2007 Interview: Kieran Webster [The View]

The hungover mumblings of a slum kid from Dundee brushed up into readable English. It's just what I do.

You're 19 or 20 and already people expect you to be a role model. This is the situation faced by members of one of the UK's hottest new rock bands, THE VIEW, who will tour Japan in May. In March, less than 24 hours after receiving the prestigious NME award for 'Best Track of the Year' for their ebullient Wasted Little DJs, the band's singer and co-songwriter Kyle Falconer was being fined £1,000 for possession of cocaine, and was criticized by anti-drug campaigners for being a poor role model to Scotland's youth.

Almost as quickly as the View have shot to stardom with their energetic brand of street-sussed rock, they have also earned one of rock's most notorious bad boy images. This is something that Kieran Webster, the bassist and co-songwriter, found unfair in a recent telephone interview from Glasgow's legendary Barrowlands music venue, where the band was sound checking for a gig.

"Things did happen," he admitted, possibly referring to the incident when the group was banned from Dundee's Bayview pub, an early rehearsal venue and the source of the group's name, after band members rode a motor scooter on the bar.

"But you can focus on other things apart from that. Other great stuff happens that never gets mentioned. But as soon as you get chucked out of a hotel or something it's all over the place."

Of course, for a rock band, getting into a bit of trouble can be great publicity, but it can also have its downside. Falconer's conviction for drug possession has already led to visa problems and the cancellation of a trip to the USA, including an appearance at the influential South by Southwest rock festival, where they were being touted as 'the next ARCTIC MONKEYS.'

Admitting to a hangover during the interview, Webster dismissed the idea that the band acts up in an attempt to be seen as rebellious.

"I don't think it's really rebellious taking drugs," he said. "I think there's better ways to be rebellious, like writing a rebellious song or whatever. We don’t try to have any kind of image. We just do our thing and play our gigs. As long as people come, we keep playing them."