THE power of a fanbase can never be underestimated – it is surely the singular most important pursuit for artists.

Without it, no band can survive. With it, any band can thrive.

Last month, Dumfries-based quartet The Lutras revealed they were hoping to record their debut album in the near future.

Crucially, they had called upon the support of the loyal following they have garnered in recent years, with the launch of a crowdfunder.

Fan power would, once again, have the chance to show its strength.

The Lutras are hopeful of raising the capital to fund the recording, with the songs all written and ready to go. They launched a Patreon page, asking followers to pledge £5 a month to help cover the costs.

In return, backers get exclusive access to demos as well as unreleased tracks. Their names will also be featured in the album's lyric book.

Recent years have saw the growth of fan-funded records, with Mason Hill and The Rah's recently completing or releasing albums following successful crowdfunding campaigns.

The Lutras guitarist Thomas Gillan is entirely grateful to the band's following, who have continued to back them over the past month.

He tells The Weekender: "It's going really well; we've got nearly 30 people signed up.

"It just shows how important your fans and followers are; it's something they can say they played a part in. Without them we wouldn't be able to record our debut album.

He added: "We have a solid fan base all over the UK; we've had buses full for gigs in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh – that alone speaks for itself.

"It means a lot to us that people are willing to spend their hard-earned cash to come see us all over the UK.

Work is already underway for the album with the band digging into their selection of unreleased tunes to put together the album.

Gillan feels that fans of the band will be well-catered for, while new listeners will be taken by what they have to offer.

"It's looking the strongest we feel it can be," he adds. "There's a few tracks on there that we wrote years ago, but we knew they'd be album tracks, so they've been kept away for that.

SUPPORT CALL: The Lutras are hoping to crowdfunding the money to fund their debut album. Picture by Sean Francis

SUPPORT CALL: The Lutras are hoping to crowdfunding the money to fund their debut album. Picture by Sean Francis

"All the tracks are there and waiting to be recorded. We're aiming for 10, but we've a few ideas for a couple of surprises.

"There will be a couple of tracks in there that we have already released but whether we re-record them or not is yet to be decided.

"Nothing too adventurous," he continues: "We like to keep things pretty simple when it comes to recording; we've never really been one for making it complicated or adding 20 guitars to a track. We'll be aiming to make each track sound as live as possible.

"There'll be a bit of everything on the album. There's a few tracks that could be described as ballads.

"We have a whole catalogue of tracks there, so we've picked the ones we feel will go hand-in-hand with each other and make the album enjoyable from start to finish."

Those looking to support The Lutras' debut album crowdfunder can visit https://www.patreon.com/thelutras to donate.

The subscription is set a £5 a month and can be cancelled at any time.