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| The Futureheads’ frontman Barry Hyde takes ten minutes out of their sell-out UK tour to chat about cannibalism, coffins, and new album The Chaos. |
So, how’s your tour going?
"Great, this is the sixth date on the tour, and all the gigs have been great, it’s been a couple of years since we’ve been out on the road, this is the first proper, get on the road and do lots of gigs tour since the last album."
This one’s massive isn’t it? The UK, the US, Canada, Poland, and loads of festivals.
"Yes, they keep coming in, it’s great, we’re really excited about going to America for the first time in four years, we’ve got a new record deal out there so you never know really, but that’s the place to tour, it’s real touring, the romantic version of it."
Do you get sick of being on the tour bus all the time?
"I get more sick of being on a tour bus than staying in hotels, because, the thing about being on a tour bus is you’ve got your little pit, which is like a coffin! That’s your bunk, and personal space is very minimal on a bus. For this tour, we’re doing it in a split of van and staying in hotels, you can do that in the UK a lot easier, the drives are relatively short so you don’t need to drive through the night, but then again, certain tours are logistically impossible in a ‘splitter’ because if you’ve got to get from Amsterdam to Paris, you’ve got to have someone driving through the night."
Your new album, The Chaos, came out last week, would you say it’s different from your others?
"Yeh it came out, a week today, it’s different in that it’s got different songs on it" (he laughs) "but obviously it’s made by the same people, so, it’s not so different that it wouldn’t be recognisable, but it’s not so similar that it would be boring."
Ok, that’s a good mix! You guys set up your own music label didn’t you, have you found it easier?
"Yeh there’s fewer people involved, and that is only going to make it easier, because it concentrates the energy and the ambition of the group. It was very liberating, to get out of our record deal with a major label, which, to be honest, was never really where we belonged. We’re kind of a bit too DIY punk, to be ever really be considered to be a pop band, but a little bit too melodic to be considered to be a DIY punk band, so we’re in this funny area and that’s why we ended up not really knowing where to go, we just got offered a deal and took it. But signing up Nul Records (the band’s label) has been fantastic, because our original intention was to do that, but we got carried away, we got given an opportunity to go on an incredible adventure, and tour the world, and play on Top of the Pops and stuff like that, so we just took it, we were teenagers. But we’re happy to have done that, we’re not regretful of anything because we’ve come full circle, this is our tenth year together, and we’re still going strong, we have a good fan base who want to see us play, and yeh, it’s good."
Actually i’ve noticed that you do quite a lot for your fans; freebies, downloadable tracks etc. is that easier on your own label?
"Yeh, i think it is, then again, it’s hard to know, because we left Warners in 2006 and a lot has changed, so who knows, by now we could have been having the same experience, they could have been as tuned-in as we are now but I don’t imagine that would be the case" (laughs).
What’s your favourite song?
"At the minute, it’s probably Jupiter, which is the last song on the new album, it’s our most, ‘epic’ song, it’s four and a half minutes, which is very long for us, our first gig was only seven minutes, so it’s like almost a whole gig!".
Have you had any ‘crazy fan’ experiences when you’ve been on tour? You know, people throwing their underwear at you?
(He Laughs) "We’ve had a bit of that over the years, but what really freaks me out is when we’ll turn up at a gig in, I dunno, Nottingham, and there’ll be two Japanese fans that’ve flown over and they’ll just be at every gig, it’s crazy, because it’s very far, and very expensive to do that, and their tour has probably cost more than ours because we’re not paying for flights from bloody Asia!"
I suppose it’s flattering though?
"Oh it’s amazing, but you don’t really know what to do, you feel like you should invite them in, you know, "do you want to come and stay in our hotel?", you feel so obligated to show your appreciation that it actually becomes slightly awkward."
Yeh, and it’s probably not the safest thing to invite strangers to stay with you.
"Well little Japanese girls, they’re never any bother" (laughs) "they’re very polite and nice."
You’ve toured with a lot of bands, which tour have you enjoyed most?
"Well the Pixies are the one that kind of blows my mind the most, I guess out of all the bands that we’ve had the honour to play with it would be them, but then again maybe supporting Oasis at Hamden Park, because me and our Dave (younger brother and the band’s drummer) were originally in an Oasis covers band when we were teenagers, so that was kind of odd, watching them do songs that we used to play in mum and dad’s dining room on a Sunday morning, it was great, but all the bands; Foo Fighters, Pixies, Pearl Jam, they’re all (he pauses) well it’s all an honour, it’s wonderful."
Wow, I can imagine. Ok you’re on a desert Island; who would survive and who would get eaten?
"Well, Ross and Jaff are vegetarians, so they’d probably go. Dave will win, Dave would take this opportunity to beat me to death, which I think is something he’s considered many times."
A nice bit of brotherly love there?
"Yeh, that whole brotherly hate thing" (laughs) "no but we wouldn’t need to, we’re clever boys, we could grow something, find some nuts or berries."
Ok, then, last words; sell us your new album.
"Ok, well the real core of this album, the message, is that there’s too much apathy in the world, there’s too much laziness and ignorance, these things are the real enemies of the human race and we contribute to these things by doing nothing. So this album is about empowerment, it’s about independence, and cooperation, and mutual respect. This album came together though us creating that for each other, and that’s what we hope it’ll do to people who really get into it. On the other hand, the album has some very simplistic songs on it that people seem to be responding really well to, so yeh, The Chaos represents what I think is, our natural way of being, and the idea of normality is just insane to me because there’s no such thing as normal, so don’t try and be normal, because when you try and be normal you deny your own individuality, and you become a sheep. What we really need is individuals who care about other individuals, and that’s all you’re about."
The Futureheads' latest album The Chaos, released 26th April 2010 on Nul Records, is available from online stores: http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1;-1&sku=431965
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