30 Apr 2022

Stuart Murdoch: spirituality with Belle and Sebastian’s frontman

From Saturday Morning, 10:08 am on 30 April 2022

Scottish band Belle and Sebastian has a new album out this month – A Bit Of Previous.

Founder Stuart Murdoch tells Kim Hill how spirituality and the compassion of others have enabled him to keep performing with a disabling illness.

Stuart Murdoch  of Scottish indie-pop band Belle And Sebastian.

Stuart Murdoch of Scottish indie-pop band Belle And Sebastian. Photo: AFP / FILE

One song on Scottish band Belle and Sebastian's new album A Bit Of Previous pledges support for people affected by the war on Ukraine.

Founder Murdoch tells Kim Hill that 'If They're Shooting At You' was actually written a year before the invasion.

"I was starting with myself but I realised of course that many people have it so much worse… and what can we do. Some people can only resort to spirituality, to faith."

Murdoch's own relationship with spirituality began in his early 20s while he was recovering from ME at his parents' house in Glasgow.

At the time, nobody he knew was remotely interested in spirituality but sitting at a piano in his mum's house, the line from the Lord's Prayer came into mind – 'Thy will be done'.

"I had a bit of a vacuum in my day and my mind and spiritual thought just came to me.

"I just suddenly thought there's a god. Maybe the pressure's actually off us. Maybe somebody else is in charge. I actually felt a releasing of pressure at that point."

The next Sunday Murdoch wandered into a local church and ended up joining the choir. He's still a member 26 years later.

After a couple of years, he moved into the caretaker's flat above the church which became Belle and Sebastian's hangout. The church hall became their rehearsal space.

No caption

Belle and Sebastian Photo: Rachel Keenan

The album title A Bit Of Previous is a nod to the Buddhist idea of reincarnation which Murdoch has been exploring in his meditation practice.

No religion has a "monopoly on wisdom", he says.

"It is hard sometimes to cross the threshold of a church because you feel like you have to go in believing in something. You feel like you have to abide by certain rules.

"I think what happens in a person's mind is sacred and everybody should be allowed their own beliefs and that has to be respected. They can overlap, they can be wildly different. Let's talk about it, let's see what you've got."

Belle and Sebastian recorded A Bit Of Previous in their hometown of Glasgow for the first time in two decades.

Murdoch says that 25 years ago he would never have expected the band could go this far.

"Can you imagine coming out of an illness that you'd had for seven years and all I had was this little dream of making a record. Then when the group first got together I thought we could make another record afterwards.

"Beyond that I had no compulsion to tour, to gig, to have this be my career. All that became a reality over time and I've been taking it day by day since."

Stuart Murdoch of the Scottish band Belle and Sebastian

Stuart Murdoch of the Scottish band Belle and Sebastian Photo: Open Medicine Foundation

Murdoch says he's built his life around managing ME with the help of a really supportive partner and the compassion of his bandmates.

"The band's been built around my capabilities and energy so I must admit I'm in a bit of a bubble, but I'm pretty lucky."

The first shows the band played to strangers were intoxicating, he says, but it was a "rocky road" to becoming a competent band leader.

"I just realised I was at home… I was never nervous. After being ill for so long I constantly realised that this was a gift that was given to me. This was my chance and by god, I was going to take it.'

A Bit Of Previous is out on 6 May.