Some bands arrive fully formed; others claw their way out of the suburbs with a thirty‑buck guitar and a head full of Bowie. The Yummy Fur did the latter. Born in the early 90s and shaped by Blantyre’s brutalist edges, Televisions’ wiry guitars, and the feedback‑soaked mythology of East Kilbride, John McKeown’s cult Glasgow outfit has always operated at a strange, brilliant angle to the rest of the city’s scene.
Across the decades, The Yummy Fur have remained gloriously singular: a revolving crate of bass players, a core trio who never quite stopped, and a creative process that treats cultural detritus like treasure. Their influence has quietly rippled outward, future Franz Ferdinand members passed through their ranks, yet the band themselves have stayed defiantly off‑grid, powered by iPod Classics (120gb), Mac McNaughton paintings, and a worldview where social commentary is optional but absurdity is essential.
With renewed interest from younger listeners and a fresh run of releases, The Yummy Fur are once again bending the rules of what a Glasgow band can be. In this interview, McKeown reflects on dangerous suburbs, demented guitar lessons, the tyranny of looper pedals, and why his dream festival involves Chris Burden getting shot again — all delivered with the dry, surreal humour that has always made The Yummy Fur feel like their own self‑contained universe.
You originally formed The Yummy Fur back in 1992, what were your earliest musical experiences growing up in Glasgow, and how did those shape the band’s first steps?
I grew up in Blantyre, outside Glasgow, and spent most of my time listening to David Bowie and thinking about him. I didn't really think of David Bowie as music. He was a thing called David Bowie and he was everything. Later I listened to Television’s Marquee Moon, The Fall’s Bend Sinister, The Birthday Party’s Junkyard and The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy and realised what guitars and drums were and how this could be something which might involve me in the real world. I bought a guitar for thirty bucks with strings an inch off the fretboard. I pretty much started writing songs on it and skipped the learning-to-play-it bit. Blantyre was far too dangerous to ever leave the house so we stayed home and wrote our way out of violent suburbia.
Did you ever rub shoulders with the Bellshill mob? Teenage Fanclub, The Soup Dragons etc?
I was born in Bellshill Maternity Hospital. For a while nearly everyone i knew was born there. But we never went there. Later we knew those people once everyone had moved into town. Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) produced the first record by my band, 1990s, and played bass on a European tour. We recorded a 7" for his wife's shop. He's a proper stand-up guy and gave me his copy of United by Throbbing Gristle once which was at the outer realms of niceness. Sushil of Soup Dragons is a good pal and I play bass and guitar for his daughter, Radhika, when he is back in India. She is the future.
Your sound has often been described as sitting somewhere between The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit. Who were the key artists or scenes that genuinely shaped your songwriting and guitar approach?
I love the demented, focused aggression of I Hate Nerys Hughes but I dont see much connection between the bands. Social commentary I guess. I learned guitar off Marquee Moon and Junkyard by The Birthday Party. The Mary Chain were a big influence as they were from East Kilbride where we used to go swimming at the brutalist Dolan Baths in the 70s. They'd moved to London by the time they were on our radar but we still assumed they were sat up in EK carving pop from feedback and bad vibes.
You’ve been writing and performing for over three decades now, how has your creative process evolved from those early basement recordings to the present day?
Cultural magpie, then and now. These days I've dialed back the social commentary. It's not my world; I might get it wrong. Stop making sense making sense making sense.
The Yummy Fur has had a famously shifting lineup over the years, including future members of Franz Ferdinand. Who’s currently involved in the band, and how does that dynamic compare to the 90s era?
It's the same three people since the mid 90s: Paul, Brian and myself. We've got a big box of bass players and we usually just drag the crate up from the basement, unlock it and the first one out gets to play. They're always really grateful especially if you feed em!
Glasgow has always had a reputation for producing fiercely independent bands. How buoyant is the music scene there today, and what new artists or venues excite you?
I like Radhika and The Crails which, sadly, is two different acts. My cat sitter, Tilly, plays under the name Craggyland and is immensely talented like listening to Sandy Denny perform A Sailor's Life with an electric toothbrush for an E-bow. The music scene seems a bit laptop-heavy these days which i think arrived with the ‘Tabithas and Tarquins’ about fifteen years ago. The looper pedal is the mistress of the eternally lonely.
Your 2019 release Piggy Wings arrived two decades after the band’s initial split. What made 2019 the right moment to finally bring those songs into the streaming age?
Dunno. It was supposed to come out around 2010 but life got right up in our grills and we backed off. You could always hear our stuff on YouTube anyway. I never use Spotify. I'm strictly iPod Classic 120GB. The most interesting aspect of Piggy Wings was it was our first release with a Mac McNaughton painting on the sleeve. He's since did the covers for the New T-shirt 7", the Everybody Talks About the Weather album and its companion CD, Heavy Weather. These days he paints the sleeve first and we try to imagine what the music might sound like.
If you were hosting a Come Dine With Me night, what would you serve for starter, main, and dessert—and what does that menu say about you?
Starter: Dreamies
Main: Purina Gourmet in a rich gravy
Dessert: Crowley's Cakes of Light
This menu says EVERYTHING about me
If you could curate a dream festival lineup with any acts, dead or alive, who would you choose, and why do those artists resonate so strongly with you?
Chris Burden re-enacting Shoot (1971) with Agnes Varda holding the gun
David Hockney painting Beverly Hills Housewife (1967) LIVE!!!
David Hess acoustic show
Remedios Varo v Dorothea Tanning (cage fight)
Your name comes from Chester Brown’s comic Yummy Fur. What drew you to that title originally, and how do you feel it reflects the band’s personality?
I used to read Yummy Fur and Eightball quite a bit in the 80s. My sister ripped the logo off of one of my Chester Browns and stuck it on her bass and I think the logo just drilled a tiny hole in my brain thru repetition. Recently, my pal got me a signed copy of his book, Paying For It, when he came to L.A. It says 'Hey, John Yummy Fur.' He asked if he'd heard of the band and Brown said he hadn't but his partner in crime, Sook-Yin Lee, reminded him that he had. Boy, this anecdote took ages to type on my phone and when i read it back it was barely on the threshold of interesting.
With renewed interest in your work and a growing younger fanbase discovering you for the first time, what’s next for The Yummy Fur—new music, shows, collaborations?
The next thing we're going to do is squeeze the cast of our Unity Over Europe video into my bedroom with the big yellow wall then force them to mime to our song, Headphones, and then...and only then, when they've finally returned to their villages and caves, subject that footage to intense colour distortion and pass it off as 'promo' in the new world.
Finally, would you rather live with a singing dog that really smells or a gorilla that can cook but tells awful jokes?
I'm not mad keen on dogs. Don't they all smell kinda bad? Bring me the gorilla.
A huge thanks to John for taking the time to dive back into the early days, the chaotic brilliance, and the long, winding path that’s led The Yummy Fur all the way into 2026. Few artists tell their story with such sharp wit, surreal charm, and total honesty, and it’s a joy to have him spill the beans on everything from Blantyre basements to Mac McNaughton sleeves.
If you want to keep up with new releases, live dates, and whatever wonderfully odd project they dream up next, make sure you check out their socials and stay tuned for updates.
Catch them on tour at the following venues.
05/10/26 - Oxford - Little Bully
06/10/26 - Exeter -The Cavern
07/10/26 - Brighton - The Prince Albert
08/10/26 - Norwich - The Holloway
09/10/26 - London - The Lexington
10/10/26 - Bristol - Cafe Kino
11/10/26 - Manchester - Kamera
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