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Interviews: Funeral For A Friend

Rock Sound spoke to vocalist Matt Davies about what lies ahead for the humble Welsh boys and the meanings behind the brand new songs that make up part of ‘Your History Is Mine’…

The lads of Funeral For A Friend have had a tumultuous six years since the 03 release of their groundbreaking debut ‘Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation’. Now with four studio albums behind them and a greatest hits package, the band are looking at a whole new chapter of their career.

Rock Sound spoke to vocalist Matt Davies about what lies ahead for the humble Welsh boys and the meanings behind the brand new songs that make up part of ‘Your History Is Mine’…

How is the new album coming along? “We’re just writing songs at the moment. We’re not really planning anything, we’re just on a song-by-song basis. We’re not really thinking about the end product, just making the songs the best they can be. There’s a bunch of ideas that we’ve been working on, and a couple nailed down. I think we’re going to continue writing for the rest of the year then go into the studio at some point. Whenever we get a bunch of songs together we get in there and record them down, then write some new ones and see where it goes.”

Is there a particular change in direction? “Not really, to be honest. There’s not really been a concise effort to change anything drastically from what we were doing. We’re always fans of experimentation and trying new things, but I think it’s just an evolution on what we do. We’re just going to let it come to us rather than chase it down, and I think having Gav [Burrough, bass] on board, with his ideas and attitude to the music, is going to make for some interesting songs. We’ve seen that on the four songs that are on the best of, and the stuff since then has been different but still maintaining that thread of Funeral.”

Those four songs, how’s about we discuss the stories behind them? Let’s start off with ‘No Honour Among Thieves’… “That’s a song that’s relevant to music in general, questioning the ability of certain people who take what I see as art and cheapening it. It’s something that somebody can pour their entire life into, their emotions into, and it’s reduced to something that can be bought and sold without anybody thinking of it in the same way. It’s about the middlemen, the people who don’t really give a shit apart from selling it.”

What about ‘Built To Last’? “[That’s] a song that relates to the relevance of the way we live our lives and all of a sudden realising that we could be destroying ourselves. We’re so content, aware [that] this is the case, but we still go on living the same old lives and creating the same old mess. A few energy saving light bulbs isn’t going to make a huge difference. More action needs to be taken, hence the line, ‘Who will be left to save us when we can’t even save ourselves?’ We’re doing so much to destroy something that’s so precious and beautiful, and we’re not even aware we’re doing it sometimes!”

‘Wrench’? “That’s about the manipulation of the work force. I’m getting all political in my lyrics now [laughs]. It’s kind of how big business, capitalism in a way, can afford to treat the workforce with such throwaway attitudes. [It’s about] people who rely on their jobs to get by to survive [and] feed their families and how somebody, for the sake of making shareholders more money, can cut them loose. I think it’s a concern. That whole song is about the workforce and how it’s been cheapened since Margaret Thatcher got her hands on it. It’s a very strong song in that regard, as is ‘Captains Of Industry’ really. They’re both linked, and a lot of the themes on the four songs are quite intertwined.”

These four new tracks are the first to feature your new bassist Gavin, what did he bring to the table? “Well, he’s been a fan for a while. He’s been on the outside well aware of what he likes about FFAF, and I think he’s helped us realise some of the things we’ve been missing. His writing style is very in tune with ours. He was in a band called Hondo Maclean who were very technically adept and very melodically powerful, and he definitely helped bring a sense of something fresh and exciting to the new songs and the band.”

‘Your History Is Mine: 2002-2009’ out now on Atlantic. You can find the band online at http://www.funeralforafriend.com.

Michael ‘The Cheeky Shit’ Copus