Biography

Introduction

Frightened Rabbit are a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, Scotland, consisting of Scott Hutchison (vocals, guitar), Grant Hutchison (drums, vocals), Billy Kennedy (guitar, keyboards, bass) and Andy Monaghan (keyboards, guitar, bass). The band has so far released two studio albums, with their second, The Midnight Organ Fight, receiving widespread critical acclaim.

Concerning the band's line-up, Scott Hutchison notes that:

“

the initial line-up in Frightened Rabbit was just myself. I had really only been messing with my 4 track for about 6 months before I started playing some shows on my own. Some of the songs still didn't have words and I was mostly just mumbling nonsense half the time. Grant joined a year later, making the outfit much noisier. Billy came along about 6 months after this and actually made it a bit less noisy. He's very calming like that is Billy. Andy has been in the band since January, and adds all the extra details we were missing before. Still not sure if we're finished gathering members.

”

History

In 2003 singer/guitarist Scott Hutchison used the name Frightened Rabbit as a stage moniker for his solo shows. The project became a full-fledged band with the addition of his brother Grant Hutchison (drums) in 2004, and Billy Kennedy (guitar) in 2006.

The band released their debut album Sing the Greys in May 2006 on local label, Hits The Fan. The band were offered a deal from Fiction Records but ultimately decided not to sign with the label. In January 2007 The Self-Starter Foundation brought the band to the east coast of the United States for a short tour. The band returned to the United States in March to play SXSW. Brighton indie label Fat Cat Records released a remixed/remastered version of the album in the USA in Oct 2007 distributed by Caroline Distribution. The band then embarked on a full American tour. The album was released in the UK in Nov 2007

Earlier in 2007, the band had recorded a new album, The Midnight Organ Fight at producer Peter Katis's Tarquin Studios in Connecticut. This album was released April 15, 2008

After recording The Midnight Organ Fight, the current quartet line-up was completed with the addition of guitarist/keyboardist Andy Monaghan of Piano Bar Fight (who have previously played as support to Frightened Rabbit). In an interview, Scott mentions that he: "met him on New Year’s Eve, in Glasgow, in a bar. I was really hammered and I was like ‘why don’t you come and play some shows with us man?’ and he was like ‘Yeah!’ The next day I got a text like ‘Do you remember… did you say something about this or is it my imagination?’"

The band supported Death Cab for Cutie during their November 2008 UK & Irish tour, and released a live album, Quietly Now! in October.

The band are planning to record a new album next year, after finishing touring commitments. Scott Hutchison states that he is "excited at the prospect of being in the studio again," and notes that he "can't do another break-up album 'cause I haven't had one this year! Maybe it'll just be a little less focused on me."

In a recent interview, Hutchison revealved plans to go Fife to work on material for the band's next album. He also states that:

the theme I'm going for is pushing yourself out to the edge of things and being alone, feeling lost and not knowing where you are, which is how I've felt recently. It's not all fun and games, but hopefully it'll just be less obviously personal and brutal than the last record. Less oppressive.

In May 2009, a video appeared online of Scott Hutchison performing a new track, entitled "Swim Until You Can't See Land".