with The Alarm], which would have taken a year. We offered to leave the door open but he wasn’t keen. I have no problem with Mike, and likewise him with me – I hope.
Simon Hough is Big Country’s new singer.
He was a session singer with Denny Laine and Eric Bell. He sounds quite similar to Stuart [Adamson, who died in 2001], especially when Stuart was a younger man.
With your son Jamie in the band do you mind your manners now? At the Giants Of Rock Festival he told you off on stage for swearing.
[Laughs] Yeah, sometimes I do. He looks after me now. Aside from the fact that I always seem to end up rooming with him, it’s great to have Jamie around. He really brings something fresh to the music.
This tour celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of your third album, The Seer, which some say is your most Scottish-sounding record.
That might be true. Large chunks of it really do have a Celtic vibe, especially the title track.
How did Kate Bush come to sing on the track The Seer?
We’d written it and were discussing with Robin Miller [producer] how Kate’s voice would suit its vibe. We were massive fans. And Robin just happened to have a contact. A phone call was made and we sent her a cassette. When she came in, we sat and watched her from the control room and kept hearing these scratching noises between takes. She was lighting up a fag each time.
The credits suggest that the album The Seer was Stuart Adamson’s baby. Is that so?
Yeah. The fans really seem to regard those first three of ours almost as some kind of trilogy, but Stuart really was on a roll with that one.
