The annual T in the Park takes place this weekend in Balado, Kinross-shire, Scotland, with a line-up that includes local heroes Biffy Clyro plus Pixies, Twin Atlantic, You Me At Six, Royal Blood and more.
One of Scotland’s most intriguing young bands, Dundee three-piece Fat Goth, a group in the grand tradition of maverick noise-makers such as Big Black, The Jesus Lizard, Melvins and the UK’s own McClusky play the T-Break stage on Saturday night. We spoke with vocalist/guitarist Fraser Stewart about their new single Sin Altar, that name, and their delight in infiltrating the country’s best known festival.
For those unfamiliar with the Fat Goth aesthetic, what’s Sin Altar all about?
It’s pretty dark and seedy and a pretty accurate reflection of the sounds and ideas we explore on our new One Hundred Percent Suave album. It’s actually quite an old song – we came up with the music almost ten years ago! - but we updated it and incorporated it into what we’re doing now, which is abrasive, visceral, off-kilter, left-field rock music. If people are looking for a rock band that’s a little different from the norm, they might find something to like in us.
Has your rather provocative name got you into trouble at all?
Well, as much as you might think that it’d offend, no-one has actually confronted us about us. If anything, it’s a name that’s caught people’s attention in a good way, rather than a negative way. To us it’s pretty funny, because when we first had the idea of starting the band, we just wanted something stupid and ridiculous because we never thought that anyone outside our immediate circle of friends would have the slightest interest in what we were doing, so in our minds it didn’t really matter what we were called. And ironically, the stupidity of the name has been quite beneficial.
Your last album, 2013’s Stud, attracted lots of positive press: given your lack of a game plan, did this come as a surprise?
Yeah, definitely, a big surprise. We were astonished that it was received as favourably as it was, and all the positive response afforded us the opportunity to do some cool things last year, it was easily our busiest year ever. And so with One Hundred Percent Suave we want to keep the momentum going, and again the reaction to date has delighted us.
T in the Park is quite a mainstream festival: where does a band like Fat Goth fit in?
Well, I suppose one of the joys of of it is that we don’t, and we don’t try to. I think any young musician growing up in Scotland at some point hopes to play T in the Park as it’s undoubtedly the biggest festival in the country, and so when we got picked to play for the first time last year, it felt like a nice little achievement. Getting invited back is great too. We always expect absolutely nothing, so when good things happen, it’s a lovely bonus.
There’s obviously hundreds of bands at T in the Park, so give us one great reason why people should check out Fat Goth.
Well, we’re one of the last bands playing on Saturday night, and looking at the acts we’re up against – the likes of [superstar DJ] Calvin Harris and Elbow and Ben Howard – they’re not necessarily artists that fans of loud, aggressive guitar music would automatically gravitate towards. If you’re looking for a rock n’ roll party to end your Saturday night we promise we’ll keep you entertained!
Check out Sin Altar here.
