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It's been a furious couple months for Glasgow's favourite sons, Teenage Fanclub. Having just completed their first US tour for six
years, Crud spoke exclusively with The Fannies drummer,
Francis MacDonald. Francis and Priya Elangasinghe
discussed the bands whirlwind year, his groovy record
label "SHOESHINE RECORDS", new signing MAJOR MATT MASON
USA and The Fannies bottoms. The Fannies bottoms?!
CRUD: How's the first US tour for 6 years going?
Francis: I'm just back and had a great time!
All the shows were busy or sold out and I got to hang
out with out some Shoeshine buddies - Michael Shelley,
Laura Cantrell (who opened the second show in NY), Ben
Vaughn, The Beauty Shop (a name for the future) and,
of course, I got to meet Major Matt for the first time
in New York. Swell guy, great talent - as we both know.
CRUD: Can you give us three words to describe
the Fleadh concert?
Francis: Wet and rainy. I'm a long-time Neil
Young fan so it was good to see him (actually I didn't
see much of Mr. Dando at all). I enjoyed playing out
own set but I felt sorry for the punters who didn't
have a dry dressing room for shelter.
CRUD: The "guitars embargo" gigs you guys played
in April.Can we take them as an indication of new musical
direction ?
Francis: The 'no guitars' night was just someone's
idea of a challenge which didn't really work - after
a couple of songs they go the guitars back out and did
what they do best.
CRUD: As a band famous for their love of slightly
twisted American pop how do feel about the whole NY/Strokes
thing?
Francis: I haven't heard the Strokes. I get suspiscious
when there is a bunch of press about someone before
they have really done anything - I guess that's just
PR companies doing their job well.
CRUD: Tell me about your label "Shoeshine Records"
Francis: It's been up and running since the Summer
of '96. I release mainly guitar pop and country/roots
stuff including Laura Cantrell, Paul Burch, Ben Vaughn,
Michael Shelley, Radio Sweethearts...
CRUD: How did you "discover" Major Matt Mason
USA?
Francis: I got sent a CD by his NY label. It took a
couple of listens before I decided the Matt was a great
singer and a wonderful songwriter.
CRUD: Do you know there is a heated debate going
on your official site's message board about which one
of you has the best bum? Don't you hate it when people
just want to talk music, music, music?!
Francis:It's a bummer.
CRUD: What are the bands' immediate plans?
Francis: Next few things are Summer festivals in England
and Ireland and then - I don't know what! Scotland perhaps. Report and Interview by Priya Elangasinghe 
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