Heaven, Las Vegas and Glee
A S co-founder of seminal Scottish post-punks Cocteau Twins, Robin Guthrie fashioned some of the most sublime and ethereal sounds of the 80s and 90s.
Though the guitarist, producer and composer has produced a stream of collaborations, solo releases and film soundtracks, live appearances in the UK have been rare.
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Major influence: Robin Guthrie and his fellow Trio members.
"I guess they are rare shows as I don't get to the UK very often," says Guthrie, who has lived in France for over a decade. "I tend to gravitate to where I'm offered the opportunity to play and in the last few years there hasn't been much happening in the UK for me but... as I found out long ago, most of the 6.9 billion souls on our planet don't actually live in the UK.
"That said there would be something nice about being appreciated in my home country in the same way that I am appreciated in others but ... well ... I feel grateful for whatever audience is listening.
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"I guess another reason for wanting to play in the UK is to get the opportunity to catch up with friends and indulge myself in the parts of British culture that I miss, you know, people speaking English and being polite and that sort of thing."
Guthrie's current live band is the Robin Guthrie Trio.
"The trio thing is just something I wanted to try as I was finding it a little challenging to play a quiet instrumental set myself in a club environment, so I got (musicians) Steve (Wheeler, bass) and Antti (Mäkinen, drums) involved to liven things up a little. I can keep some of my more introspective pieces for theatres and more arthouse type venues.
"As far as the material that we will play, well, I've never been one to promote records specifically so our set is made up of things we enjoy playing from the last ten years or so. There are tracks from most of my instrumental releases as well as from some of my soundtracks."
One track likely to get an airing is The Places We Go, his collaboration with Mark Gardener, former member of 90s guitar heroes Ride, who'll open the shows.
"All things working out, Mark and I will perform something together during this tour but I'm not exactly sure what yet," Guthrie says. "We did meet back in the heyday of floppy fringes and big hair but have only really gotten to know one another as grown-ups in the last few years. As working together has been a very natural and organic process, I would imagine more things to come. The only thing is that we're both so busy with our own stuff. Hope so. We'll see..."
Guthrie's influence can be heard in the sounds of such contemporary acts as School Of Seven Bells and even The xx.
"It's always nice to be namechecked by young bands but sometimes it seems to me like there are quite a few older, bigger names that have, how shall we say, benefitted from putting a few 'Robin Guthrie' style guitar parts here and there," he says. "I've found myself listening to something only to find my mouth falling open in amazement as I realise it's not me. Then I remember that there are few things actually new in music these days! Sure, there are many new faces with a lot of talent, but really they're just giving a new spin to tried-and-tested formulas."
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