“We never went into this band with any expectations, so we’ve never been disappointed… We just love making music together”: Teenage Fanclub on fame, perseverance and ice cream with Nirvana

Teenage Fanclub's Ryan McGlinley [left] and Norman Blake onstage in Edinburgh.

There was a time at the dawn of the alternative rock explosion when Scottish quartet Teenage Fanclub seemed destined for rock stardom. They toured with Nirvana, performed on Saturday Night Live, and Spin rated Bandwagonesque as the best album of 1991, ahead of Nirvana and R.E.M. Suddenly, every media outlet wanted a piece of the bedraggled, jangly rockers, who were touted as alt-rock saviors. 

“It was a really exciting time for us,” says guitarist and vocalist Norman Blake. “We got to tour the world and play these amazing places.