INTRODUCE YOURSELF: Fight Like Apes
Manic Dublin quartet Fight Like Apes have quickly gained a considerable following throughout the country thanks to a mix of infectious, catchy, quirky synth-led noise-pop. Having recently released their new EP ‘How Am I Supposed To Kill You If You Have All The Guns?’, Mark (aka Pockets) talks to AU about onstage punch-ups, rubbish horror movies and being sick to death of guitarists.
Words_Chris McCorry
How did the band come together?
It was essentially just a bunch of friends who had played together for a few years in different bands. Nothing had ever been taken seriously, and one day we decided after being sick to death of all the guitarists we were playing with to try and play without one. We realised we didn’t need anybody else and we were just much happier with our sound.
Were there any bands that were influencing your sound when the band formed?
Not really. We thought we’d end up sounding like the bands we were interested in at the time but we didn’t. We were into My Bloody Valentine and Pavement, Yo La Tengo and bands like that, so we always imagined we’d be kind of shoegazey. For some reason the absence of guitars made it a bit more punk which was quite strange because we imagined it would make us softer - it had a counter-effect.
Your shows are known for being quite manic. Do you ever have any on-stage mishaps as a result?
It depends. We get really hyper at gigs and we might get violent with each other. As friends we’re generally quite violent; we’re prone to wrestling and stuff like that. There’s been a few mishaps with people getting hurt and bruised and stuff. Sometimes we sacrifice our tightness for simply having fun on stage because we feel the audience appreciates it more if they’re in on the joke as opposed to a band just standing up there and playing the songs they’ve rehearsed a thousand times. There’s never anything planned about what we do on stage, and nobody gets annoyed if something potentially dangerous happens.
Your unusual lyrics are definitely something that stands out – where does the inspiration come from?
We’re couch potatoes – all we do is watch really bad movies and play computer games. Everybody thinks people in bands are mad people having amazing parties but we’re the opposite– we sit inside, wrestle and watch really bad zombie movies. Most of our songs are just in-jokes; people are always talking about our bizarre lyrics, but that’s just how we talk among each other. People seem to appreciate our nonsense!
Check out www.myspace.com/fightlikeapesmusic
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