He's played in front of big rock crowds but Glasvegas frontman James Allan says performing for a tribe in the Amazon rainforest was an otherworldly experience.

Allan and his bandmates got the chance to perform and write a track with the Waorani of Bameno in Ecuador, for Singing in the Rainforest, a TV show produced by Gogglebox Entertainment that puts bands in unusual situations.

However, Allan admits that playing for people who had never heard a guitar or Elvis Presley before was a daunting prospect.

He said: “I didn’t know that there were people on this planet who didn’t know who Elvis was.

“We played them a song called Geraldine. The essence of the song is probably compassion but the actual detail is a social worker and a client. It’s something so simple to us but, to them, they don’t know anything about that, they don’t know what a social worker is.

“It’s about the closest you’ll come to if an alien came up to you and asked you all these things because they didn’t really know any of the things in our world.”

An apprehensive Allan got involved in the project after being “guilt tripped” into it by the band's manager.

He said: “We were on tour in America last year and our manager said would you be interested in doing this? Everybody was just like that sounds amazing and I said I’d think about it. A month later he said it’s all happening and I was like ‘I said I’d think about it’. He gave me the guilt trip so I said I’d go.

“I was thinking about daft wee things like I’ve got an album to finish. I guess in life it happens a lot where you’re not sure what to expect and you’re thinking you’ve got other things you need to do but when you’re pushed into the deep end of the pool sometimes you have an experience that’s unique and you’re so grateful that you did it.”

The Mercury Music nominated band had to use canoes to get their equipment into the rainforest and performed for the tribe before collaborating with them on a new song called Same Same.

Allan said: “When I was spending time with them I realised that, although we come from really quite alternative worlds, there’s certain human instincts and natures in us that are just the same. At one point something happened and the tribe said they didn’t want it to appear like that on the show. These people have never been exposed to entertainment or showbiz ever, they don’t know anything about that, but they still had enough ego and dignity to say ‘we don’t want to look daft here’ and I thought that was unbelievable.

“I was surprised by all the similarities but it’s nice because it makes you think about the world. It’s like a familiarity you’ve got with other human beings that you shouldn’t really have.”

Allan claims his unusual approach to writing music caused some concerns for the show’s crew. However, he’s delighted with the finished product.

He said: “The TV people were freaking out a bit saying ‘Have you not got a song yet? We thought you would have ideas coming in’ and I was like ‘naw, but it’s fine, don’t worry about it’.

“I don’t really try and write or anything like that, normally I’ll just be sitting and kind of waiting on an idea happening. A lot of the time I’ll just start having a thought and that seems like quite a blur at first and it stays with me and doesn’t go away. That thought then starts to become a lot more defined, a lot more clear.

“That probably sounds like a load of rubbish but that’s the truth.”

The Glasgow rocker says it took some time to adjust to living in the rainforest and claims he struggled without home comforts like doors, Irn Bru and spider free toilets.

He said: “The main thing I was worried about was not having Irn Bru, that was up there with the tarantulas.

“I hate open doors but when you’re in the rainforest there isn’t a door and there was the alarm of ‘oh no, I cannae shut a door here’ because there’s no doors.

“There were tarantulas under the bed but the tribe said we shouldn’t worry about them as the tiny one in the toilet can kill you. So you’re lying in bed at night, needing the toilet but not wanting to go because it’s pitch black and there’s a spider in it that can kill you.

“I’ve always been pretty shy so meeting new people was a big worry for me as well.”

However, he says he would do it again in a heartbeat.

He said: “Every day I was exposed to things there. I would notice wee daft things that weren’t even in the documentary and would think it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“It was quite sad leaving. If I’m in San Francisco and I’m talking to a kid after the gig I’ll say see you later and I won’t feel sad because in my mind I’m thinking I’ll see them again someday, there’s always a chance. However, when I left the tribe, I knew I would never see them again.

“They were really special people, they were really imaginative and I was dead lucky just to spend some time with them.”

The band, best known for hits like Daddy’s Gone, are now back on home soil and hope to release and tour their new album soon.

He said: “It’s nearly finished now. It’s one of those things, when you imagine something in a specific way that’s good but you need to make it exactly like that because you’ve already imagined it like that. I’m really trying to do it as quick as I can.”

Singing in the Rainforest with Glasvegas will be shown on Watch at 9pm on Monday, October 12.