The Scottish band Frightened Rabbit (@FRabbits) has been building a loyal following over the last few years as they have put out their first three albums. The most recent record is called “The Winter of Mixed Drinks” and it has been received well both stateside and abroad. The band is currently touring the US in support of the album and drummer Grant Hutchison agreed to speak with Each Note Secure on an off day from Washington DC.

[Each Note Secure] What do you have planned for your off day while in Washington DC?

[Grant Hutchison] A little bit of rest first off. We are still getting over a little bit of jet lag from our flight over. We are hoping to have a BBQ in the car park later on though.

[ENS] Sounds like a pretty good day off. Tell us about the tour so far, you were stuck in Europe for a while due to the volcano in Iceland, right?

[GH] We’ve played a few shows so far, and we started in Little Rock, AR. We were scheduled to start at Cochella but yes, the ash cloud kept us in Europe a while. We did have to cancel a few shows because of the travel difficulties and we were close to cancelling the whole tour if we’d missed a few more, but we were one of the first to get out of Europe once air travel resumed.

[ENS] What is the main difference between playing for a crowd in Europe versus a crowd in the States?

[GH] It’s not the much different actually, but this year has been kind of funny with the release of “Mixed Drinks”. We tend to play a lot of the songs from that album and as the album has been out a bit longer now we did notice during our last run of European shows people were starting to know all the words and sing along whereas at SXSW earlier this year nobody knew the new songs yet.

[ENS] Tell us a little bit about how Frightened Rabbit came to be.

[GH] Well a few years back my brother Scott started sharing with me some things he had been writing. It was surprising because Scott had not shown this side of himself before. He had lyrics and wrote some the music to it, but it needed to be louder so I started playing drums with him. So we essentially started as a two piece and have basically added a member to the band each year so we are now up to a five piece.

[ENS] How does that impact the writing process of the albums?

[GH] As the band has grown the writing process has become more band oriented. The first two albums were essentially all Scott. He would come in with lyrics and music and we would follow along. This album is more of a band album as we worked on a lot of the instrumentation and production was worked on together much earlier in the process that say “Midnight Organ Fight.”

[ENS] Frightened Rabbit has had songs placed on TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy here in the States. What do you think about using television and commercials as a way to get your music out?

[GH] Well, the growth of Frightened Rabbit has been gradual. We have been touring quite a while and building through word of mouth. Our first show ever in the States was in Austin, TX and there were four people in the room that night. Touring as a band makes you stronger and helps build fans that seek out new music. To me television is a way to get music to the people that don’t seek it out. Hopefully they hear something and then come out to a show or go buy an album and if you have done everything else the right way then I think they’ll stick around a lot longer than if you only use television as a way to distribute your work.

[ENS] Who are a few bands out there that inspire you?

[GH] I absolutely love The Antlers right now. They were on tour with us last year and when I saw them live I really got it. Just an amazing band. I also really dig The Twilight Sad from Scotland and have been in awe of them since the first time I heard them. There is also a ton of great music in Glasgow. There is this band The John Knox Sex Club that is just great. We are getting to a point where we can pick a band to open for us, and I would love to bring them or other Glasgow bands out to help get them exposure.

[ENS] Speaking of opening acts, your current opener is Cincinnati’s own Bad Veins. How’s that going so far?

[GH] We just played our second show with them and they are lovely guys. We heard great things about them as musicians and as guys from We Were Promised Jetpacks; they came highly recommended. It is important to us to have guys that you will get along with because you are going to be spending time on the road with them and from everything we heard we knew we would enjoy their company. It’s really the first time I’ve heard them live and they put on a great show. Oh, and they have promised us a great night in Cincinnati.

[ENS] Speaking of, what can fans expect at Southgate House on May 6?

[GH] Well, we are playing larger venues here in the States than we ever have, but we try to keep it personal. Scott is a talker who thinks he is pretty funny and he actually is. We like to have a lot of fun and put everything into our show. The energy you bring to a show is so important to the success of the night, as is the energy the crowd brings. Oh, and there will be a bit of whiskey drinking too.

[ENS] We are looking forward to the show, thanks for the time today.

-interview by Dave Rolfes (follow Dave on Twitter)