The Lanarkshire drummer with Scottish indie greats Franz Ferdinand has spoken about her whirlwind year since joining the band.
Audrey Tait, from Rutherglen, took over the drum stool from founding member Paul Thomson last year, and has since toured around Europe, South America and the USA with the Scots rockers, known for classics like Take Me Out.
Now she's preparing for one of her biggest shows yet - a massive homecoming gig at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Thursday night (November 10).
Audrey told Lanarkshire Live : "I’m really excited about it, I think we all are. It’s a good time to be playing there as it’s one of the last dates of the year so it feels like a proper homecoming as we’ve been away so much.
"I’ve got family and friends coming so it’ll be some night. It’s all the big hits and we’ve played so many shows now that we’re a well oiled machine by this point, so we can really enjoy it!"
The band's current jaunt is to promote their greatest hits collection Hits to the Head, which brings together some of the best material from the group's five album career, along with two brand new tracks, Billy Goodbye and Curious.
These were the first songs Audrey worked on as she joined the band, which she believes helped ease her into the new role.
She explained: "It meant they could get to know me and it all felt really good.
"Going from that into learning all these iconic songs was a bit mad, but they are such good songs and such fun to play.
"I wanted to make sure I did the parts justice, but also put a bit of myself into it as well rather than just being an imitation of Paul."
The reaction from Franz's fans has been warm,helped by the fact the band have been out on the road for much of this year, letting the group's followers catch Audrey in action right away.
She added:"The fans have been so nice. I’ve had a lot of comments saying they really like seeing a woman onstage with the band and that’s positive to hear, having people say it's relatable to see a woman up there.
"It’s been really welcoming."
That doesn't mean she's letting her other work fade away either, as she's juggling life with Franz and her work producing music at Novasound Studios, along with her pal Lauren Gilmour, with whom she is also in synth-pop band The Girl Who Cried Wolf.
It's a balancing act that former Stonelaw High pupil Audrey is enjoying.
"I got back from the American tour and was straight into working on a play for Novasound, but I love the studio as much as I love doing this.
"Lauren and I call it pivoting.
"During COVID we had to work out ways of keeping the business going, and now it’s getting a balance between touring and the studio. Lauren is busy with a lot of stuff, but we’ve been writing away too, because it's important for me to keep that side of my brain going too."
She's also got further plans with Franz, from more shows next year to working on possible new material. However at the moment the focus is the big Hydro show on Thursday night.
However although it's one of the biggest venues Audrey's ever played, she's not nervous about it.
"At the end of the day I’m still just sitting at a drum kit, and whether it’s 100 people or an arena I’m still going to give it everything and love doing it."
Tickets for the show are available here.
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