Biffy Clyro Interview

This week marks my six year anniversery contributing for the Belfast Telegraph. I’ve interviewed a lot of interesting people (and sadly some not so interesting ones too) during my time there and I’m proud to say that I was one of the first journo’s to write for the 24/7 supplement. Over the last year or so I’ve decided to step back a wee bit from the papers though. Bascially as I received more work from Hot Press and NME I scaled back a little bit on the local stuff (there’s only so many hours in an eight day week, right?) but I still do bits and pieces and last week 24/7 ran my interview with Biffy Clyro. The album is up for streaming now on MySpace so here’s a reprint to tie in with it.

Biffy Clyro

In an era of one hit wonders and plastic, perma-tanned pop stars, it’s somewhat reassuring to see Scottish tunesmiths Biffy Clyro continue to produce the goods. With each new release the trio seem to climb another rung up the ladder to rock royalty and the quality of their records only improves as they mature in years. However, while ‘07’s gold certified Puzzle may have been their most successful slab of wax in their 14year history, it was also their most painful to make as it documented the death of singer/guitarist Simon Neil’s mother and saw the affable lads from Ayrshire butting heads with the legendary producer Garth Richardson (whose credits include working with Rage Against the Machine among others). Fast forward two years later though and their follow up Only Revolutions couldn’t be any more upbeat and positive and as we catch up with bassist James Johnston during his press junket, we have to ask him-where did it all go right?

“We all know what Puzzle was about, it was a very difficult record and time in our lives, but I guess these days we’re much happier,” reflects the 29year old. “An album will always be informed by what’s around you and severe tragedy never leaves you. Simon got married last year and that was something to be happy about and we’re looking forward to the future now instead of being sad about the past. I guess the music is a little more hopeful too. The brass on [current single] The Captain is triumphant and there are a few points on the record like that. We’re in a really great place at the moment. It’s mad though-I feel like I’m from LA talking about emotions. We’re three blokes from Scotland and we don’t do that stuff for God’s sake.”

What separates Biffy Clyro apart from other alternative rock bands is their connection with their fans and refusal to become yet another rock ‘n’ roll cliche. They may be five records into their career (that includes ‘02’s Blackened Sky, ‘03’s The Vertigo Of Bliss, ‘04’s Infinity Land, the aforementioned Puzzle and their soon to be released Only Revolutions for those keeping score) but they’re far from jaded about their achievements.

 “It’s not an easy life and it’s not easy working on records, but it’s an absolutely great life too,” smiles the bassist. “We’re very blessed to do this and I wouldn’t sit and tell you it’s all difficult. Your reader’s lives are difficult, you know? Success hasn’t changed us. Without sounding like we’re full of ourselves-we kinda deserve it though. We’ve worked hard and we’re over the moon more people are getting to hear us.”

Sounding like a band at the height of their powers, Only Revolutions also features guitar-work by Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme [on the track Bubbles] and the Scot confesses that they learned a lot from the ginger giant.

“Working with Josh was great fun. We really respect him because he’s always one step ahead of the rest. We toured with the Queens in the States and in Europe and we got to know them fairly well. I wouldn’t say we’re best buddies but we got on well. We learned a lot from them and when Josh heard we were going to be recording in LA he said gimme a shout and I’ll come play. I don’t think he expected us to take him up on it [laughs]. I think he thought ‘Oh, sh*t it’s Biffy on the phone.’ Anyway, legend has it that he put his daughter to bed at 10 o’clock and came down to us for 11pm. He came in, listened to the track once and went ‘Right, I’ve got a solo for it.’ He went next door and just started wailing on his guitar. It was all the things you dreamed of if you were a Josh Homme fan. He’s just awesome.”

And it wasn’t just Josh Homme who was “awesome” this time around. Their producer Garth Richardson also did a sterling work on the new record too.

“It was fairly well documented in the past that we struggled a little bit working with Garth on Puzzle and that was certainly true in the first few weeks because we just worked in different ways. He wasn’t used to dealing with such determined people. He was more accustomed to having young bands come in and do things his way, but we were very much like-no, we’d like to do it that way instead, so we butted heads a little. We’ve now become really, really great friends with Garth though and he’s a brilliant ally. It was a pleasure working with him this time. He spurs us on. Sometimes he p*sses us off, but I think that’s the beauty of a creative relationship.”

