Famous for his wild onstage and up tent pole antics at gigs and festivals this summer, he paid the price shortly after his unforgettable Rock Ness set, when another rampaging showing brought him a knee injury.

So if their hit single, Ain't No Rest For The Wicked, speaks the truth, Matt can't be that bad. He spent weeks holed up at home in America resting up the knee and having a good, hard think: "I was doing a TV performance for a small Manchester station, Channel M, and hit my knee. I had to go back to the States to let it heal and we ended up missing a lot of festivals that were really important."

Matt sounds really sorry to have missed a lot of the summer's outdoor shows. But if they were going to be anything like the over-the-top performance he put on at Rock Ness, it was the audiences' loss.

But there were benefits to the enforced halt to the rise and rise of the band: "I did some songwriting and some sitting on the couch feeling sorry for myself," laughed Matt. "And I gained 30 pounds – no, that's a joke. I swam a lot and got a nice tan. I relaxed a lot – and reflected on life. It was a setback and I did get down on myself about it cos I felt so bad that we'd missed the festival season – cos it's a big step up in your career to do those. But the rest of the band was real supportive."

Next month, it'll be time for the band to get on with recording their second album – the first one was actually done two and a half years ago, and Matt is itching to get on with the next.

"We have moved on as people and writers since then, so what we're doing now is really different. Your likes and dislikes change. When you're going through different things and finding new music, that becomes part of your own music. And we're not going to fight that or those changes."

Matt seems to have changed his look – recent appearances on Later With Jools Holland, Sound and Everybody Loves L'il Chris are any clue. Put it this way, there's no Rock Ness-style dress.

Matt Schultz.

"That was just a spur of the moment thing, and I wore that dress till someone ripped it off me," laughed Matt. So is it safest to expect the unexpected when Cage The Elephant return to the Highlands to play the Raigmore on Saturday?

"Yeah, for my next gig I'm going to... commit suicide on stage to protest at people eating peanut butter and maple syrup instead of jelly. This should be stopped. I just won't have it." and the showman's off again,

* Cage The Elephant, supported by fiN, play the Raigmore, Inverness, on Saturday.

entertainment@highland-news.co.uk

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