Catfish and the Bottlemen. Courtesy photo.

Growing up in coastal Wales, a 90-minute drive from Liverpool, Van McCann fell in love with Britpop and garage rock, the kind that was coming from the U.K. in the form of Oasis, the Arctic Monkeys, the Stereophonics, the Kooks and the Fratellis. Those bands, along with American counterparts in the Killers and the Strokes, taught him that records should be made as if the band is playing live.

Now with his own successful band, Catfish and the Bottlemen, McCann has taken that idea to heart. Last summer, Catfish played American festivals where they shared bills with some of their heroes.

“It’s crazy; to play the same festivals with the bands that got you into that genre of music in the first place,” McCann said.

Catfish and the Bottlemen’s sophomore album, The Ride, was released in May and debuted at No. 1 in the U.K. It was the biggest evidence yet that the band — which includes guitarist Johnny “Bondy” Bond, bassist Benji Blakeway and drummer Bob Hall — may have great things in store.

McCann was raised at his parents’ bed and breakfast in Wales. He formed Catfish with Blakeway and two others in 2007. Hall joined in 2010 and Bond in 2014, the same year they released their debut, The Balcony. Two years later they were winning Brit Awards and working with producer Dave Sardy, who produced the last two Oasis albums and Noel Gallagher’s solo debut.

This Sunday, the band kicks off their biggest U.S. tour to date at the Fillmore.

RIFF: Who inspired you to be a songwriter?

Van McCann: There’s loads of bands in the U.K. and the U.S. that we’re fond of. The thing that got me into writing songs was The Streets. They weren’t a rock band. It was more spoken word over drum beats and bass lines. … We all loved Oasis growing up. That was kind of passed down to us. They were writing big guitar choruses, big arms-out songs.

You’ve been in San Francisco at least once before. Do you have any memorable experiences here?

To be honest, whenever we play there, I only get to see the venue. But the shows have always been memorable, and the crowds are always good. It’s nice to be able to come back and [have] people keep coming. To write a song in your bedroom, and fly across to America to play all these places, it’s wild. I’m not too good for the stories because I don’t get out of the venue too much. I’m always straight off the bus and in to work.

You’re playing to much larger crowds in America, now.

We’ve had years to play in the U.K. This is our ninth year as a band, but we’ve only had three or four years of playing in America. To be able to see that paying off now; you can kind of see where it was in the U.K [before]. It’s nice to know that you keep putting the work in, and it keeps growing.

Nine years is more than one-third of your life.

We all started playing when we were young. It’s one of those things; you try a few things, whether it’s a job, or a sport, or a hobby, and you become obsessed with one. We all became obsessed together with this one. It was a lot of touring. We love being on the road. People choose to have their night out spent with you soundtracking it. I always loved that feeling.

You’re touring your second album. What are the noticeable differences the second time around?

All the songs have kind of become one to me now. With the first album, it was very clear in my head that we had 11 songs. Now we have two albums’ worth. It’s become one big setlist, where you’re jumping from one album to another. It’s made the live show breathe a bit more. When we first released ‘7,’ which is the first song off the new album … people sang that one like it was the first song we’ve ever released. They sing it the loudest in the set now. The biggest difference is seeing it grow. When we play a new song, it doesn’t simmer down; it gets louder.

You made two of your videos for this record yourselves on laptops. Why’d you go that route instead of working with someone who directs and produces music videos for a living?

We just bought a cheap video camera in the airport on the way over to make the album. Our guitar tech and my best mate, Larry, he filmed all the recording process. He gave it to me on the computer. One night, I stayed up and did it all, making these videos and linked it up to the music. [Later], people were saying, ‘Got any ideas for videos?’ and I just went to that footage and started digging around to see what I could make. We’ve always liked the classic way of being in a band, the way The Beatles used to do it, and the Stones, and the Kinks. If it was music videos, it would be [of] them, playing the songs with their guitars. That was what you got. We really wanted to see what we could do with keeping the whole campaign very to the point and just about the songs. Being a live band, we feel much more comfortable playing live than we do acting.

What are your interests outside of music? Are video production and direction anyone’s second love?

I know Bob is pretty handy on the camera. He goes everywhere. I can see him becoming a bit of a photographer. Benji, our bass player, he reads a lot. Bondy is good at drawing. I’m always on the writing side, just writing songs. I make sure the band stuff is going. If there is someone who is going to be able to do something on the side, it would be Bob with photos or Bondy with something like lava lamps. Bondy could have his own brand of lava lamps.

Your home was a bed and breakfast. What was it like after your band started becoming successful?

We’ve had a few fans come over. My dad would bring the breakfast to the table. Every now and again, [Catfish and the Bottlemen] would come on the radio, and he’d perk up and [ask guests], ‘What do you think of this band?’ Before, he could say, ‘That’s my son’s band!’ They love it. My mom and dad would give [fan guests] CDs and old setlists, and anything we have in our old practice room where we used to rehearse.

You have said you care only about playing live and not whether your songs are hits on radio. Does that mean you’d be just as happy in a local gigging band?

When we started, that was all we used to play; bars to not many people. We did love doing that, and that’s all we wanted to do every night. We’re still doing that in the U.S. Last time, we were playing 150-cap rooms in New York and Nashville. If I could, I’d play live for the rest of my life. And we’re still very much fans of going to see music. It’s a hunger for something that doesn’t die.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.