Scouting For Girls 'excited' about Belfast return

The 'She's So Lovely' three-piece are back with a brand new album 'Everybody Wants To Be On TV', the follow-up to 2008's eponymous number 1 debut album, which sold over 900,000 copies.

With the first single from the album 'This Ain't A Love Song' in stores today, the band; Roy Stride, Greg Churchouse and Peter Ellard are looking forward to getting back on the road and seeing the local 'wolfcubs' when they hit these shores.

Speaking to The Star recently, bassist Greg Churchouse said the band have been busy in the studio working on getting the right songs for their follow-up.

With three Brit Award nominations for their first effort, it was always going to be a challenge for the group to follow hits such as 'Elvis Ain't Dead' and 'Heartbeat' and they have dedicated themselves to producing new tracks complete with their trademark sound, which is sure to win them more fans.

"It's good to get back into the swing of things after a year of being hidden in the studio," Greg said. "We're so happy with the new album. We put together a demo of 40 songs and then selected the ten gems that are now on there. We wanted to try and make an even better album than the first album and we spent a year on the songwriting and production to make it the best it could be, so we're enormously proud."

Naming the album took some consideration and it was thanks to the 'Balloon Boy' hoax late last year that Scouting For Girls came up with 'Everybody Wants To Be On TV'.

Greg explained: "There is a song on the album called 'We Want To Be Famous', which has the line 'Everybody Wants To Be On TV' in it. We were at the stage where we were sitting down in the studio to name the album and we weren't sure what to go with when the story about the family in the US with the boy in the balloon was on the news. When it turned out he was hiding in the loft and it was all found out that it had been planned, his mother said "We just wanted to be on TV", and we thought; that's our album title."

Looking ahead to their forthcoming tour, which will see them play several gigs in Ireland, including Mandela Hall on April 21, Greg commented: "We can't wait. Just remembering back to gigs we've had in Ireland before, the crowds always give so much back, singing back to you. This is the longest tour we have done in Ireland, we have five dates; so we're very excited. The great thing about our crowd is that they are the loudest around, you walk out and you just get this deafening roar."

Greg has promised local fans a great night at the show, saying: "We are all about having a party at our gigs - it's not just standing there and playing, it's jumping and bouncing and singing and clapping. It's the most fun you can have in an hour and a half."

The first single from the album, 'This Ain't A Love Song', which was released on download on Sunday (March 28) and is in stores from today, has already hit number one on the itunes chart. Having been holed up in the studio for so long, the guys are glad to finally have the single out.

Greg said: "I'm really excited to get the single out. The song went out on radio four or five weeks ago so we're glad to get it out there."

Looking ahead to the album's release, Greg says the band are hoping people will "connect" with it, as they did with the first.

"When we first got signed we said to the record label the main thing we want to achieve with the first album is to get a second album, and it's the same with this album," Greg said. "We hope we connect with people and that we can get a third album. We want to get some longevity to our career and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we connect with people again."

Ahead of the album's release, the band have been putting together ten minute videos to download on itunes or which fans can watch on their website, which have provided hours of fun for the band.

"We have started SFGtv, which are ten minute shows featuring all of the Scouting For Girls news. We wanted to mix it up with a bit of news and information delivered in a ten minute TV show. It takes four to five hours filming to make on show but it is so much fun; I'd heartily recommend people watch it," laughed Greg.

Scouting For Girls release their new album 'Everybody Wants To Be On TV' on April 12 and will play Belfast's Mandela Hall on April 21.