What are you up to at present?
We are buying rolls and ham from Tescos because we can't afford proper food, we're on our way to Hereford to play a gig, and we've just finished playing Glastonbury and stuff. So, we're playing T in the Park and Oxegen this weekend. So I'm trying not to eat too much McDonalds so I don't have to just lie down on the stage, it won't be very exciting.
How did you find Glastonbury?
I thought Glastonbury was amazing, we played two gigs and the second one was a BBC Introducing, and it was my first time at Glastonbury as well, I'd obviously heard a lot about how the atmosphere was different to everywhere else, and it actually is really a pretty amazing festival. It's massive, the festival's I've been to before like the Electric Picnic, which is quite a small little festival, I was quite shocked by the size of Glastonbury, because we had to our gear through a full campsite because we couldn't get our van through, so I got to first hand see the size of it, and the line-up was pretty incredible as well, I would hope to make Glastonbury a regular thing, whether it's just to go or to play. It was a pretty amazing weekend.
I saw your show at Late n Live...
Did, you? I found that one a little more difficult, that was after we'd carried our stuff through the crowd at the main stage and through a campsite, so I was a bit rushed on stage. But that stage was really, really cool. Cos, that was the first gig we got at Glastonbury. The first ones to book us were the Late n Live stage, and that was just really exciting, and I think that probably really helped us a lot towards getting the other gig. It's really nice to see as well, everyone's quite used to playing big tents at festivals, but it was quite cool to be able to just play a proper, normal sized stage for the first time and kind of ease us into it a bit gently. And there were some other really great bands playing on it that day as well, it was really great.
Where does the band come from?
We are all from Ireland, the three boys are from Dublin and I'm from Kildare, just outside Dublin.
How did you get together?
We've all been friends for years, and we played in a lot of shit bands before together, so we started Fight Like Apes out of being a bit pissed off, playing in shit boring bands and wanting to do something a bit exciting. None of us are brought in especially for the band, we were all just friends before, it was pretty organic the way everything got together.
So describe the boys in the band.
Physically or mentally? I'll mix both. Our bass player is Tom, he's a very tall slender lad with a big curly afro, he is very strange but he's got a big heart so I forgive him of his strangeness. Jamie the keyboardist is a maniac.
Is he always like that, clambering over equipment and stuff?
Well I mean, he's not always exactly like he is on stage, but he is pretty insane a lot of the time, he doesn't really have to put on much of an act when he's on stage which I guess is a bit of a good thing. He's a friendly maniac though, so I don't really mind. And our drummer is Adrian, who is probably the calmest of the lot but has his moments as well. They are a very fun group of people to work with, there's never ever too much arguing or anything because everything is so exciting at the moment, and we're so excited about all the festivals we've got.
Everything is so exciting, it makes being on tour and the kind of shitter gigs you have to play it makes them so much more manageable because you know you're going to do... well we're playing Oxegen this weekend, so that means we don't playing to smaller crowds on the other days, it's all worth it when you get to play the bigger shows.
So what other festivals are you doing?
Oxegen, T in the Park, Reading, Leeds, we're also doing some other smaller festivals like Summer Sundae, Green Man Festival, some at home in Ireland. It's the first time we've ever done a proper tour of festivals, a proper run, the festival route. It's really because you bump into the same bands over and over again, and get really friendly with people that you never thought you'd get to talk to, it's really good fun.
So whose the best band that you've hooked up with so far then?
It would be a three way tie between Los Campesinos!, Future Of The Left, and Johnny Foreigner. We've not had the pleasure of hanging out too much with Johnny foreigner but they came to see us at South By South West, in Austin, and that was fun. They are three bands that we all love musically and it's just really, really cool to meet bands like that, who are really fun and energetic on stage and they turn out like that off stage as well.
How would you describe your music to those who haven't heard it before?
We get asked this a lot, and I think the thing we've come up with is that it's like riot pop, because if I say punk, people get the wrong impression of what it is. I think it is technically punk, but it's so poppy, and the songwriting is so poppy, a lot of the playing is very punk and the distortion we use on anything we can use it on is heavier, but I think the band at its core is a riot pop band.
So who has influenced you musical style?
