Interview –Funeral For A Friend (featuring frontman Matt Davies Keyes)
KUBE: “We’re interviewing one of the members from Funeral For A Friend, one of the
biggest rock bands in Britain. Would you like to introduce yourself”?
Matt Davies: “Of course, I’m Matt Davies and I’m the lead singer from Funeral For a Friend”.
KUBE: “You recently released your album, ‘Welcome Home Armageddon’, a great album as well. It’s been very well received and gained mainly positive reviews. Now that’s it out of the way, how are you feeling about it”?
Matt Davies: “I feel good, it’s great to be able to play the songs live and it’s been nice to get it out there and tour with it now. It’s been good, really happy with it”.
KUBE: “You worked with Romesh Dodangoda on this album. How was that”?
Matt Davies: “It’s good, he’s a good guy. He really understands the ins and outs of what a band wants, and what a band needs to get to where they want to go with their record. He recorded ‘Memories and Humanities’ with us as well, and he gets the band. It just felt really natural to work with someone who understands what we’re about and was striving to get the same finished piece that we were trying to get”.
KUBE: “Old school Funeral For A Friend fans, have been constantly asking for heavier sounds such as ‘Casually dressed’ and with this album you seem to have to struck a balance. Is this what you were aiming for”?
Matt Davies: “We weren’t really aiming for anything, we just wanted to write songs that we could run around and punch people to, kick kids in the head to, you know? The kind of music that we loved when we first got into the band. We wanted to re-capture that kind of energy, instead of going back and making casually dressed ‘part 2’, which we will never do and never be able to, because no matter how hard we try people will say it’s not the same, so what’s the point? I’m not 22 anymore, I’m 31, so what’s the point? Move on, that’s the whole point of creating music. It’s good to inhabit the similar soundscape, but you need to try new things instead of doing what people expect of you”.
KUBE: “Lostprophets, Bullet for My Valentine, The Blackout and yourself, are all Welsh and part of a big rock scene. What’s the secret”?
Matt Davies: “I wish I knew, everyone asks me that, but I can‘t say for sure. Lack of sunshine? A lot of rain? We’re from not a particularly financially well off part of the country. South Wales has had a lot of shit happen to it. Music has been an outlet for kids for years and what is there better to do than thrash it out with your mates during the weekends or after school”?
KUBE: “
Two very cool videos in the form of front row seats to the end of the world and sixteen. Do you have any other plans for singles and videos?
Matt Davies: “Singles, not in the conventional term singles, we’re going to release a few more tracks from the albums and probably more videos, so yeah, soon”.
KUBE: “You used pledge music for the last E.P”...
Matt Davies: ...”and in conjunction with the album”.
KUBE: “How was that? And is this what you’re gonna do from now on?”
Matt Davies: “No, the concept of pledge music works really well, but needs to be executed a lot. There’s a lot of outside factors that you can’t control; like people being at the right place and at the right time when certain things are happening. We try to involve the fans in what we do but it’s hard to be available for the fans whenever they want the band to be available to them. It’s got to be in the context of it working equally both ways. It is frustrating, in the sense that there’s been manufacturing delays and such. We don’t know why it’s delayed, it’s out of our control. It’s equally frustrating for us and the fans who are waiting for the stuff. We’re in the process of signing album covers because they arrived very late. It’s been cool for the things we did, but I wouldn’t particularly want to go back to that format”.
KUBE: “I’ve seen you play in Japan twice, and you have a huge following there! Bands now are talking about Brazil being the next big thing. Where is your favourite place to tour”?
Matt Davies: “For me, we went to South Africa a couple of weeks back, never been there before, and that was really interesting. I love playing in Japan. I think Japan is probably the only unique country in the entire world that maintains a level of individuality about itself. You can go to Japan and its completely alien to you, coming from a Western influence. I love it there and I love Australia as well”.
KUBE: “After being with the band for a decade, since you started back in 2001, you’ve grown up yet you’re gaining younger followers. How does that feel”?
Matt Davies: “I think it’s good that people are still discovering Funeral For A Friend. It’s pretty cool. We’ve never really thought about it, but it’s interesting to hear. Yesterday we asked how many 16 year olds were in the audience and there were about 20. I thought to myself when we first started, they were 6! It’s weird! It’s a peculiar feeling, but it’s nice to see the relevance of the band being followed through the generational path”.
KUBE: “Gareth Davies and Darran Smith both left, and now Gavin Burrough and Richard Boucher have replaced them. Has that changed your sound at all”?
Matt Davies: “It’s changed our approach to music. Obviously Gavin’s guitar style is very different to Darran’s. It’s actually closer to Chris’s. It’s allowed them to try different things and expand ideas musically that we couldn’t have done before, because of certain limitations and certain playing styles. Now that we have Gavin and Richard’s ideas and what they both bring, they’ve strengthened and pushed the musicianship of the band to a level that wasn’t prevalent before in any of our stuff. It’s showcased a more musically-assured side of us”.
KUBE: “Did they fit right in with the band”?
Matt Davies: “We’ve known them for years and toured with their old band. We’ve always known that if something happened we could look to them. When Gareth said he was leaving, we knew we were getting Gavin in, and when Darran left we knew we would get Rich and move Gareth to guitar, because he was never really a bassist and he’d be the first to tell you that.”
KUBE: “If you could collaborate with any artist/singer/musician or another band who would it be”?
Matt Davies: “I reckon somebody out of our musical spectrum would be awesome. Somebody like Justin Timberlake. Wouldn’t that be rad? Or maybe Jay- Z”?
KUBE: “It didn’t work well for Chris Cornell though”...
Matt Davies: “Ah who cares? It’s all about us isn’t it? Justin Timberlake with Funeral for a Friend would be rad! Jay-Z with Funeral For A Friend rad, Kelly Clarkson and Funeral For A Friend would be rad...and Bob the Builder!”
KUBE: “It’s Festival season soon and you’re playing Download. What’s your favourite festival to play”?
Matt Davies: “I don’t really have a favourite festival, because I’m not a fan of them. I don’t like the vibe. I think it’s much more difficult to perform in anyway that befits the band’s sound, unless you’re in a tent. If I had to choose one it’d have to be Download or Sonisphere. We played Sonisphere last year, and it was Darran’s last show. It was good fun. I prefer proper shows though”.
KUBE: “Obviously you’re on tour a lot, how do you manage to balance your work life and home life”?
Matt Davies: “With great difficulty! We manage somehow, not quite sure how. It is what it is. We’ve been doing it for 10 years and things have changed for us in a personal level. Some are married and have kids so it becomes more challenging as you get older, but the ability is there to still manage. It also helps to have people who understand what you do and why you do it and hold down the fort till you get back”.
KUBE: “You were named by Zane Lowe as ‘British Band of the Decade’, and you’re also one of the most established rock bands in the UK. What’s next for Funeral For a Friend”?
Matt Davies: “To continue building on what we’ve been building, until we build god-like status. It’s kind of hard to answer that question. We’ve always been a band that’s just endeavoured to better ourselves musically, and create stuff that is satisfying to us. We’ll continue with that until we feel we’ve done everything that we can, and then bow out gracefully”.
KUBE: “Thanks for the interview”.
Matt Davies: “No problem”.
Interview by George Bates and Andrew Dolan
