Latitude 2013: Five minutes with... King Creosote

King Creoseote (Steve Gullick)

King Creosote, known to his mum as Kenny Anderson, a hyper-prolific singer-songwriter from Fife. He'll be playing this year's Latitude, which gave us all the excuse we needed to ask him a question or two...

1. Which latitude are you on right now?

56 degrees, 13 minutes and 23 seconds north, (at a longitude of 2 degrees, 41 minutes and 23 seconds west). I'm at 65 James Street, Cellardyke, in Sean Dooley's house - we're putting together album artwork of a nautical theme as it happens.

2. Sum up what you do for us in one sentence for anyone who might not know...

I over-dramatise the mundane using the medium of song.  

3. What’s the best thing about performing live?

Achieving a state of mind where I completely forget that it's me performing live. 

4. Do you have any pre-show rituals?

None whatsoever.

5. What’s your best festival story for us? The stranger the better!

When at Port Elliot in my sober year, 2009, I was given a head scarf that allowed me to become invisible, and thus joined a group of girls as their "hen". Never did find out who my husband-to-be was... but I asked for Brad Pitt to take the ceilidh drummer's place. Well, it would've been my day, and I wanted it to be perfect.    

6. Tell us a something you’ve never told an interviewer before...

Given a choice between playing live, making a record, or doing an interview, I'd choose the recording two times out of three.

7. What’s your signature cooking dish?

Macaroni cheese.

8. What book/film/record etc. changed your life and why?

Grease. I saw it at a young and impressionable age, eight times on the trot in fact, and from that point on I looked for any opportunity to burst into theatrical song in my everyday life, or at least spot my own Olivia Newton John in those tight black satin breeks of hers.  

9. Knock knock, who’s there?

Combine.

Combine who?

Combine hoo Harvester ha.

10. And lastly, summarise Latitude in three words

Pretty, far and away.