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EVERYBODY LOVES PAUL SIMON
A music column by William Smith.
Hello all, welcome to my music column, Everybody Loves Paul Simon.
I should be writing a big huge essay right now, so here’s an interview I did with THE NEXT BIG THING, Foals, a little while back for my failed fanzine, Leisure Pirate.
Much has been made of their adding flavours of afrobeat and minimal techno to the ailing punk funk formula. I think they’ll go far…
Foals play music like electronic army ants and regularly destroy the homes of their fans. Yannis (guitar and vocals) took a moment to answer some questions…
Me: Describe Foals for the uninitiated.
Yannis: Five boys writing tunes for the disaffected that go bang bang bleep and make us scream and dance. Our fingers are too small to play below the 12th fret, so all the guitars end up sounding like insects…
M: What do you like about playing house parties?
Y: House parties feel really natural… that’s how we got started, so we still like to do as many as possible. They’re just wild! It’s so refreshing to play a show at a venue, then all pile into someone’s house round the corner and rip it. It allows us to try new stuff and meet kids who wouldn’t otherwise see our band… Places do often get quite trashed though. We’ve got a photo on our MySpace of the aftermath of one notorious party… it’s insane.
M: Who influences you musically?
Y: Everything from Steve Reich and Timbaland to Q and Not U, Devo and minimal techno records… Non-musical things as well play a big part, like Wimbledon, maths, bubblegum and insects. We’re genuinely trying to create something that isn’t too heavily reliant on previous bands or scenes.
M: Any new artists caught your eye?
Y: Metronomy, Indica Ritual and Great Eskimo Hoax are all brilliant, brilliant bands.
M: Do you enjoy the touring lifestyle?
Y: Definitely! When you’re at home before it starts, there’s a feeling of dread, but once you’ve broken it in, you don’t want it to stop. The rhythm of life on the road becomes quite addictive because we don’t have to worry about anything other than playing the show.
M: Any tricks you use to make the time fly?
Y: Violent pranks! We ambush our tour manager a lot, but then he makes us suffer with dead legs. Nintendo is also pretty rife and we obsessively listen to mix CDs while all screaming at each other to turn it up / down.
M: What’s your opinion on the media’s attitude to new bands like you?
Y: We can’t really tell what their attitude is, to be honest… I think we are wary of how fickle this stuff is so all we really are paying attention to is playing, partying and writing… I think attention can make you really complacent and that’s something we’re really aware of. We always want to progress and get better, regardless of the media.
M: What are your plans for 2007?
Y: Playing loads, writing some better songs, crashing a few more parties, building some sandcastles and then watching them crumble.
M: Lastly, could you recommend one album our readers MUST hear?
Y: ‘Calling Out Of Context’ by Arthur Russell.
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good stuff will, enjoy the site and get commenting, everyone else!
By website-editor on 23.1.2024
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