SHED SEVEN IN GLASGOW: “EVERY TIME WE DO OUR OWN BIG GIGS HERE, THE ATMOSPHERE IS JUST AMAZING”
INTERVIEW | RICK WITTER – SHED SEVEN @ TRNSMT 2025 by Anne Kelly
Set to headline the final day of TRNSMT on the second to main King Tuts Stage, this next act need no real introduction. A prominent name of the 90s Britpop movement, Yorkshire’s Shed Seven were key players in the northern indie scene. Their breakthrough debut album Change Giver reached the Top 20 in the Official UK Album Charts upon its 1994 release and subsequently led to 14 consecutive top 40 singles. Parting ways in 2003, the band reunited again in 2007 and continued to tour their greatest hits, finally releasing a new album Intimate Pleasures in 2017. In 2024, something spectacular happened for the band and following the release of their sixth album Matter Of Time, Shed Seven were no longer just a legacy act; they were at the top of their game. Achieving their first Number 1 album ever, Shed Seven were on a winning streak and in September later that same year, the band released Liquid Gold which went straight to Number 1, making the band one of just a handful of artists to achieve two no.1 albums in 1 year. A re-recorded and re-imagined collection of their best from the past 30 years, Liquid Gold not only sparked a wave of nostalgia, but introduced them to an entirely new generation of music lovers who can’t get enough of their indie music gold.
We had the rare opportunity to chat with frontman Rick Witter ahead of their headline show to talk about their love of Glasgow (past and present), their record breaking No.1 charting success and what’s next for Shed Seven.
How are you feeling about tonight’s show?
It’s always a weird one, isn’t it? Because you don’t know until you’re doing it. We’re excited, but you just don’t know what the reaction will be. We’re very lucky to do what we do and we always put a shift in. We’ve got really good fans who like to sing every word, but it’s never a guarantee, is it? Come see me after and I’ll answer that question.
I mean, you generally have a great relationship with Scottish fans though? They just adore you.
Yeah, we love coming up here. There’s only ever once really where I was slightly concerned, and that was the very first time we played on Scottish soil. We were supporting a band called Compulsion at King Tuts, so we weren’t the main act. Most of their crowd were around the corner at the bar, so there were probably about 15 or 20 people in the main area watching and after the first song, which I believe was our second single ‘Dolphin‘, and then we’re just doing a little bit of that (claps hands), and then I just heard somebody shout “FUCK ME! I WISH I HAD A GUN!” And I thought: oh no, oh no, oh no…..But ever since then it’s gone down swimmingly.
I tell you what, every time we do our own big gigs here at the Barrowlands or The Academy, the atmosphere is just, it’s just amazing. The only problem about coming and playing for you Scots is you lot like to get us really drunk.
Obviously the past couple of years have been massive for Shed Seven, haven’t they?
Yeah, it has been. But it’s been a build-up for quite a few years. Some people do come up to me and say: “My God, you suddenly just seem to have had loads of success”, but we’ve put a lot of work in for a long time.
Two number one albums in less than a year though, that’s quite a big thing…
Yeah, It’s been amazing and even better that only 19 other acts have ever done that since 1953, and we’re talking about The Beatles, [Frank] Sinatra, [Elivs] Presley, Queen and then us. There’s no other indie bands on it. Only 20 acts have ever done that.
Do you think that getting your first Number 1 30 years down the line has encouraged a lot of more acts from the 90s wanting to jump on the bandwagon?
Yeah, I believe that we have had a big say in that. Equally, we’re very savvy with social media and we’ve noticed a lot recently that lots of other bands have also suddenly become really savvy with it too. But it is so important as you’ve got to engage with your with your crowds, you know. I mean I do my own personal Twitter (X) and if somebody asks me a question about Shed Seven then I’ll answer it. It’s a bit difficult sometimes when I get a message saying: “Will you meet me outside the clock at Marks and Spencer’s so I can get my records signed.” You have to draw the line a bit.
Do you ever feel pressure from it though?
No, I don’t. If I see something that I don’t like then I ignore it and move on. I don’t really understand with some people who just love to moan. If you don’t like it, park it to one side and find something that you do like and be happy.
So the big question is, are you going for another album quite soon?
So we’re trying to be quite savvy…we were everywhere last year and we needed to be to have that kind of success. But it got to like November last year and I’m cleaning my teeth in the morning, looking in the mirror going, “Oh, not you again!” And if I’m thinking that about myself, then I understand that the general public might have had enough. So this year was always about doing festivals in the summer with no pressure on us really. Then go quiet, go a bit rogue and start writing new stuff.
I’m gonna wrap this up with a bit of a gimmick if that’s okay?
Go on…
So it’s ‘Winner Stays On: TRNSMT headliners edition’. Taking main stage headliners from across the festivals history.
Snow Patrol or Biffy Clyro?
Biffy
Biffy or The 1975?
Biffy
Biffy or Lewis Capaldi?
Biffy
Biffy or Kasabian?
Biffy
Biffy or Liam Gallagher?
long pause…Biffy
Biffy or Paolo Nutini?
Biffy
Biffy or Arctic Monkey’s?
oooh…I’ll go with the Monkeys
Arctic Monkey’s or Sam Fender?
And the winner is...Arctic Monkey’s
That’s a really unfair game that. Poor Biffy. You’re a horrible person, what a horrible, horrible thing to do to all those bands. You’re gonna get me fighting with Liam Gallagher you are.
And anyway, the real answer is Shed Seven, of course…
