With their brand of indie-pop variously described as “shimmering”, “jangly” and “melodic”, summer festivals could well have been invented for Teenage Fanclub. The band’s guitarist and singer, Norman Blake, spoke to Will Gore about their upcoming appearance at Ben & Jerry’s Sundae on the Common.

Does the band enjoy the festival season? Yeah, we have great fun and I wish we were doing a few more this year. From a band’s point of view, you don’t really soundcheck so you are not hanging around or, if you are, you just get to stroll around and enjoy yourself. Festivals also give us the chance to play a few songs and see lots of bands we haven’t seen before.

What do you have planned for your Ben & Jerry’s Sundae on the Common set? You assume the majority of people will be unfamiliar with the music so you tailor the set by playing some of our better-known tunes. The next album will be our ninth so, if you average it out there, has to be one or two decent tunes per record! We have a lot of songs to choose from.

Will you be previewing songs from the new record? For the average festival show we will play two or three new songs and that is about a quarter of the set. You always have to remember you are not paying for the show yourself, you want to have a good time but the audience have paid their money and expect to hear certain tunes.

How is the new record shaping up? It is called Shadows – we were going to bring it out in September. We recorded it in Norfolk and at Rockfield Studios in Wales so we could bring all our own equipment. We recorded the previous album in Chicago so we were limited in what we could bring over and that affected the arrangements and how it sounded. It was really pared down but this new one has way more overdubs and strings.

You have produced the album independently – do you relish having the freedom to do that? It is good because you can do what you want. You are not working to anyone else’s deadline and if, for some reason, you decide you want to record an EP of Phil Collins covers then you can.

Are you looking forward to playing a festival with the prospect of plenty of free ice cream on offer? We haven’t done a festival with free ice cream before and, in terms of sponsors, Ben & Jerry’s are probably not too bad – at least they are not trying to sell vodka!

Teenage Fanclub, Ben & Jerry’s Sundae On The Common, July 25. Visit benjerry.co.uk for information.