Foals

Horsing Around

Math-rock, dance-rock, Afro-beat; it’s a case of another day, another label for Oxford’s latest next big thing. With critics twisting themselves in ever-tightening knots trying to describe their sound, we cornered synth man Edwin Congreave to demand: just what the hell are Foals?

“We’re all of those things, and none,” laughs Edwin. “We can’t in all honesty call ourselves a math-rock band, but the influence is certainly there. And while we like a lot of afro-beat bands, it would be quite insulting to them to call ourselves that. Our singer’s old band, the Edmund Fitzgerald, were defiantly math-rock; really serious, mostly instrumental and with really long songs and loads of different time signatures and changes. The sort of stuff that’s very difficult to play! This band was formed almost in opposition to that. Yannis got sick of how up itself math-rock and the bands who play it can be, and he wanted to make something a bit more accessible. There’s a lot he carried forward from that time, like his style of guitar playing, which could be described as “mathing,” but the songs just don’t feel that complicated.”

Formed in early 2006, Foals consists of Ed Fitz alumni Yannis Philippakis (guitar/vocals) and Jack Bevan (drums), along with Edwin (synth/samples), Jimmy Smith (guitar) and Walter Gervers (bass). The name apparently sprang from Yannis’ surname, which means “little lover of horses” in Greek, although the band have been known to spin other yarns about its origin. Taking, as Edwin says, a less impenetrable approach to songwriting than Philippakis’ previous outfit, they applied their undoubted technical skills instead to layered, propulsive dance-rock, and the results quickly led four of the five members to drop out of university. A slew of early singles, raucous gigs and appearances on Later With Jools Holland and Channel 4’s hedonistic teen series Skins have helped generate a wave of hype which saw their UK tour sell out over a month before debut album ‘Antidotes’ hit the shelves. After a couple of years dominated by flaccid Libertines rip-offs, AU suggests it would seem the music-buying public is ready for something a bit more involved.

“We kind of live in our own little bubble,” Edwin states, diplomatically. “I don’t really know what people who are interested in chart music want to listen to, so I don’t want to make any statements about that. I don’t think our album is overly complex, but there are bits that can be quite immersive, and people probably need to listen to it a few times to let it sink in. But I think there are a great deal of people who still want to do that with records.”

In these times, when instant gratification is everything, this constitutes something of a leap of faith. But then, Foals have reason to be optimistic: those early shows saw the band hook up with cutting-edge UK indie label Transgressive (also home to the Young Knives) and join the legendary Sub Pop stable in the US. Following in the footsteps of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Sunny Day Real Estate et al was a development which apparently left the fledgling group rather gobsmacked.

“Signing to Transgressive was really good. They’ve worked really well with us, they’re good people and have a really hands-on approach. With Sub Pop, though, everyone was very aware of their heritage, and we were kind of astounded that they wanted to sign us. It’s great though, they’re amazing. We went to visit them in Seattle and they’re like a family. They’ve all known each other for fifteen or twenty years, and they’ve created this incredibly positive space. Then there all the bands they’ve worked with over the years that we feel an affinity with. We grew up listening to a lot of American indie – more so than British, so we truly feel at home there.”

Having established a partisan fanbase and secured solid label backing, the quintet decamped to New York’s hip Williamsberg district to record what would become ‘Antidotes.’ Not content with merely pond-hopping for the sake of it, though, they procured the services of Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Liars producer Dave Sitek, better known for his day job in Big Apple left-field loons TV On The Radio.

“We recorded the album in Brooklyn,” Edwin confirms, “right by the river, in what was was kind of like a warehouse area. It was a really nice area, with loads of cool bars. The recording process was amazing, probably the highlight of my time in the band so far. To get away from England for a month did our heads a lot of good and I think it really helped the music.”

Having recorded a tight, precise album, the band left Sitek to mix it. It came as something of a shock, then, when the playback revealed a spacey sound now dripping in reverb – something the five had never intended and simply couldn’t identify with. They were left with little choice but to remix the ‘Antidotes’ recordings themselves and reluctantly inform their self-confessed studio mentor of their decision; something Yannis has described as “one of the hardest phone calls I’ve ever had to make.” Despite this, Edwin insists the band have nothing but respect for Sitek and his input on the record.

“It was great working with Dave Sitek; I don’t have a bad word to say about him. He’s a really charismatic person, and he brought a lot of stuff to our sound that we’d never really considered before. He recognised elements of our sound that even we hadn’t realized were there; he brought out what could be described as an afro-beat influence, he put horns on the album – in our minds, he broadened the record’s sound a lot. In fact, most of the songs on the album were written maybe a year before we were even introduced to his ideas, and I reckon we’re going to start taking more of the afro-beat sound on board. When we travelled over to record ‘Antidotes,’ we wanted to explore the sonic possibilities of the studio environment, and we’re all really happy with what he helped us to achieve.”

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Issue #51 - I Told You This Would Be A Good Issue

Featuring Biffy Clyro, Of Montreal, Duke Special, Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Jay Reatard, Pat Mills, and more.