When Only Revolutions hits record shop shelves on November 9, chances are it’s going to change their lives forever. Already featuring the top five hit single Mountains, the top ten denting That Golden Rule and the soon to be released The Captain, the opus sounds utterly monstrous and will no doubt see the childhood friends notch up a plethora of awards in 2010 and become festival headliners next year. As a band with a close connection with their fans we ask them if they worry about alienating their most loyal followers.

“We do worry about it,” confesses James. “We wouldn’t be anywhere without the hardcore fans who would’ve seen us play smaller venues in Belfast for years and now that we’re doing bigger places like St George’s Market I’m sure we’re going to put some noses out of joint, but what do you do? If you try to second guess what people want to hear then that’s when you’re screwed. When those kids will inevitably say Biffy have gone weak I don’t know what to say to them. I just keep trying to put on the best show I can. Besides, I’d rather have things the way they are now than when we were scrambling to get support slots from terrible bands like OPM and Limp Bizkit!”

 As James prepares to get bundled off into a taxi to tape an appearance on Later With Jools Holland, we ask him about his hopes for their fifth (and possibly best) album to date.

“Our ambition is to surprise a lot of people with this record,” he concludes. “We’ve always seen ourselves as awkward young men and we haven’t changed in that respect, but we try to do things that are unexpected too. I think that’s a good thing to do in music. We also put ourselves under a lot of pressure. We’re a band that really cares a lot about what we do and we don’t like to waste time. The record company are turning the screw a little bit-but they aren’t saying we need to write a certain type of song. It’s more like-this needs to be absolutely mega and hopefully everyone will think that once it’s released.”

Biffy Clyro play St George’s Market in Belfast on Oct 28. Support is from Manchester Orchestra and Pulled Apart By Horses. Tickets cost £21 and are available from all Ticketmaster outlets. Doors open at 7pm.

Edwin McFee

Girls Girls Girls

I fucking love Girls Aloud. A few weeks ago I was charged with the task of defending them in the Telegraph ahead of their gig at the Odyssey and here’s a reprint.

In Defense of Girls Aloud

I first fell for the all too obvious charms of Girls Aloud back in ’02. At the time, the band were formed right before my eyes by way of Pop Stars: the Rivals and, much to the chagrin of train-loving cheesy song merchant Pete Waterman, his boyband One True Voice never stood a chance when Louis Walsh’s five-piece (Kimberly, Nadine, Nicola, Sarah and Cheryl) belted out ‘Sound of the Underground’ for the very first time.

 Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re already assuming that my affection for the feisty pop band lies in a deep rooted (steady on!) appreciation for their gravity defying mini-skirts and pins that Bettie Page herself would have been proud, but you’re wrong. You see while admittedly the charms of Kimberly et al is as obvious as a high-waisted trouser joke round Simon Cowell’s gaff, it’s the band’s unique sound that gets this writer all hot and bothered.

 Up until Girls Aloud, commercial bands were a boring breed. Seemingly content with churning out covers of Bee Gees songs (courtesy of Stock, Aiken and Waterman) these translucent pop idols never put much thought into their music and were more concerned with pulling a cheeky pose for Smash Hits magazine and telling pre-pubescent girls they “love animals and stuff” than singing a song that make people want to dance. Girls Aloud changed all that. From their very first single, the quintet hit the ground running and ‘Sound of the Underground’ shocked everyone with its fusion of drum and bass, surf guitar and lyrics that made very little sense (but sounded oh so right).

Thanks to their writer/producer Xenomania, the band had a style all of their own and over the last decade they’ve rewritten the rule book on what you can and cannot do on a pop record. It also helps that four of the girls have really distinctive voices (sorry Sarah) and can take lyrics like “Baby, I miss you, so tell me, is she really that beautiful?” on ‘Whole Lotta History’ and sing them so passionately it would make Mr T break down in tears and blub like a baby.

