Foals

Interview with Yannis (vo.) /Foals

- Can you tell us about the conception of your band and how did you all meet?

Y: We are all originally from Oxford and Jack, the drummer and I played in a band before this one. We played in a very self-indulgent, self-applauding band where all we wanted to do was show off to the crowd how much we had practiced rather than actually communicate anything meaningful to them. We were also friends with the other guys in the Foals and during this time we were trying to develop a concept for a new band. We wanted to do weird pop music and make something that was accessible to as many people as possible. If you can achieve that, I think that is a great talent to have. A lot of bands now are just trying to fill a niche and I think that that is just elitism and very insular.

We wanted to try and make pop music without making any compromises to show people that you can make culturally non-specific pop. We listen to a lot of World music and a lot of our guitar playing is lifted from Senegalese guitar influences and many of the rhythms we use are Afrobeat. The idea is to subvert mainstream indie music with these culturally diverse influences and have a kind of anti-establishment feel but within a pop format.

We started the band about 16 months ago, playing loads of house parties in Oxford. We got ourselves a Myspace page and hoped that we would get a whole bunch of bookings for house parties. It was during that summer we decided to drop out of university and continue making music instead. Now, to be able to do instores, to do interviews for magazines and websites, things that other bands complain about, I think is a fucking privilege.

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- How does the band go about making a track in the studio? Who writes which parts?

Y: We usually do new tracks on loop pedals so I will prolifically write looped guitar riffs. I will then write the lyrics and we will get together and try and put everything in order. When we are in the studio we really zone in and try and make it all perfect. Even if the live performance isn’t perfect, it will be more about trying to be hard-hitting, visceral, passionate and more of a spectacle to watch. There’s nothing that gets me off more than going through the crowd and interacting whilst I’m playing. Our biggest fear is complacency and we are always striving to progress and re-invent ourselves. I know a lot of bands say this but they are lying and I’m telling you the truth. Why try and sound the same all the time?

Youtube : Foals - Hummer

I believe in the “genre-raid”, like what T.S. Elliot said that it’s not about whether you use material, but the way you use that material. It’s so hard to be completely original nowadays, there’s not going to be another voice like Prince again, for example.

- How do you feel the internet has played a part in the success of the band so far?

Y: I think with sites like Myspace, it makes the promotion side so much quicker as you have a way of showing people your music and pictures as well as we really enjoy communicating directly with our audience. We take a lot of time to write back to all our messages we receive and we don’t get our management to do it for us. Even after a gig, we like to talk to members of the audience to get their view on how it went.

I think there are a lot of bands nowadays who are just too snooty and have that “cooler than thou” attitude and it seems to be rife in Indie music at the moment. So overall, the internet gives us a chance to have some direct and unfiltered communication without the labels or press having to be involved. However, the internet also allows shit bands to get heard and even though it’s not my place to say who can play music and who shouldn’t but if you are in a band, I think it’s really important to be conscientious of what you are actually doing. Are you making music, using the same three chords that a band played 20 years ago (and better than you) or are you at least trying to add to the tapestry of the music?

Even you fail at that task, it’s all about the motivation behind you and if you try and do something that is progressive in some way or diverse and eclectic and not just trying to bang big-titted chicks and get new sneakers then I think Myspace is all-good for you.

- What are your feelings about the current UK music scene?

Y: Let it rot. I don’t really give a fuck. I think it’s like the people who try and push the whole Global Warming issue. We have already gotten ourselves to this point and the core is infected. You can try and put as many plasters as you want and give it as much symptomatic relief as you want, but it’s not going to help.

I think that the music industry is a small example of what has happened with Western culture and consumer culture. It’s like a bad apple and the faster it falls off the tree, the better. As long as you have the passion for making music, there will always be a way to get yourself heard. People are making amazing music in Mongolia, America and Africa and it doesn’t need to be through the conventional channels anymore.

In the Indie music scene, in general, I think it’s quite poor. I mean, you had the punk scene and that didn’t change anything. You had Nirvana and the grunge scene and that didn’t fucking change anything. It’s always just the same music being played and the same “problems” being felt just with different clothes being worn. Even the faces are all the same with the Indie kid pouts in their photos and it’s all so boring.

- So what are the future plans for the band?

Y: We have just released a limited single today and this will be the last of our old stuff. We came back from New York recently where we recorded our album with Sitek, our producer, and it will sound completely different to our old music. We will also be on tour from the middle of September until forever, it seems. During that time, we just want to leave a trail of destruction wherever we go!

myspace : www.myspace.com/foals

Photos by Toshimi Takaishi
Written by Selph