“There's gonna be some gnarliness“: Biffy Clyro get ready for their summer mega-shows

"It's gonna be amazing," says Simon Neil. "I'm up for it."

Yes, for the Biffy Clyro frontman and drummer Ben Johnston, Scotland's chances in the World Cup are promising.

"Semi-final," comes Ben's prediction, sitting in a big chair in a nice London studio. "It's always fun, the World Cup. But if you're Scottish, it's, like, pick a team, Japan or someone, and support them, cos we never get in!"

Biffy actually had a song in the works for this year's rare appearance of their homeland in the tournament.

"We had bagpipes and everything!" says Simon. "We didn't do it in the end, cos it didn't feel right without James [Johnston, bass] to enjoy it. But I'm still really excited about it."

The other thing Biffy have to be excited about is their imminent massive shows, at London's Finsbury Park, Cardiff Castle and Edinburgh's Royal Highland Showgrounds. It's part of a curtain-down summer for a banner year that saw them start with a UK arena tour, hit America, and now they're returning for a run of big shows and fests to round things off. Even having to re-calibrate a bit with James taking some time away has been an opportunity to look to the good and embrace a bit of something different.

“We've been really loving it. All the shows we did this year felt fucking ace," smiles Simon. "We've been right around the world, literally a round-the-world trip, so it's nice to be pulling things back to the UK again for the summer. This is where the year started, and it’s brilliant to come back here at the end of the run as well.”

We caught up with them to get the lowdown on their big summer, going back to basics across the pond, and getting gnarly at their biggest gigs ever...

These shows are almost like your own mini festival. Biffy Fest…

Ben: “Yeah. We've done these big park gigs before, and you’re right, it is that weird mid-way between a festival and your own gig, but we cherish that. The good thing is it's your fans, so in that respect you're not having to win people over. That can be pretty weird playing to loads of people at a festival and there’s some who have never seen you before!”

Simon: “This is, like, The Biffy Family, so it's really, really exciting. All the gigs are big, and it feels like we're gonna have a few special moments.”

Kicking off in Finsbury Park is a hell of a way to start...

Simon: “I know! Start with the small one… But I can’t wait. Our relationship with London's changed into a beautiful thing over the years. We used to get so, so nervous about going there, because London was always the big show, no matter where you come from. But over the past few years, and the last few times we've played the O2, it's just felt more and more relaxed. I feel we're ready now to kind of embrace it and fully celebrate it, not just focus too much on the show. We’ll be able to get up there and actually enjoy it while we're doing it.”

You’ve just toured through America, how did it go?

Ben: “Much, much better than expected, to be honest. The shows aren't huge over there, it's probably the place in the world that we play the smallest cap gigs, but the people that come are absolutely mad for it. You couldn't ask for a better audience. There’s really no complaints to be had about it at all. It was excellent. It's funny, because sometimes in the smaller cities, where there's less [people], sometimes the fans can be even more fanatical. In Louisville, Kentucky, we're not massive there, but the people that were there were just so passionate. We’ve always, we've always said we'd rather be like 100 people's favourite band than a million people's 10th favourite, and I think America signifies that in a big way for us”

Simon: “Also in America, people drive five hours to a gig and don't think a thing about it. Over here, if you drive for two hours, you need a hotel! That gives you a kind of inner strength when you know how hard the fans are working for you. We were very much grafting, but again, it reminds you of why you started doing it as well. There's a simplicity to it when it's just stripping down to smaller venues and just taking your music around the country. It's great!”

Did it feel like your younger selves in the earlier days?

Simon: “It's funny, there's certain aspects where it definitely feels younger, and then equally, we’ve never felt as old! You miss some comforts and luxuries, but it was bad-ass.”

Ben: “Absolutely badass. If we were younger, we wouldn't worry about the lack of backstage showers and we’d be like, ‘I just won't shower tonight.’ That's fine then, but you want a shower at this age! And then in order to get to a shower, you have to come offstage and jump in a vehicle and go straight to hotel, and that makes you feel a bit older and a bit less punk rock, but it must be done.”

Simon: “You think about how Black Flag and all that did it, they were literally in an old van, going across America, with nothing. We're really a bit spoiled over here. You drive two hours and you’re in a different city. In fact, when we took the The Armed out with us in January, every time we turned up a venue they were like, ‘How can there be another arena so close to the last one?’”

Those shows were the first while James takes a break. How was it going out on the road without him?

