Just a few interviews from the archives here. First up is Funeral For a Friend, because I love their new STREETCAR single:
FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND
Welsh emo kings Funeral For A Friend are about to embark on another tour with a new album in tow. Una Mullally chatted to guitarist Darren Smith as he drove to a studio in New Port to record some B-Sides
The album is out soon, how do you feel about it?
I feel quite happy with the way it sounds. I think it s a great record so I m super pleased.
Was there a lot of pressure to follow up the success from the first album?
Yeah, it was kind of weird. You know, they say you have your whole life to record your first album and a few months to do your second. But we had done a four track EP first, so we barely had time to write the first album.
With this, we felt quite comfortable writing on the road. I was actually surprised with how easy it came together. It just came out naturally.
The chemistry in the band is very strong and we ve improved with how we interact.
Are you looking forward to the tour?
Yeah, of course.
I m at home at the moment, and you tend to be glad to get back home, but once you are home for a week, you want to get back out again. On tour, you lose track of days so coming back to reality, it s a bit weird.
What are your favourite memories from tour?
Without a doubt when we toured with Iron Maiden. They re our childhood heroes and playing before them and seeing them backstage was amazing. Another one was with this band called Boy Sets Fire who we love.
When we had a chance to play with them, they bought our CD and listened to it all the way up to a gig in Scotland. They were really complimentary and we ended up becoming really good friends. It s incredible to love a band and then have them like you.
Our first year at Reading was great too. We were checking our gear and the tent was completely empty. We went backstage for a while and when we came out, walking up the ramps, we just saw people running towards the tent, it was completely full.
Those moments are just so bizarre.
You ve got really dedicated fans, what is it about your music that people respond to so strongly to?
I m not quite sure.
It s a hard thing for any band to give an answer to. We write songs first and foremost for ourselves, you can t go up on stage and not have that enthusiasm. The chemistry between us all is just one of those things.
We believe so much in what we do, and we all love what we do and make the most of it. We re realistic and realise how fickle the music industry is. Next year, it might juts be somebody else.
We realise this could all go away tomorrow, so we give out best today.
What do you have in store for the Dublin show?
Some new songs, definitely.
At the Funeral shows, we do our best to put on something amazing and get the audience going off. We re the same as everyone else in that crowd, so we want to get everyone involved.
What memories will remain with you when it s all over do you think?
The fact of being reasonably successful at what we do. It s been a dream becoming a reality, I ve been looking back before we even start.
Next up Indie lovelies, Belle Sebastian
LA VITA E BELLE
Line-up changes, Father Ted, peacocks and themed bedrooms.
Stevie from Belle Sebastian tells all to Una Mullally.
I would try to think of an excuse, but I just plain forgot . This is Stevie s sheepish apology for missing a call from The Event Guide.
But fair play to him, he rang back. Belle Sebastian have climbed a few rungs in the music industry ever since they formed in Glasgow in 1996. Their first record now changes hands for about 400 quid, they ve courted controversy on Top Of The Pops and now have a summer of festivals ahead of them.
Speaking of festivals,
Ah, to see a Beatle! Great!
Touring relentlessly puts pressure on even the most established bands, and Belle and Sebastian are no exception.
Months on the road have seen them shed a few members, not that Stevie is complaining, Personnel changes were good. The people that left were always a drag. Now everybody in the group wants to be there, so it s a happier place.
I mean this band was always difficult to be in. Always traveling and not having to think, because you have a tour manager to do that for you, can be a bit disorientating. But we ve never been away for that long.
I d imagine if you we away for over six months, it would be insane and you d just go to drugs. So, B S must have sympathy for those rock stars who find it too much, Fuck off! I can t say for a minute it s hard work.
It s not down the mines, is it? Indeed.
As you may have gathered difficulties aren t alien to Belle Sebastian, so how did they keep it together when so many others either got worse, or just fell apart?
What makes a good band? That s a very good question. I suppose, a good leader, someone who s not egotistical and then that person picks the people who are going to be in the band.
A band needs to pull together and head in the same direction. With us, the money gets distributed equally, so It s quite socialist in its outlook. And not doing what the industry tells you.
Anything else? Talent helps , he replies smartly.
