We knew we had it from the start
The Snuts may have come from humble beginnings, but they always knew they were destined for greater things.
They formed when Jack Cochrane moved to a new secondary school and bonded with childhood best friends Joe McGillveray (guitar), Callum Wilson (bass) and Jordan Mackay (drums) over their shared love of The Libertines.
Aged 15, they played their first gigs with a set of original songs written by Jack but from the outset, they sensed they were on to something.
Jack said: “We always believed we were special, though possibly because we were all rubbish at sports and not as clever as we once thought we were.
“Put it this way, a bright academic future was unlikely.”
When they put on a gig in a local miner’s club and 300 people turned up, they knew they were on their way.
They supported Lewis Capaldi, a mate with whom Jack was briefly at Whitburn Academy with, at Glasgow’s infamous King Tuts and helped sell the show out.
As their gigs got bigger, they used the money from ticket sales to record their first demos at a Glasgow studio, while all working day jobs, which they stuck with until they the day they signed to Parlophone in late 2018.
Jack continued: “We’ve never wanted to be like any band who came before us. From early on, we tried to push ourselves out of our comfort zone.
“With every new song, we’d go in a different direction or come up with crazy ideas to see if we could make them work.
“For the album, that went up a gear. Some of the songs even I wasn’t sure we would get away with, then I thought, why not? I’ll either kill our career or make a classic album. Either way it’ll be an adventure.”
The label sent them to the States to work with Inflo (Michael Kiwanuka, SAULT, Little Simz) and their vision vaulted overnight.
“It was the strangest experience of our lives,” said Jack. “Everything we thought we knew about making music was turned upside down.
“He’s an unorthodox producer who had never worked with a band before, which was what intrigued us. He forced us to shake everything up. It didn’t always go well, but we came home – three weeks later instead of the one it was meant to be – 10 times the band we left.”
In London, The Snuts hooked up with Tony Hoffer, whose work with genre-bender Beck they had long admired.
Jack added: “Tony had input in all of the songs, which is partly what helps them hang together. That and my voice. Everything else is up for grabs. The best thing about being in this band? Never knowing what’s coming next.”
The same can be said of The Snuts’legendary live shows, which made them stars in Scotland while still unsigned and, last year, broke them throughout the rest of Britain.
Alongside their own riotous tours, the band has conquered arenas with Capaldi, performed at their beloved Hampden Park Stadium supporting Gerry Cinnamon and, this summer, had a teenage dream come true when they opened for The Libertines at a socially-distanced arena gig in Newcastle.