And while the girls themselves have little in the way of musical training (bar childhood singing lessons and hands on experience performing throughout their youth) their keen ear for a tune has aided them in choosing some pretty stellar singles in the past and the final decision of which tracks they actually sing rests of their heads, proving they’re not merely songbirds for sale. Begrudgers may mock the idea of them working with a producer and giving little input into the actual songwriting process, but considering some of the best pop bands in the world had a similar sven gali behind them (the Supremes, the Shangri-Las, the Ronettes etc) I genuinely don’t care where the songs come from-just as long as they’re good.

I often find when I tell people of my love for Girls Aloud’s songs they look at me like I’m that dude who worked at the chicken factory on the X Factor. For some reason, there are a fraction of people who think it’s uncool to listen to hook-laden harmonies and inventive song structures simply because the teeny boppers like them too. Well it’s their loss, because Girls Aloud have been making some of the most exciting music in the last few years, splicing genres, experimenting with styles and generally never putting a Jimmy Choo clad foot wrong. So, ladies and gentlemen, I can unequivocally state with pride that I’ve been a Girls Aloud fan from day one and if you can’t hear the sheer genius of tracks like ‘the Promise,’ ‘Love Machine,’ ‘Something Kinda Ooooh’ and ‘Call the Shots,’ well then that’s your loss. You should probably go and share your feelings with Pete Waterman. I hear he has a lot of time on his hands too…

 Edwin McFee

Russell Brand

At the start of the year I was asked to write an opinion piece on Russell Brand in the Telegraph. Here’s a reprint…

In Defence of Russell Brand

My first meeting with Russell Brand happened nearly a decade ago. One night I turned on my telly and glaring back at me was the rake thin, then lank-haired cockney talking to clubbers who were far from sober on MTV. I’ve always hated pill heads with a passion and to this day am mystified why anyone wants to go to a sweat-drenched disco and imbibe drugs that make you want to chew your own face off, so watching Russell take the mickey out of these characters won me over instantly.

            A few years afterwards, Brand was booted off MTV for baring little Russell to the masses and then coming to work dressed as Bin Laden the day after September 11. His sacking turned out to be one of the highlights of his career as he landed the gig of presenting Big Brother’s Eforum (which was later renamed Big Brother’s Big Mouth) and, coupled with a new wardrobe which made him look like a Dickensian dandy and an O-Zone layer be-damned hair-do that defies gravity, he finally infiltrated the masses.

            As I’ve mentioned before in 24/7, punk rock was my first love, so seeing the comedian slowly put the establishment’s noses out of joint just made me love him all the more. Russell’s brand of comedy is dirty, edgy, salacious and smart-arsed, but most of all it is laugh out loud funny. Hell, he even made the turgid, long past its sell by date Big Brother seem entertaining. I also love the fact that his carefully constructed image and mannerisms have made him one of the few iconic figures of the naughties. When people look back to this frankly p*ss-poor decade they’ll immediately be drawn to Russell and his ludicrous barnet first and foremost.

These days Brand is so on the money even the yanks have caught onto his style of comedy. Yeah, he basically portrayed a caricature of himself in his Hollywood hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but why fix what isn’t broke? Possibly my favourite Russell moment happened last year during the infamous Manuel-Gate saga though. As we all know Brand and Wossy made a few naughty phone-calls to former Faulty Towers star Andrew Sachs saying our Russ has had his way with the actor’s grand-daughter and though slightly tasteless, it wasn’t the end of the world in this writer’s opinion. What was most interesting was the aftermath of Manuel-Gate with the whole nation publicly dissecting his character. For a comedian with a new series of Ponderland airing that week on Channel Four, it was a stroke of genius and as his hero Oscar Wilde once wrote “the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” Incidentally, when this writer was at the Download Festival last summer I found myself being chatted up by the one and only Georgina Bailie backstage too. Anyone got Manuel’s number?

Anyway, I digress. Russell Brand has helped define a decade. Men want to be him and women want to be with him and it’s about time that we have a comedian on TV who is genuinely dangerous and provocative instead of the countless stream of sanitised panellists clogging up our airwaves. As far as I’m concerned he can keep on offending the moral majority for as long as he likes. His hair does look daft though.

