Shouty youthful Welsh whippersnappers FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND are developing a wholly agreeable Emo-core sound with their brand new single "Juneau". They're so dedicated to finishing their debut album that they've locked vocalist Matt Davies in the studio to finish his vocals, while bassist GARETH DAVIES and drummer RYAN RICHARDS graciously fill in the details about their story so far for Whisperin' & Hollerin'....
Ryan and Gareth are a riot to chat to. I'd been expecting one of them to play the quiet man to the other's technicolour blabberings, but they both get in on the act and with their wonderfully experessive accents, deciphering who's responsible for individual quotes is sometimes a difficult task, so we apologise in advance if any quote is attributed to the wrong person. Phew!
Lads, you've only been doing FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND for little more than a year, so tell me a little more of your background. Were you all friends previously and did you have earlier bands?
"Yes, I was in a band with Darren (guitarist)," divulges Gareth.
"It was the usual sort of thing. That band split up and we went off to do other stuff, then we came together through this starting up."
"We all knew each other through the local scene," continues Ryan.
"We were all going to the same shows, seeing the same bands. It all stemmed from there really."
This all seems a bit simplistic on the surface, but then meetings at gigs have sparked the beginnings of many legendary combos....just ask the 4,000 members of the 30-strong audience who allegedly 'saw the Sex Pistols' at their first Manchester Free Trade Hall show, for instance.
So, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND'S personnel falls into place and you start gigging furiously. You've been playing shows constantly, but have there been any particularly memorable shows so far? The NME were waxing lyrical about your T-IN-THE-PARK slot...
"Yeah, well without a doubt every show seems to be getting better and better," says Gareth, with the excitement of a small child let loose in a sweet shop.
"The recent one in Cardiff was the best to date for me, though if you're critical there are always things you can improve on."
"T-IN-THE-PARK was wicked," interrupts Ryan.
"We felt like the odd ones out, because we were the only band on our bill who rock really hard, so maybe we were the black sheep, as everyone else was really poppy. The audience were totally up for it, though."
OK, onto your music itself. Certainly what I've heard so far suggests most of your influences come from the other side of the Transatlantic pond. The 'Emo' tag seems to be becoming synonymous with you. How do you feel about that?
"Oh, it doesn't affect us, really," says Gareth. "We just write the songs we write and we don't waste time analysing it. The album will give you a broader view of what we're about anyway. It'll be difficult to tag, which I'm looking forward to! It'll make people take a step back."
How do you mean?
"Well, you can't really show great variety over only four tracks, whereas with 11 or 12 you can. There will definitely be a few wild cards in there," he finishes confidently.
Right. At a tangent, can you tell us more about the video for "This Year's Most Open Heartbreak."? You got in Darren Doane (previously responsible for promos for such as Jimmy Eat World, Blink 182 etc) to direct. How did that come about and what did you make of him?
"He's big in the US underground hardcore scene," Ryan replies.
"In our case, we sent him a disc to give him some idea of us because he's adamant he'll only make videos for bands he likes and he really took to us."
"Yeah, we had long phone conversations beforehand," adds Gareth.
"Mutually we got along and were definitely on common ground, so the end result was a very positive thing. Darren's great, we can't praise him enough."
Another song of yours that stands out is the immortally-titled "She Drove Me To Daytime Television". It makes it clear FFAF have more of a sense of humour than your dour name might initially suggest. Does it worry you that people might think you're a bit serious and puritanical?
"No, because what happens is that when people meet us they think we're morbid because of our name, but when they spend a bit of time with us they find our personality shines through," suggests Gareth.
"Besides, if you'e seen us live, our priority is to be entertaining and fun. It's not really on our agenda to be anything else."
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"Juneau" is arguably the best song I've heard from you to date. What is it about the song that made you want to re-work it from its' origins as "Juno" from the first EP?
"Well, it was one of the first four songs we wrote and the first EP was only planned as a demo," says Gareth.
"Yeah, we always felt it deserved more justice," Ryan continues.
"It's just one of those songs that stays with you and it's been a total live favourite for a while."
Hmm, yeah, it's a sad song, though, isn't it? Not least the hookline where Matt sings: "And I'm just one line in your book." I take it he writes the lyrics. Does the song have a special meaning to you?
"The kids love that line...they sing it back and have a good cry!" laughs Ryan.
"Matt is the lyrics and melody man," says Gareth. "The songs seem to work best that way. The rest of us work on the basic musical structure, though. It's very much the old-fashioned way of the four musicians going into a garage to work on ideas, rip them to shreds and put them back together as something better. Then Matt comes in and does his bit..."
And he's doing that now in the studio...
"Well, he better had be! He's not done a bloody thing so far!" jokes Gareth.
"Yeah, we're sure he's in there singing his heart out, like," finishes Ryan, still laughing.
How close to completion are you with your album now, then? How different will it be to the EPs?
"There's just the vocals, that's all now," says Gareth proudly.
"It's out the first week in October. Some of it's similar to the EPs, but like we said there will be wild cards in there. My advice is go in with open ears and an open heart!" he finishes, cagily.
"Juneau"s as poppy as it gets," reveals Ryan.
"Some of it's really dark and nasty, which is a good contrast. We're in a great situation where the music's concerned too in that our record company are really supportive of us. We don't feel restricted in any way and we DO have complete control of our music. We're never being told: 'you can't do that.' In itself that's very liberating."
OK. In terms of the near future, you've got a couple of 'homecoming' gigs in Bridgend and Merthyr respectively coming up in August. I imagine these will be special, but what do you feel about the commercial and critical rise of a number of Welsh outfits over the past seven or eight years?
"With the gigs it's a case of going back to the sweatboxes to play shows for family,really," says Ryan.
"In terms of genre, it's getting better for our type of music," continues Gareth.
"It's not a case of having to look for a break in London or anything anymore. People DO actually take the time to come to Wales now and take us seriously credibility-wise. In that way, the press attention with all the bands from the Manics on has really made a difference. It's been great and we've no arguments with that."
Finally: you're a young band heading off at a frightening pace on the path to fame and fortune. Can you handle it if it keeps up like this? Do you mind being put under pressure?
"Watch this space! We could end up in rehab next week!" guffaws Gareth, with Ryan joining in heartily.
"No, we're just having a good time and we wouldn't....COULDN'T go back to that whole nine-to-five thing. We're having too much fun, we don't EVER sit down to think about that kind of thing. Why would you?"
Wise? Naive? Only time will tell, of course. For now, though, Funeral For A Friend look a good bet. Hold off booking that plot for a good while a least.
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