Funeral For A Friend are back with not
only a new album, “Conduit”, but also back out on the road, giving fans an
opportunity to see them playing more intimate venues. With over ten years since
their debut, “Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation”, the band has come a
long way and the new album sees them re-discover their hardcore roots.
Est.1987 caught up with bassist Richard
Boucher [& lead singer Matt Davies-Kreye] to chat about the new record, a
decade of FFAF and stage invasions…
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| Matt Davies-Kreye on stage at Leeds Cockpit |
How’s the tour been going so far?
RICH- Yeah, brilliant. A lot of the dates have been
sold out which is amazing, so it's great. It's small venues for us; they're
very intimate which we like. It's been crazy just seeing people’s reactions,
and nice playing a lot of the new record and seeing how people feel about that.
So it’s been fantastic so far.
With such a large back catalogue how do
you go about compiling the set list, especially with the new album just coming
out too?
RICH- In the past it's usually been quite difficult to
choose set lists, but this time it seemed very easy and we were all on the same
page. We obviously wanted to champion the new record, but give the older fans
something a little bit special. We've added a few songs that haven't been
played much or not played at all so we've mixed it up.
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| "Conduit" the latest album |
“Conduit” came out a couple of weeks
ago. It was all recorded by last summer and just waiting to be mixed. Is it
nice to finally have it out?
RICH- Yeah, it kind of felt like we were waiting ages
to release it which is always a bit annoying but it gave people the
anticipation for it. And we're very pleased.
It’s had a great response- do you still
get nervous releasing new material?
RICH- Not really, I kind of didn't know what to expect;
it's a slight change in direction for us I suppose and it's always interesting
to see what people think. But it's been received so well it's kind of a bit of
a shock to us really.
It’s your shortest album. It’s direct,
to the point and a breath of fresh air compared to some of the others. Was that
intentional?
RICH- Initially it wasn't no. But it became very
apparent early on that that's the sound we were going for. The hardcore sound
was intentional, but the length wasn't. Then it became a bit of a joke; as we
were writing, it was like "how much time can we shave off here" and it got
quite funny in the end. "How short's this one? Can we get it to under two
minutes?" [laughing].
Are the shorter punchy
ones fun to play live?
RICH- Extremely fun, yeah. They seem over as soon as we
start but. But these kind of venues lend themselves to these kind of songs, so
it's good.
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| Bassist Rich Boucher at Leeds Cockpit |
The newer
stuff is taking things down the more hardcore route. Have the crowd been going
crazy on those ones?
RICH- Yeah, when we played The Haunt inBrighton we actually had a stage invasion; one guy got up
and then pulled a girl up and one by one they just followed until the stage was
actually jam packed with people. And Devan the drummer from Such Gold actually
ran and jumped on Pat's drum rise and crowd surfed across the people that were
on the stage. So yeah, there's been a few wild moments but we welcome all that.
As long as no one’s breaking stuff or getting hurt have a good time and do what
you want.
RICH- Yeah, when we played The Haunt in
You’ve been a band for over a decade
now. If you could go back and give your earlier selves any advice what would it
be?
MATT- Save money! [laughing]
RICH- I
don't live my life by any regrets; the band is so happy where it is now, if I
changed anything in the past then maybe we wouldn't be where we are now, so I
wouldn't want to change a thing.
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| Matt on stage in Leeds |
And the next ten years?
RICH- Yeah, we take every step as it comes really, we
don't look that far ahead [laughing].
Being a band for over a decade you’ve
probably gone through your fair share of ups and downs. Was there ever a point
where you considered calling it quits
MATT- Yes, definitely.
RICH- I
suppose like any band, when you first start there's no outside influence,
there's no pressure; you just write the music you want to do for the fun and
love of it. But I suppose as time goes on and you have pressures of labels or
fans you can lose your way a little bit. I suppose the band did lose our way a
little bit on a particular record but you live by those mistakes and you
rectify them as we've done with the past two records. So we're back on track.
And do you feel stronger than ever as a
band?
Definitely. I think the band’s the strongest it's
been; and we’re the happiest and most comfortable that we've been. And the
music that were writing for this record is the best thing that we've done.
And finally, what’s next for you?
More touring, we literally want to get to every
little bit of the globe and play our hearts out and play to our fans.
Thanks guys!
And here's what happened when Funeral For A Friend took to the stage...
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| FFAF front-man Matt in Leeds |
Chants
of “Fun-er-al, Fun-er-al, Fun-er-al” soon draw the Welsh five-piece to the
stage at The Cockpit. With the new album, “Conduit”, released a matter of weeks
ago the set was a combination of new songs, classic Funeral For A Friend hits
and lesser played live B-sides.
Warming
the crowd up with oldie “She Drove Me To Daytime Television” the set is
non-stop from here on in. Front-man Matt Davies-Kreye pacing the stage relentlessly,
a bundle of energy. The thrashy “Conduit”, taken from the synonymously titled
album, sees the band return to their hardcore roots. Funeral For A Friend also
take the opportunity to treat fans to older B-side “You Want Romance?”,
explaining how the song is about listening to vinyl records and is the
expression of what music is to the band. Tonight was about celebrating the life
of Funeral For A Friend and indeed the new life that they’re embark on with the
release of “Conduit”. Looking more relaxed than ever before it was an
opportunity for the band to look back on career highlights and also look forward
to more great things, with bassist Rich Boucher admitting they are feeling
stronger. Tight and more forceful than ever, drummer Pat even breaks
a monitor; cue a humourous filling of time by the rest of the band; “too
hardcore for the monitor” jokes Matt whilst the band dabble in a “jazzy
interlude”. Happier than ever before
Matt opens up about “Juneau
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| Funeral For A Friend at Leeds Cockpit |
Amidst
the circle pits and crowd surfers Matt divulges that with age comes selfishness
and that’s why they haven’t played some of the crowds’ favourite songs. However,
fans have been satisfied here tonight and have gotten the opportunity in an
intimate setting, something which Rich admitted that the band preferred. Closing
the set with “History”, tonight Funeral For A Friend have a new vigour: they seem
like a new band, happier in themselves and disclose that it’s the first time they’re
comfortable about talking where songs came from. As much as the set, at times
wavers towards a political speech, it is also a great moment to savour the life
of the band. Matt explains the story behind the poignant, slower song “History”;
how if he hadn’t discovered his parents’ record collection he wouldn’t have
gotten out of the negative way of life in Bridgend where he grew up in the
decline of the miner’s jobs. “This song is a big middle finger to the assholes
who said he wouldn’t amount to anything” he strikes out.
Tonight,
music veterans, Funeral For A Friend prove that songs from the new release,
“Conduit” with its onslaught of big riffs and punchy choruses, keep the band as
current as ever.