Definitely Mclusky, who are now Future Of The Left, are a massive influence, lyrically, for me they are a riot pop band, they managed to write these really, really poppy, hooky, catchy, pop songs and throw the biggest amount of dirty distortion over it to make it work. So then we've got more shoe-gazey bands like My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse, and stuff. so much stuff it's not just music, we've been heavily influenced by B-movies, old cheesy Eighties kung-fu movies, which we're actually watching at the moment. We're on a diet of B-movies because we never get to watch them in our own houses because no one else will stand them. So, we get to watch them when we're all together in the van.
It's really cool, I like the writing styles of the band. Especially with Jamie who is the main songwriter, who doesn't just amalgamate all his favourite bands, but where as with myself and Jamie take our influences from so many other places, like movies and people in general, which I think is really important in developing your own style.
What's the best band you've seen as a punter?
Phew, let me think, we toured with The Von Bondies recently, we did a Uk tour with them, and they are an incredible band to watch live. We saw them 12 nights in a row on that tour and I only ever wanted to see more. British Sea Power, when we were over in New York for CMJ last year, BSP played in New York and I just sat there thinking they're absolutely incredible. They're a band that I've loved on record for such a long time and it was just such a nice feeling to love a band on record and for them to actually pull it off live, is kind of pivotal to remaining a fan of a band in really. We played with The Apples in Stereo before in Dublin and that was incredible, again really poppy, they're just poppy as fuck but they're amazing, who else Future Of The Left are incredible.
You've only asked me for one, but I keep reeling off people. Who else? I did see Battles at Glastonbury and they were a sight to behold. I love them on record, but they are a band you need to actually be looking at, because it doesn't make sense, because you're thinking how on fuck is this happening. There's definitely eight instruments playing but there's only four of them on stage, they're very interesting.
If you could have anyone on stage with you, who would it be and why?
Well, if I wanted someone on stage, let me see I know for Jamie our keyboardist it would be Stephen Malkmus from Pavement, purely for the fact it would make his entire life to be in close proximity to that man, not to mind sharing a stage with him. For me, I guess just someone really famous so everyone would come to the gig. Some really hot, famous person then everyone would have to come along to see the hot famous person and see us anyway. If I was to put out of my mind what kind of band we are, someone like Tom Waits, would be pretty fuckin' exciting to be on stage with, I can't imagine that being boring at all. Or At The Drive In would probably be number one, I would die to be on stage with At The Drive In, because they're so manic and energetic, and there's nothing contrived about their performances ever, I would imagine that would be pretty insane if we can do that.
How long has the band been around?
The band's only been around almost two year's but it's been pretty intensive the touring schedule over the last year, we kind of only go home for a day or two.
What's been the best thing about touring?
We've been doing it for quite a while. The benefit now about being on the road, is that people are starting to notice and starting to come to gigs in bigger numbers. The more gigs we do the better gigs we get like with We Are Scientists, and stuff like that. The big thing is working your arse off and it paying off after a while. We had one gig were somebody drove three hours to come and see us, and having people do that in the room, that makes up for anyone in the room, for someone to make that sort of effort. That's the big right now, plus I get to watch a load of movies I can't watch at home.
And the worst thing about touring?
Has to be food. I like a good ham roll but they get pretty expensive at places, and so you end up having to eat McDonalds, and I've found McDonalds isn't as consistent as people make it out to be, it's actually pretty gross in most places. That is quite depressing when you find yourself at seven in the evening before a gig chomping down on a Big Mac and stuff, and then I feel like I just want to sit down during the gig. Life could be worse if that's my biggest complaint I reckon.
You've got a new single out?
Yes, it's 'Lend Me Your Face', we released it on a four track EP at home (in Ireland), and now we've re-recorded it, it's our first proper single and we're kind of excited about it, it's a short and sweet song, and it's poppy and punky at the same time. We really love playing it, that's important because it's the first single we could end up playing it the time, and it could get very boring but it is a band favourite as well. We are hoping the album will be released over here towards the end of the year. We're just finishing off the mastering and getting the artwork finished and hopefully we'll have another a single or two off it before it comes out, more tasters off it.
I'm looking forward to the album and hope it captures some of their live energy, eGigs highly recommends going to see the band and their distorted brand of punk pop.
article by: Scott Williams
published: 14/07/2008 07:29
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.