Aidan Moffat on final shows with RM Hubbert and his love of collaborations

It was in the church-turned-music venue of Saint Luke’s in Glasgow that Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert made their inaugural live outing as a duo.

And Moffat says they’re coming full circle next month with a farewell gig on the same stage, following the decision to “consciously uncouple” after a short but sweet time together.

“There’s a nice kind of poetry to the whole thing,” he says, looking ahead to the show, one of three headline dates in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

“There was always a time to what we were going to do. We both have other plans beyond working together and you never know how long it’s going to last.”

The final shows , as well as a support slot with The Twilight Sad in Aberdeen, will be a celebration of their work, going out with a flourish instead of letting it all just fizzle out.

“Rather than just let it disappear and just walk away we put out a wee single and put on some dates to say goodbye,” Moffat explains. “There’s a couple of new songs we’re doing live, the new single and some other bits and pieces as well. I’d rather go out on a happy note than suddenly disappear and have people wonder what happened to you.

“The songs can be quite emotional but we tend to try and lighten the atmosphere between songs by talking a lot of nonsense, and that just make the songs even darker!”

The pair’s unique sounds crafted over many years instantly combined together to form a beautiful, dark blend of Hubbert’s intricate, flamenco style guitar playing and the bittersweet and raw vocals of former Arab Strap member Moffat.

The two had “always been in each other’s orbit” over their time in the Scottish music scene.

They first worked together on Hubbert’s second album, Thirteen Lost & Found, where Moffat was one of a number of featured artists on the collaborative project.

He lent his vocals, alongside Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, to Car Song.

And, fittingly, it was in a car where the wheels would be set in motion for the next chapter of the duo’s work together – even if it would stall for a few years.

Moffat recalls: “We were doing a festival and I was supporting Hubby, doing a spoken word piece – which as I recall went down very badly!

“I was singing Car Song with him and then in the car on the way back, we managed to get lost.

“In that time, we decided we should work on some more songs. That was a good five or six years ago so it took a long while to find the time and the window to put the first album out.”

It was the latest in a line of collaborations for Moffat, who says he gets a bigger thrill out of working with other people than on his own.

“I’m just very happy that musicians I love and respect let me moan over their beautiful music,” he laughs.

“When it comes together it’s really exciting, when you get something you’re both really happy with it can be great. Two minds are always a bit better than one, I think, although I wouldn’t go beyond two.

“I prefer having a relationship with just one other musician, I don’t think I’d like to be part of a band where there’s four or five people making decisions. That’s just another three people to argue with!”

In a hectic year, Moffat and Hubbert released the critically-acclaimed album Here Lies the Body, as well as a Christmas album and a live release for Record Store Day.

“We probably would’ve made another record had we not done a Christmas album last year,” Moffat admits. “That filled the space of a second album.

“I really love that record. I think I actually like it more than the proper record if I’m honest, probably just because it was such good fun to make.

“We did a live album as well so in the space of a year we released three LPs, it was a pretty intense time.”

Putting the album together, Hubbert would send over a recording of a piece of music he’d written at home for Moffat to add drums, keyboard and more to, as well as penning the lyrics around it.

Exchanges would go back and forth between the two until they were in a position to get together in the studio, record it properly and add the finishing touches.

“These days no-one has to leave the house or be in the same room,” Moffat says. “I think that’s a really healthy way to work, it’s much harder to work with someone and try to write something when they’re present.

“It’s difficult to concentrate – I don’t think I could sit with someone in the same room and try to write words around their music.

“It’s a very personal, private thing for me, I’d rather be in a room with the curtains drawn on a nice summer’s day, on my own.”

The to-ing and fro-ing meant that both men would eagerly anticipate the latest email dropping into their inbox.

Moffat says: “A lot of the time Hubby didn’t know what I was going to do with the guitar piece so he’d get a surprise when he heard it then he’d send something back to me and I’d get a surprise.

“It keeps it alive, keeps it constant in your mind that there’s always something happening. It’s an exciting time when you do these things.

“You get something in your inbox and it makes your day, it inspires you in ways that working together doesn’t. It’s a real moment of inspiration when you get those wee emails.”

Moffat and Hubbert could be heading into their final shows with an extra spring in their step, with Here Lies the Body on the shortlist for this year’s Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.

“Music isn’t a competition and you don’t make records with that in mind but it’s great to be recognised and to be part of something that’s so important,” Moffat says.

“Scotland makes a lot of great music and there’s only really the Mercury Award in the UK and that simply doesn’t have the space to include all the good stuff that we make up here.”

Both of the duo already have SAY Awards to their name, Hubbert winning the top prize in 2013 for Thirteen Lost & Found and Moffat’s collaboration with Bill Wells Everything’s Getting Older the inaugural winner in 2012.

“I think that makes it quite unlikely we’ll win again but you never know,” Moffat laughs. “I’m very proud to be part of it and we’ll be there enjoying ourselves next week no matter what happens.

“My girlfriend’s actually quite annoyed we’re on the shortlist because I’m supposed to be going to a wedding in London the next day and she’s a bit scared I don’t make it if I have a bit too much fun. Or we might win and she won’t hear from me for a couple of days!”

After taking a final bow alongside Hubbert, in the pipeline in the coming months for Moffat are reissues of a couple of albums from his Arab Strap days, as well as solo projects.

“I’d love to make another record with Bill Wells but he’s not keen on touring at all,” Moffat reveals. “He’s hesitant to make a record because he knows I’d want to tour it.

“I think I’m going to be taking it easy and not touring for a while, and I’ll just try to tidy up my flat as I have two children and each and every one of us is a hoarder.

“The place is piled up with things we don’t need so I’ll try to spend the next few months sorting that out!”

Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert with support from Cloth; Sept 19, Gardyne Theatre, Dundee; Sept 20, Summerhall, Edinburgh; Sept 22, Saint Luke’s Glasgow. Tickets at 432presents.com