Funeral For A Friend‘s career has now spanned ten years, with the band gaining more and more credability from media and becoming fan favourites. ‘Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation‘ brought them into the spotlight, while its follow up ‘Hours‘ was an assured and matured release that not only kept them there but cemented them as one of the more important UK bands of our time. Their third album ‘Tales Don’t Tell Themselves‘ showed the world that the band weren’t just one trick ponies, with every song a potential radio hit, whilst fourth album ‘Memory and Humanity‘ showed old fans that the band hadn’t lost their edge.
Members have come and gone of late and the band find themselves on the brink of new release, their fifth album, ‘Welcome Home Armageddon‘. I met up with Gavin Burrough of the band to discuss their plans for the album and what motivates the Welsh five piece to continue making music after ten long years in the industry.
As a band, you have been together a long time, what motivates you to continue making music, especially considering the way the industry is going?
This is pretty much all I have ever wanted to do so the alternative of doing something else doesn’t really exist. We still have the same enthusiasm towards music as we did 10 years ago, trends come and go but FFAF are here to stay! There is such a positive vibe in camp FFAF at the moment, we are really proud of Welcome home Armageddon.
In more recent times, you have lost not one but now two of what seemed to be important band members, how do you feel this as affected the band dynamic and the music you have continued to create, and what do you feel your new members bring to the band?
If anything, the dynamic has been strengthened. The majority of the previous material was written by Kris, Matt, and Ryan. Having the two new guys in the band has added yet more depth as we all contribute to the writing process.
You last released The Young And The Defenceless to fans who pledged themselves to you through pledgemusic.com, what was the thought process behind this, was it a way of rewarding die-hard fans, or a way of testing the waters with a new music marketing scheme?
A bit of both really. We are always looking at new and innovative ways of presenting ourselves and our music. We were approached by the Pledge team and it seemed quite different to the normal avenue of releasing the CD online or in shops. Pledge offers a unique experience in which fans can really interact with the band and feel part of the recording process.
New album, Welcome Home Armageddon, will be hitting shelves before we know it, what can Funeral For A Friend and general music fans expect from this release, and why did you decide to once again work with the same team that helped you to release your debut album?
It’s a return to the heavier side of things. We really wanted to bring the aggression and raw energy back to the band that was perhaps missing from the last 2 releases. It’s like a punch to the face followed by a kiss to the cheek.
Your rise in the industry has been nothing short of breath taking, when you recorded your first EP did you expect to be as popular as you have become, and how do you feel you have grown with such success? Has it impacted on the music you have created – making it somewhat more mainstream?
I suppose we never really predicted the success we were going to achieve, it has been above and beyond. We have always tried to stick to our guns and explore directions that we wanted to.
Having seen you live several times, I can easily say you are fantastic in a live setting, how do you prepare to play live and do you feel that being a good live act is something that has to be practiced continuously?
We normally practice the week going into a tour. We are pretty democratic with the setlist. We hammer it out between us to come up with what songs, the order they are played and the links between them. It’s important for us to be prepared going into a tour but we don’t overdo it. I know some bands who practice all the time. That doesn’t really work for us.
The release of your new album will no doubt spawn a relentless tour not only around the UK but in Europe also. Previously you have played Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation in its entirety, with the latest tours will you be offering anymore surprises?
We have put together a beast of a set so expect some old classics and some new gems!
You can catch Funeral For A Friend on their UK tour now, for details visit www.myspace.com/funeralforafriend
