“The energy when we are all together has been quite something: we can’t wait for people to hear the fruits of our labour.” – The Futureheads
The Futureheads have the honour of gracing the stage in Newcastle at Hit The North’s opening party on Friday 3rd May, so Rukus caught up with them for a chat about what North East fans can expect from the Sunderland four-piece.
You must be excited to be back on the road and playing in the one and only North East?
We’ve always enjoyed playing the North East; the crowds up here are great. And, you know, at least they’ll understand our in-between song craic, which is a bonus. Nothing worse than our one liner’s falling on deaf ears.
Can you tell us a little bit about what Hit the North revellers can expect from your set?
Well, revellers will always find the opportunity to revel, but come May 3rd they can revel in a mix of floor-filling delights, new songs to knock off their socks and the odd coffee cream thrown into spice things up a bit.
You’ve been tucked away recording your sixth album, how has it felt to be back in the studio doing what you do best?
Recording this, our sixth, album has been an invigorating experience. Making every album has been different; the challenges for this record have been getting everyone together in the same room for more than ninety seconds: quite the feat.
But, the energy when we are all together has been quite something: we can’t wait for people to hear the fruits of our labour.
Can you tell me a little bit about the creative process behind the record?
Barry came to this album with a lot of instrumentals sketched out in demo form: guitar parts, riffs and drum beats. Ross introduced his riffs and tunes a little later. The rest was thrashed out over a period of four or five months in First Avenue Studios in Heaton.
Once the instrumentals were down, we set about writing lyrics and harmonies. We’ve not really done it like that before, where we have 12 fully-recorded instruments before any vocal ideas are down.
You’re spending the next few months touring the mighty UK, are there any pre-gig rituals the band have? Any weird quirks?
Well, we all rub ourselves in baby oil while we do our vocal warm-ups. Does that count?
Perhaps we’ll leave it there…
The Futureheads will play Hit The North’s opening party at Riverside Newcastle on Friday 3rd May 2019.
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