Glasvegas

May 2011

My weekend: Rab Allan

I’m a self-confessed arsehole.

I LIVE with my mother in Glasgow because my ex-girlfriend kicked me out. Why? Because I’m a self-confessed arsehole. I was born that way.

The main reason I’m living with her is that we’re in Glasgow maybe two days a month, so it doesn’t make sense to rent a place.

We’ve been everywhere in the world, except Australia, China and Russia, so it’s been pretty full-on. People think if you’re not touring Britain you’re not doing anything but we toured America six times in the space of a year.

After this tour of Britain we’re going to Europe, then North America. We come back to do some festivals for a couple of weeks then we go to Japan, Europe and America again.

We’re not millionaires like people think. I’m just back from @Gran Canaria. @I was there with James (Allan, singer) for five days. We did a package holiday and everybody’s like “you’re millionaires, why did you go on this flight?”

We did get a lot of money but I spent the lot and had a great time doing it. I probably will buy a place at the end of this album cycle but for now it makes sense to stay with my mum.

Besides, your mum does your washing, she feeds you, she’s really nice to you... it’s perfect.

She never saw the music as just a hobby because she could see how passionate I was about it.

We’ve taken our mums to gigs in LA, Italy, France and all over the world, just so they can get a snapshot of what our lives are like.

I know it’s not very rock’n’roll taking your mum on tour.

It’s not very rock ‘n’ roll going to bed before your mum does, either. I’m 28 and she’s 57. If people think me, James and Paul (Donoghue, bassist) are mad, well we get it from our parents.

My dad’s not around any more but in Glasgow it’s quite a surprise if you find a family that is still together. I’ve not spoken to him in something like 20 years. It’s not something that I miss. I don’t really need him.

When I’m at home I try not to tell people that I’m there because they want to see you. That’s natural because they’re friends but it’s hard because you just don’t really have time.

I like to chill out. I’ll maybe see a couple of girls but then it’s time to go again.

I watch silly things like @Friends. @Anything that makes me laugh. @Curb Your Enthusiasm@ (starring Larry David, left) is absolute genius. And @the US version of The Office, @that’s the sort of stuff I’ll watch at home and when we’re on tour. The tour bus has a hard drive with around 1,000 TV shows and 1,000 songs. And it’s got computers on it, so that’s quite good. We used to have to take DVDs with us everywhere.

I’ve got a @Nintendo Wii@ at home but on tour we just tend to play@ Pro Evolution Soccer @on the Xbox. That gets quite heated when me, Paul and James play.

After Caroline (McKay) left the band, we got a new drummer, Jonna (Löfgren) from Sweden. That was down to me. I said I wanted a woman and I wanted her to be Swedish. It’s true. We were struggling in Britain to find one, so I said “Why don’t we check Scandinavia?” We’re quite big in Sweden and someone at the record company over there knew of Jonna and suggested her. She’s great. She fits in really well.

I watch a lot of movies on the bus or online because I don’t have a lot of time to go to the cinema.

I’d much rather go to the cinema but the last thing I saw at one was @Tron: Legacy@ in December.

I like to read books about music, like biographies of bands but other than that, @Harry Potter@ is as far as my literary skills go. I’m more of a visual person, I like to watch things.

The best gigs I’ve seen were when we supported bands like@ U2 @and @Oasis@ (below). I mean, Oasis were the reason I wanted to be in a band.

But the last gig I saw was @a Lady Gaga tribute @when I was in Gran Canaria. That was scary because it was a man.

Keeping fit? Have you seen a photograph of me? The closest I get to keeping fit is lifting food into my mouth. I must admit when I was in LA I did go jogging but I only did that to look at the girls.

A perfect weekend would be lying in the sun, I’d have some cocktails and I’d have some sex.

Glasvegas play Rock City on Sunday, supported by Foe. Doors at 7.30pm. Tickets are £15, call 0845 413 4444. Their second album, Euphoric///Heartbreak, is out now.