For their last video, Belle and Sebastian enlisted the help of Father Ted supremo Graham Linehan, and to say Stevie is gushing about his work would be a bit of an understatement, Father Ted is Shakespearean.
It s art of the highest order. It s great . Pausing to remove a curry from his oven, Stevie returns to recount the bizarre circumstances of recording Dear Catastrophe Waitress with Trevor Horn of ABC and er, TATU fame.
We were recording the tracks in Trevor Horn s country estate , he giggles. Now for the important question were there peacocks? Yeah!
Peacocks, horses and all kinds of shit. It was amazing. All of the bedrooms were themed, I was in the RAF room, with planes hanging from the ceiling and shit like that.
If you didn t have much to do, you d play with these five dogs that were always hanging around. Then we d have lunch in this Agatha Christy dining hall. There was a kind of murder-mystery vibe.
It was great! He slurs great like only a Scottish person can.
Stepping away from Gosford Park for a moment, Belle and Sebastian continue their quiet assent with a new single, Books , and of course, a stint at Oxegen this summer.
Five years have passed since they graced an Irish stage, so get ready for it. It ll be great.
I've interviewed James Blunt twice this year, and will do so again on Wednesday - so I guess that just shows how much he's getting around.
Believe you me, a few months ago, I did NOT think he would have a number one single and album in England for the last couple of weeks. Nice boy, must have that drink with him at some stage..
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JAMES BLUNT
From the British Army to touring with Elton John. Eh?
Yeah, it s James Blunt, fresh from a set at the Ruby Sessions and now taking on Crawdaddy. He spoke to Una Mullally. Watch this space.
The military isn t the usual background of a singer/songwriter
The army paid for university, well a part of it. I owed them four years after. I did my time in the reconnaissance regiment mainly with small tanks in Kosovo, Canada and Switzerland.
There s a very distinct song on the album about your time in Kosovo. Do you draw a lot form those experiences?
Looking at the album now, the stuff on it is taken from mostly other experiences.
The army was, to me, just a job, not a way of life. My outlook on life as a whole is very mixed. I try not to get embroiled in one thing.
After leaving the army, what was the lead up to recording your debut album?
I quit my job and got a manager. Without my manager, I d be pretty much lost.
He has seen me through the dangerous waters of the music industry, and they can be quite dangerous.
How did the recording process like for you?
EMI flew me over to LA where I met Linda Perry of Pink and Christina Aguilera fame, and 4 Non Blondes of course.
Anyway, she offered me a record deal. The part of this that has been slow was just going over to the States and the production side of things. The offering of deals and that part came quickly actually.
Recording was great fun. I did the album with Tom Rothrock, who s a very nice man, very soft spoken. He s not a pushy producer, so for my first album and first time sitting down in that environment, that was just what I needed.
It was strange, though, being underneath the Hollywood sign because I was a Hollywood virgin I suppose.
How do feel about the album now?
I love the record.
It has been my dream to have it as a tangible object I can hold. That was all I was really after.
Have you had hardened singer-songwriters who have been around for a while looking at your success and baying for blood?
Perhaps I ve have the benefit of looking for it as a job. Since I left my last job it s happened pretty quickly. Fair enough, I haven t been long on the circuit like other people, but I ve spent that whole time in my bedroom.
So really, I have been doing music for all that long time. When I got a manager, I was pretty much ready to go because I had done the musical preparation myself. And yeah, everybody needs a bit of luck.
How have the gigs been going?
The tour with Elton John was an incredible opportunity. Going from playing to 200 people to 27,000 people.
The stages were set up so efficiently for his team that it was like a playground for us. I d recommend it to anyone! Glastonbury as well, was very special.
I m having a fantastic time. I do recognise that I m incredibly lucky to do so. There are masses of musicians out there who don t get to do this, so I intend to have a fantastic time.
What s next?
I want to keep this as a job for a few years. I m not after fame and fortune.
This year seems to be panning out really well. The shows in January have sold out and I now have the opportunity to travel around and see places. Basically, I m just waiting to see what happens.
What can the Dublin crowd expect from the gig?
It s a nice change to do smaller venues. No one will know who I am at the Ruby sessions gig, and then I m playing with the band at Crawdaddy.
Elton s shows were great, but it s the smaller ones I enjoy. You can see the whites of people s eyes. There s something about that intimacy that affects people and allows you to be affected.
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