Funeral For A Friend.
BY KELDA MANLEY.
‘Better left unsaid that. We didn’t perform’ fumes Funeral For A Friend bassist Gavin Burrough ‘Not good enough at the end of the day. Bloody bastards they were, the Welsh side, we weren’t happy.’ The fivesome are in Leeds mid-way through their short UK tour. They may unhappy with the Welsh rugby teams performances but their own tour has passed by without a hitch.
‘We shouldn’t really call it a tour, a little trip’ admits drummer Ryan Richards.
Gavin: ‘It’s nice to come back to all these familiar places.’
The Record Journal: ‘Have you played this venue before then?’
Gavin: ‘No. I told everyone I had because I thought I had and then our guitar tech said it’s only been open a year so I thought well maybe I haven’t played it before then.’
Ryan: ‘I think I got confused because there’s a place in Bradford called Rios…’
Gavin: ‘ Been there have you?’
Ryan: ‘I think so…’
Wherever they play the band seem to be getting a raucous reaction;
Ryan: ‘They’ve been singing, jumping, dancing…’
Gavin: ‘Dancing as well are they?’
Ryan: ‘I seen some…’
Gavin: ‘What song do they dance to?’
Ryan: ‘All of them.’
Gavin: ‘All of them?’
Ryan: ‘No, not all of them. Most of them.’
Gavin: ‘Moshing I would say.’
We mention two of our readers, Jess and Megan, who were traveling down to the following days show in London at 2am, before queuing for 12 hours in what turned out to be a rainy, cold day. ‘Are they? Waw. That is dedication’ smiles Ryan ‘So I’ll see them at the front, they’ll be the tired, wet looking people.’ Gavin continues on from his bandmate, ‘It’s kind of weird in the UK because we do get these certain people who’ll always be at the shows and they’ll always be at the front in the same place, standing at the barrier. It’s kind of weird cause it feels like you’re playing to the same crowd every night! But it’s awesome that people still feel really passionate about the band.’
The band themselves have been known, in the past, to do exactly what Megan and Jess have done. ‘I’ve done it’ admits Ryan ‘Not for a while.’
Gavin: ‘Now I just think, well show starts at 7.30, I’ll turn up just after then and I won’t need to queue and I’ll still be in the venue just like everyone else’
Ryan: ‘Do something else with my day.’
Gavin: ‘I think, especially when you’re young, it’s all part of the enjoyment of it. It’s very social, going to a show, speaking to everyone.’
Ryan: ‘Good way to make friends. Meet in the queue.’
Gavin: ‘That is where I met this chap actually, in the queue.’
Ryan: ‘Was it?’
Gavin: ‘I think so. Was it?’
Ryan: ‘Probably not.’
Gavin joined the band shortly after the release of their fourth album ‘Memory and Humanity’ after the departure of Gareth Ellis-Davies He has fitted in effortlessly and the band have continued to score hit records. ‘For a UK rock band I don’t think there’s many whose first four albums charted in the top twenty’ grins Ryan ‘I think maybe Lost Prophets then… who else really? I don’t know. It’s good that. People will be thinking about that now and they’ll be “actually, that’s pretty cool.”
Gavin: ‘It’s an achievement.’
Ryan: ‘But then again Lost Prophets haven’t done four albums have they? So…’
Gavin: ‘We win. If it was a competition, it’s not, but if it was a competition.’
Ryan: ‘Try and think of anyone else who’s done it…’
Gavin: ‘Muse.’
Ryan: ‘Muse….. There we go…. Not bad then is it?’
Gavin: ‘Bet they all went in at number 1 as well. Wouldn’t they?’
Ryan: ‘Na, first one wouldn’t of. First one was rubbish.’
While Funeral For A Friend are at the forefront the British rock scene they are also making sure they help those on the rise. For their ‘little trip’ they have invited along up and coming Londoners We Are The Ocean and fellow Welshmen People in Planes.
‘We always pick the line-up to take out with us’ explains Ryan ‘they’re two bands that are very different from each other. I guess We Are The Ocean represent the more heavy side of Funeral For A Friend and People In Planes the more melodic experimental. If you like us I think there’s something for you from both those bands even if you haven’t heard them before.’
Gavin: ‘[People in Planes are] a great band. They’re awesome. From Wales as well.’
Ryan: ‘They’re in a van which is weird.’
Gavin: ‘Should be traveling by plane?’
Ryan: ‘I think so yeah.’
Gavin: ‘Yeah’
Ryan: ‘They’ve come in a plane from New York though to be fair.’
The fivesome are clearly proud of their Welsh roots. Coming from a thriving rock scene started by the Lost Prophets and followed up by bands such as Kids in Glass House, The Blackout and People in Planes. It seems South Wales is the place to be.
‘There’s a great sense of community in the Welsh music scene’ admits Gavin ‘We’re all friends with each other and cheer each other on.’ Ryan nod agreement with his bandmate, ‘I think that’s why the scene is thriving because everyone wants each other to do well, when we go on tour we want to help welsh bands. It’s because we’re proud of our scene in Wales and I think in other areas it’s not quite like that – it’s more competitive and cut throat.’
Many people may have noticed that the majority of rock music that comes from Wales is from the South, Gavin and Ryan have a simple explanation for this. ‘No-one lives up in the North’ laughs Gavin ‘It’s the Liverpudlian element…. Infiltrating in from the East.’
Ryan: ‘They just want to play football and not music. Cause we’re rubbish at football in Wales but we’re good at music. I guess Liverpool is a pretty good football place, rubbish at music… well, the Beatles.’
Gavin: ‘Even though it’s Wales I think the North and South are very different from each other because there is such a gap between you know? The hills, the valleys…’
Ryan: ‘There’s a fair bit of choral music. A lot of choirs…’
Gavin: ‘Took a choir out on tour actually…’
Ryan: ‘The Llanelli voice choir. Bloody good to, actually I got to be honest they weren’t… they were rubbish…’
Gavin: ‘They were all pissed weren’t they?’
Ryan: ‘They were crap. Probably should have had one from the North, more professional. Charlotte Church, she’s pretty choral I suppose.’
Gavin: ‘Yeah, don’t like her, bit of a slag… sorry Charlotte.’
On that note we change subjects swiftly onto the rest of 2009. ‘[We’ll just be] writing really’ admits Ryan ‘Few festivals and maybe one little tour before the end of the year if we get the album done in time.[We haven’t written anything] properly [yet], just messing around with ideas. Nothing down on tape yet. Shouldn’t be long. We’ll get home, get bored and start writing.
Gavin: ‘It’s kind of weird because when you’re on tour you do miss being home and the familiarity of things sometimes, like Ryan’s got a daughter and a wife. For me, you’re there for 2/3 days and you get bored. There’s only so long you can sit in front of the TV watching Eastenders.’
Ryan: ‘Can watch that now… IPlayer. It’s been getting good lately…mother/daughter thing going on..’
Gavin: ‘Who? I haven’t watched it for ages.’
Ryan: ‘That girl with the funny mouth.’
With that we leave the guys to prepare for tonight’s show. Click HERE for a review of their show.
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