 

Edwin McFee

And So I Watch You From Afar

Well it’s Friday afternoon and after finishing up my Kaiser Chiefs interview and Teenage Kicks column, I’m nearly done for the day. But before I go, I thought I’d post up my interview with ASIWYFA that ran in the Belfast Telegraph the week before A Little Solidarity. The main reason I’m digging out this one from the archives is due to a lovely blog written by Naomi McArdle talking about my good self  on Hot Press.com and as we’re both huge fans of the lads I figured why not? http://wordpress.hotpress.com/offherrocker/2009/02/13/blog-edwin-mcfee/

Right, I’m off to lie in a crimpled heap

And So I Watch You From Afar

I’ll always remember the first time I saw North Coast four-piece And So I Watch You From Afar play live. It was a couple of years ago and their brand of post-apocalyptic instrumental noise was going down a storm as part of the now sadly departed local music festival belFEST. Fast forward a couple of years and the boys have only gotten better receiving rave reviews from the NME, Kerrang, Hot Press, Rock Sound and many, many more as well as getting some praise from Gary Lightbody onstage a few weeks ago whenever Snow Patrol played in the Empire. Yes folks, pound for pound ASIWYFA are probably the most exciting band to come from these shores in a long time and as the months fly by they’re only going to get better. But not everyone “got” their hernia-inducing sound in those early days, as guitarist Tony Wright explains.

            “Our early shows were very different to how they are now,” says Tony. “Over the course of half our shows we’d be playing three or four tracks, real long crescendo-based nonsense. We were outsiders really and didn’t know too many people in Belfast, but we would always got a random poet or singer who would say ‘you need a vocalist and I’m f*ckin’ great.’ We still get those people now, but we always politely decline their offer.”

            “I think if we could do it all a little differently, we’d maybe have held off launching the band until we knew exactly what we wanted to be playing, which we’re a lot closer to now,” offers guitarist Rory Friers. “We’ve never said ‘right, no singer,’ but we don’t need one now. I think we’re all dead excited about were its going.”

            And so they should be, because after a year of hard slog on the road putting on incendiary gig after incendiary gig, ASIWYFA have made both the UK and Ireland sit up and take notice. At the moment the band (completed bassist Johnny Adgar and tub thumper Chris Wee) are working on their first full length album but in the mean-time they have the thunderous slab of wax that is the This is our Machine and Nothing Can Stop It mini album out in the shops to keep the faithful happy.

            “We’re flattered people think that we’re one of the most driven bands in the country,” says Rory. “We work so hard for this, but it’s a pretty natural thing for us too.  Coming from the sticks you had to really do it yourself to get anything done. We kinda have a rule to accept as much help that’s offered, but to depend on none of it.”

            “Yeah we’re definitely driven because this is all we have ever wanted to do,” continues Tony. “I think the same drive is apparent everywhere you look though. You only have to go to a local rehearsal space and hear the amount of bands working really hard and that keeps us going too.”

            Of course Tony is being typically modest with this statement as how many other bands do you know of that get run over and hospitalised then play a show straight after?

            “Yeah, that story is true,” he laughs. “It happened last year and I was drunk, got hit by a cab, woke up in hospital with a drip hanging out my arm and then sneaked out the next morning. The guys met me at the gates and we high-tailed it to Derry for Fighting With Wire’s album launch where we played a killer show. I had a bad headache afterwards though. That aside, my personal favourite show was our first EP launch [Tonight the City Burns] in Auntie Annie’s. We were expecting 20 people and ended up selling the place out. I think for us it signified the fact that we could take the band a lot further than we first thought. That was a year and a half ago and here we are about to play the Mandela Hall and I’m bricking it.”

            Ever since the band formed three years ago in “the middle of nowhere” (according to Tony and Rory) they’ve been ticking achievement boxes in double quick time and this weekend marks possibly their biggest venture to date-their own music festival. Taking place in the Mandela Hall, Speakeasy and Bunatee in Queens Student’s Union, the bash is called A Little Solidarity (named after their song and current career highlight A Little Bit of Solidarity Goes a Long Way which featured on this year’s Oh Yeah album) and boasts a shed-load of Ulster’s greatest bands all playing together. The line-up includes the mighty Fighting With Wire, the hotly tipped General Fiasco and the sublime Two Door Cinema Club among many others and it’s an event which is close to ASIWYFA’s hearts.

