Twin Atlantic enjoy the big time

Twin Atlantic? Massive? Who saw that coming? Actually, there were signs scattered all over the place if you were paying attention - the high-profile support slots with the likes of Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance, the huge support from Radio One over the last year, the cover of Kerrang! magazine, all that stuff.

“It’s a bit surreal,” says lead singer Sam McTrusty, who is pinching himself after his band’s breakthrough year. “We’ve worked so hard for this, and to have it finally happen is a dream come true.

“When I think about all that’s going on at the moment, I just turn into a little boy and giggle.”

Formed in Glasgow in 2007, the band gigged up and down the country for a few years, slowly building up a fan-base by playing gigs wherever they could get them.

McTrusty, Ross McNae, Craig Neale and Barry McKenna’s brand of heavy rock started to attract press attention after the release of Vivarium, their 2009 mini-album. But it wasn’t until this year’s debut album Free, a record combining the band’s hard-rocking sensibilities with radio-friendly tunes, that they really started to make a dent on the mainstream.

“I’d say the album is more straightforward, a bit poppier,” says McTrusty, speaking ahead of the band’s visit to the HMV Picture House tomorrow. “I know most folk hate when bands do that, but I think we’ve achieved it in a way that makes our songs more impactful, grungier even.

“It’s weird that it’s been received so well,” he adds. “All we tried to do was make a record that we cared about... We weren’t really thinking about writing big hits.”

Over the past few months Twin Atlantic have been on tour in US - and they’re thrilled to have had the chance to cross the Atlantic.

“It’s kind of like everyone’s dream back in the UK to get to tour America - it’s a massive achievement,” says McTrusty. “Just to have been able to visit some of the cities we’ve been to was amazing, and the fact that people came out to see us play every night was the cherry on the top.”

The singer, though, is quick to add that nothing beats playing a gig on home soil - and for that reason they can’t wait to get back to the Capital.

“I think the last gig we played in Edinburgh was about two years ago, at Studio 24,” he recalls. “That was a great gig, and we always seem to get a great reception in Edinburgh - even though we’re a Glasgow band.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” he continues. “We’ve been working for four years to get to the stage where we can put on a show like this.

“The support we’ve had so far with Free from our fans has been amazing, so we feel like we’ve got something to prove.”

After considering this for a moment, he adds, “I guess we’re on a mission to show that music can be both meaningful and fun, that’s what the tour is all about.”

An ambitious bunch, Twin Atlantic make no bones about the fact they have stadium aspirations.

“We’re looking ahead to playing in bigger venues, which is exciting,” says McTrusty. “I don’t know if British rock bands lack ambition or what, but people do seem scared of saying they want to play in big venues.

“It’s hard for hard rock to break out of its local scene, but we want a nationwide platform, and we’re not embarrassed to say we want to go as far as we can.

“But for us it’s never been about the fame. I don’t want us to become massive so that we’ve got people falling at our feet - it’s not about that.

“What I’d really like is for us to be able to put on a bigger and better show for the people who like our music. That would be the brilliant thing about it.”

Judging by the way things have gone for Twin Atlantic this year, you wouldn’t bet against them achieving their goal.

Twin Atlantic, HMV Picture House, Lothian Road, tomorrow, 7pm, £13, 0844-847 1740