Intense hardcore-tinged quartet FULC are making a mighty noise with their notable recent second EP, ?The Fallen.? Impressed, TIM PEACOCK and JAMES BLUNDELL travelled to that rock?n?roll mecca otherwise known as, er, Scunthorpe to find out more from guitarist RIK CLAY and vocalist DUANE WALKER.
Our day with FULC requires us to pick guitarist Rik up from his Leeds home base and drive off into the wide blue Lincolnshire yonder to have a chat with both Rik and Duane at Duane?s house in a small village outside Scunthorpe - or ?Sunny Scunny? as it shall now be referred to.
Rik is intelligent and great company and tells us some fascinating stories en route. Particularly memorable is the one about the Queen having to open a new college in the area and some bright spark removing the S from Scunthorpe the night before. Think about it.... By the time I?ve stopped laughing we?re passing the immortally-named Smaque Farm and heading for Duane?s gaff, a converted sweet shop no less.
Inside, we get ensconced in Duane?s kitchen with mugs of tea, while the lads give us some background on FULC?S history.
?We started the band back in 1998, ? says Rik. ?We got Kris (Kilmore) in on bass, then Mark (Cooke) on drums and finally Duane (vocals/ guitar) by 2000. It took until then for the line-up to fall in place.
?We started off doing a lot of local gigs,? Rik continues. ?It beagn with about 15 people turning up, but gradually a few hundred started drifting in to the shows and we got play supports at the Baths Hall (Scunthorpe?s biggest venue - Ed)?
Eventually, FULC moved their home base to Leeds, with all the group?s personnel upping sticks apart from Duane. The band initially released the ?Void? EP, but the new ?The Fallen? EP is the one that really grabs your attention. A howling, but melodic four-tracker it nods to metal/ hardcore, but suggests FULC have plenty more to offer sonically. Impressively, it was recorded at Sawmills, the Cornish studio that has previously hatched material by notables such as MUSE, SUPERGRASS and SWANS. How did this link come about.
?We were initially gonna record at Chapel (Lincolnshire studio where the ?Void? EP was recorded), but they were fully booked up,? Rik replies.
?We got Sawmills through the management company, but we were really happy with it because we were looking for a residential studio..to live the experience, so to speak(laughs).?
?It was an outstanding place,? Duane enthuses. ?Y?know, you end up chasing ducks on the lake as soon as you?re outside the door.?
?Yeah, you can go rowing at 3 in the morning,? continues Rik. ?Because it?s situated on a tidal creek, you can take boats out and all sorts. There?s no noise at all around because it?s totally secluded.?
?Also, Mark Thomas who produced it was fantastic. He just turned into one of our mates while we were recording. He?d come for a drink with us.?
?Yeah, the fridge is next to the recording desk,? laughs Duane.
Tell us more about the EP. The title ?The Fallen? EP and the cover art (shadowy cooling towers) suggest a link with industry and this area in general. What?s the deal there?
?The cover image is from some photographs my Dad took in the late 1980s,? Rik begins.
?Those cooling towers aren?t there anymore now, so we thought it would be appropriate for the record?s title.?
?I mean, ?The Fallen? does have a meaning to us,? he continues. ?But it?s hard to put it into words exactly. It was more about the way we felt when we were making the record.?
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What about the way FULC work in writing songs. Do you write the lyrics, Duane?
?Yeah, I do,? he agrees. ?Usually what happens is we sit in the rehearsal studio and we write together. The music always comes first and then I work on the lyrics.
Duane is cagier, though, when I try to get him to talk of specifics. This writer?s favourite track on the EP is the furious ?Backroom Surgery.? With its? ranting ?I need my cigarettes? chorus, I suggest this concerns cancer. Duane isn?t telling, though.
?No...well, there are undercurrents in there and if it retains your interest then that?s fine,? he says.
?You can put whatever interpretation you want on ?em, but I don?t really wanna share what they?re about to me.?
?Well, there?s one song (?Dolly?) on the first EP about a little girl who died. I remember that from when I was a kid, but it?s the only one I?d tell you about directly.?
Musically, though, FULC remind this writer of a number of favourite reference points. I suggest both LEATHERFACE and HUSKER DU to the lads. They blank these, although Rik notes that KERRANG! pointed out the HUSKER DU thing, too. I tell ?em to try both ?Zen Arcade? and ?New Day Rising.? They won?t be disappointed...
?The thing is, the MANIC STREET PREACHERS are actually my favourite band,? states Rik,
?...and they sound absolutely nothing like FULC, they?re totally different to anything we do, so there you go.?
?I can see the American reference points in that I do like both FAITH NO MORE and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and ?stoner rock? in general, though,? Rik concedes.
?But the whole band?s diverse. I mean, Kris is into NINE INCH NAILS and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and Mark?s into KORN and LINKIN PARK, stuff I personally can?t stand. So yeah, it?s diverse.?
What about the future for FULC. Is Stunted Records your own label?
?No, it?s our management?s label,? corrects Rik. ?But we?re certainly not tied down. It?s a one-off deal for the EP.?
?We?re aiming to be a major label band, though,? he continues. ?If we get a deal after this EP, we?ll go with whatever the label want really. We?d like to do an LP shortly, but it will probably depend on financial constraints.?
Finally, then, if you?re in a hurry to get bigger, would you move away to London in the old tried and tested way?
?No, we?re happy staying here,? says Rik. ?We wouldn?t go to London. Well, maybe we?d get a pad there...or a penthouse!?
Somehow, this writer thinks it may not be such a pipedream. FULC are on the up and - despite their EP?s title - definitely rising fast.
(TIM PEACOCK)
For more info and tour dates, go to: www.fulc.co.uk
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