            “As with most things in And So I Watch You From Afar-land, the idea for the festival came about after Tony and I spent one of our usual nights sitting up smoking too many fags and discussing our grand schemes. I remember saying to Johnny Black [vocalist/singer in LaFaro] outside the Limelight that ‘we’re gonna do a show in the Mandela next year’ and he was like ‘lets do it then.’ That was that really.”

            “It’s an extension of the show we did last year called Tonight the City Burns, which was all about collaboration and the strength of the scene,” adds Tony. “We wanted to take it up a notch and get as many heads involved. The scene here is amazingly strong and there’s too much great music that we don’t want to go unnoticed.”

            Once the idea for the festival was put forward, it didn’t take long for the boys to put a bill together and in a show of scene spirit it ended up a matter of trying to fit everyone in rather than struggling to find willing participants.

            “Putting A Little Solidarity together wasn’t hard to do at all,” insists Rory. “These bands are down with the cause, everyone has each other’s back, it’s not ASIWYFA’s show plus support-it’s everyone’s gig. There’s no messing about with this lot. The hardest bit was havin to somehow select who was playing. We could have done two weeks straight.”

            For the first time in many years, the NI music scene seems refreshingly free of sniping and back-biting and, while ASIWYFA will hate to hear it said, much of this is down to their positive outlook and efforts to unite everyone. They feel that it’s hard enough for a local band to get the breaks they deserve so why make things harder by engaging in endless feuds. Still, that doesn’t mean they’re not going to play their gig tomorrow as if their lives depended on it. They’re still got a point to prove.

            “We’ve actually got a decibel contest between ASIWYFA and LaFaro,” jokes Tony. “That’s why we opted for the Mandela Hall-they’ve a bigger PA. For any of you gamblers out there, the smart money’s on us.”

As well as bands playing for your aural pleasure, there will also be exhibitions, a speed networking panel for local musos to get some face to face time with industry types and competitions for studio time too. Basically if you’ve ever had any interest in music whatsoever, A Little Solidarity should be your only port of call this weekend.

“We’ve tried to make the festival as pro new music as possible, so we have loads of opportunities for some younger bands to meet people and get their music out there,” says Rory. “We have a speed networking session with some great industry people from NI and the UK, we have demo drops, free studio time, choice slots for new bands, reviews and airplay up for grabs, gigs on offer and generally just a lot of people who are there to support who’s gonna be killing it next year and beyond.

“As for our own ambitions over the next five years, all we want to do is write, record, tour, write, record, tour,” he concludes. “We always said that if we could pay rent and eat from playing music then we’d need nothing else, so I’d say if we could be doing that in five years and getting to see some cool places we’d be laughing.”

 

 

A Little Solidarity takes place tonight and tomorrow. Tonight’s show features LaFaro, Desert Hearts, Pocket Billiards and Axis Of and kicks off at 7pm in the Speakeasy. Tomorrow afternoon from 1pm-6pm in the Speakeasy is Two Door Cinema Club, Mojo Fury, Team Fresh and Yes Cadets. Later that night in the Mandela Hall We Are Knives, Panama Kings, General Fiasco, And So I Watch You From Afar and Fighting With Wire all play and doors are at 7pm. Tonight’s gig and tomorrow’s matinee show are £5 in, the main event in the Mandela Hall is £9 and limited two day tickets are available for £12. For more info click on www.myspace.com/andsoiwatchyoufromafar

 

Edwin McFee

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/band-thatrsquos-helping-to-unite-the-world-14063971.html

PS-Thanks to Naomi for the nice words.

A Little Solidarity

Just a quick one about the A Little Soldarity local band fest this weekend. Curating the event are the amazing And So I Watch You From Afar (check out my feature on the bash in today’s Telegraph-http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/band-thatrsquos-helping-to-unite-the-world-14063971.html) so if you can make your way down to it make sure you do.

The lads have just signed a deal with Smalltown America (http://www.hotpress.com/news/5032337.html) so congrats!