Ben: “It simplified things, in a way. You had to focus. It was a bit like, ‘Let's just put things to the back of our mind and make these gigs absolutely fucking incredible.’ And also, having a slightly different dynamic onstage and backstage, that was that was quite a fresh thing. Not saying I’m bored of James! But just having that different kind of kind of dynamic around than somebody who's almost 10 years younger was fresh.”

Simon: “Normally, there's just quite a bit of nerves about doing a big tour like that, but this time it just felt like, because we did have a bit of drama, worrying about James, the actual shows and the touring kind of simplified a little. We were pleased that James was looking after himself, and it was just like, ‘Right, let's just try and enjoy these shows.’ We were up against it a little, and it probably liberated us, in a way, because we were thinking about more than playing these big venues.”

Did it make it easier going on the road without James to know that your first gigs would be these big, banner arena shows, where it would be a massive celebration anyway, and you’d have a whole O2 full of people having your backs?

Simon: “Yeah, I definitely felt a bit of security with that. And I think it was really important that we let everyone know as well, and just be really honest with the fans and stuff, so that there was no rumours or anything. So people understood, I think, and they were really supportive. Most people that come and see us now have probably seen as a bunch over the years, so it might have been interesting to see something slightly different. We'll be doing the rest of the shows this year with Naomi, just so that James can just get properly well, and we can come back swinging in the New Year or whatever. And when James does come back, it's gonna be magic.”

How’s he doing?

Ben: “He’s on the mend. He's been to rehab, and he's working the steps, and he's doing everything right. He's the best I've ever seen him. He's a changed man, and he's positive, and he's full of life, and like the James we used to know.”

Simon: “I think in the whirlwind of what we do, sometimes you just get caught in the wind of it. You can end up ignoring yourself, and you can end up in a really bad place, because you're distracted from how you feel. There's always activities, there's always shows, there's always a tour, an album, and it's easy to think, ‘Oh, I think everything's fine…’”

Ben: “You’ve got to put on a face quite often in this game, you know? Hopefully not all the time, but like any profession, you do have to put on the face, and I think sometimes a face can stick, and you lose yourself. But he’s doing much better.”

Simon: “We really also want to say thanks to all the fans. Everyone's been so supportive and understanding. It means the world to James, it means the world to me and Ben, because it was a weird feeling being without James, it was just a peculiar time. So we really, really appreciated people's support. They were so kind and understanding, and that's a beautiful thing.”

All this is happening within a year of Futique coming out. How do you view that album from this distance?

Simon: “It’s been amazing. It’s our tenth album, which is wild. And there’s been people who have come back to us because of it as well, which is great. There's bands I love that I’ve missed an album from, and then I'll be like, "Ah, fuck, I didn't listen to that record,’ and go back and catch up! But I appreciate where that we're at this point.”

Ben: “Exactly, I think a couple of people missed things, but then Futique came out and they were like, ‘Fuck, this album’s great!’

Simon: “It is weird to be a veteran band, but I guess we technically are if we’ve been around this long and done 10 albums! But I remember, you said to us once, when we were doing Download or something, ‘So you've completed being in a band now. How do you feel?’ I spent about three months with that playing on my mind a lot going into this album, and just thinking that's why I want to talk about our journey and things, and in the record, and make sure it really was something that we like felt vital to us. Because we have kind of done everything we ever thought we could do. We started out with fairly modest ambitions anyway, and it was like, ‘Shit, have we completed it?’ But then you think, well, we didn't set out with that purpose. We set out – cliche alert! – enjoy ourselves on the journey.”

What have you got up your sleeves for these big gigs?

Ben: “Well, we do have a special guest…”

Simon: “But we’re not gonna say cos it’s a surprise, and as soon as we say anything it’ll fall through! We also want to touch on a little bit of every part of Biffy's journey as well. We did the O2 show, and that was very much the big festival show. I really want to do some weird stuff for the old school, because I know there'll be a lot of people from different periods of our band, so I want to represent everything that makes us who we are.”

“There’s gonna be some gnarliness. And there’s definitely gonna be something for the people who like that. If you know us well, there’s a song that gets asked for every single gig… But I love how preposterous it is playing that song in front of that many people, I love it. That's when everything just feels perfect. It just reminds me of our whole journey, how we were the ‘least likely to’, but yeah, here we fucking are…”

Biffy Clyro play Finsbury Park July 3, Cardiff Castle July 30, and Edinburgh Royal Highlands Showgrounds August 21.

Read this next:

• Biffy Clyro: “I’ve got this almost unhealthy relationship with music, because I can’t create something that isn’t absolutely everything I’ve got”
• The rise of Biffy Clyro, as told through their most important gigs
• “I don’t feel that we belong anywhere, but we belong together”: How Biffy Clyro found their happy place