"I WANNA BE LIKE YOU"
BRITISH AWARENESS INTERVIEW WITH ANDY FIRTH
INTERVIEW WITH ANDY FIRTH - BY NICCI FOSTER - BRITISH AWARENESS
So what inspires songs like "Dirty Weekend" and "Drag Queen" ?
Um.. they’re more like stories than personal experiences. I mean what we do now is a lot more from, our lives. But I went through a stage of writing about other people. I mean those two songs are examples of that really. They’re just characters that I invented and put them on a story really.
Who do you cite as your major influences ?
For me personally, It’s stuff from the 60s and 70s really, but I mean there’s all sorts. I mean major influences are people like Bowie and Lennon and The Doors and Led Zeppelin and stuff, but I mean we listen to all sorts of music. We try to listen to as much as we can so that in our music it comes across as interesting and diverse.
Do you have a particular method for writing songs, or do they just sort of come about ?
Oh, no, not really. It is really varied. Because, sometimes I’ll be just playing guitar and come across a few chords and then later put a melody and some lyrics to them. Or sometimes I can just be thinking and think about what I actually want the song to be about, and write it around the idea.
And in the studio, do you follow a particular method then, for recording ?
Yeah, well with the album we pretty much did it all the same way. You get the drum and bass down and the you add bits part by part. Then you experiment and put different sounds on top of that. It’s the best way to do it really, to just get the basics down and then make it a bit more interesting later on.
So when will you be recording any of the new material?
Pretty soon hopefully. We’ve already got five new songs written, which is half the next album nearly so we don’t want to let it go too long without putting them down. Because now they’re fresh, it’s best to just get into the studio and capture that energy. What we’re doing with the live set is, we’re putting them in bit by bit. We don’t want to suddenly do a whole new set of songs, because people won’t have heard them before, so what we’re doing is putting them in at one time.
I also love the contrast in the material on the album. You manage to pull off many styles really well. Do you think that some bands suffer from just doing one thing?
Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean a band like Oasis, who were onto a really good thing, they did on good album, the Definitely Maybe album, which was really refreshing and good. Then they did another two that sound exactly the same. I think my favourite bands from the past , Blur for example, have always reinvented themselves and changed their direction. I think that if you want to survive in the music business, then that’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to keep people interested and reinvent yourselves, and play different types of music. The Beatles were brilliant at that, and so was David Bowie.
And regarding the arrangement of songs. Do you generally have an idea of what you want the songs to be like before you go into record, or do you knock ideas about in the studio?
No, we do the arrangements. I come to the band with a song, and we’ll sit down and get it together before we go into record. I mean, we add a few little changes in the studio, but nothing drastic. It’s all pretty much worked out before, the it just saves time, and you can just get in there and get it down.
So, tell us a bit about the band’s history.
I think it’s a little bit over two years since we’ve been together, but before that we knew each other, but we were all in different bands in Leeds. Do you know where that is?
Yeah.
Right. So we were just gigging in different bands and we just decided that instead of going nowhere in these separate bands we’ll join together and we’ll form one really good one. And I had like a lot of songs already, so we spent a lot of time rehearsing and just getting a set together that we thought was really strong, and we all believed in. Then the first proper gig we did was when Radio One City Sound was in Leeds and we did that and we got a lot of interest from that. You know with, A & R men and stuff coming down. So it all moved pretty quickly from there because we had all rehearsed and that, so then we did a few showcases for record companies and then signed the deal (with Artificial Records) pretty soon after that. Since then it’s just been gigging and releasing singles steadily.
Have any of the singles charted recently?
The last single was "English Country Garden", and that got to Number 57, so I mean it’s building. As long as it keeps going up, you know, as long as the next one goes to 42, and the one after that goes to 30, whatsoever, I’m happy. I don’t just suddenly want to pounce straight in atNumber 1. I think the best way to do is to like build steadily, just build the fan base up. Because that way, you’re not suddenly going to get knocked down over night like a lot of bands can. They just go straight in the charts at Number 1, then that’s it, you never hear from them again. We want to stay around for a long time.
Yeah, because you’ve basically created a bit of a stir without the aid of mainstream press.
Yeah, well yeah. Obviously it would be nice to have a bit more press and radio play but I mean you can do it without them, and eventually they’re going to get to a point, where they’re going to have to write about us and they’re going to have to put us on the radio. You can see it starting to happen already.
Do you think band’s lose the plot once they reach mainstream stardom status?
I think some may do, but I think that we’re going to keep our feet firmly on the ground. I mean, I couldn’t really imagine being like, you know, rock star character, having tantrums and stuff like that. We’re pretty ordinary people…well not ordinary, but um…down to earth, if that’s the right word.
Are charts important to you, or do you just want a product that you’re happy with?
Well obviously I want to get into the charts because to survive in the business, you have to. You can’t keep releasing records that don’t get into the charts. So eventually, we are going to be wanting to have Top Ten hits and stuff, but I mean, the products we’re putting out is the main important thing to me. As long as we’re happy with that, and the people that are buying it are happy with it, then that’s what’s important. I would never want to release anything on purpose to get into the Top Ten, that was a sell out really. I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I did that at all.
I can’t wait to see you live, which will probably be in a long time. Most people have commented on the energy you create live. I really admire bands who get into their music. Do you think that guitar band image of just standing there on stage ala. Oasis, is slowly dying?
Um…I wouldn’t say. I think Oasis are past it, I don’t think they’ll do anything else. They may record one more album and I don’t think it will do that well at all. You’ve got stuff like Embrace coming through now which is pretty similar to that but there’s definitely a lot more energy in music these days which I think is a good thing.
So, what kind of reaction do you get from audience members that may not have heard the material before?
It’s strange because when we start playing, they sort of think "Well, what’s this?", they don’t really know what to expect. Then after a couple of songs, you can see the heads starting to turn. We nearly always win the crowd over. Like we supported Shed Seven on their tour a couple of months back when we were doing "English Country Garden" and "Scream" singles, and it was like that every night. There you see, there was 1,500 people who hadn’t even heard of us before and when we were coming on they don’t know what to expect at all. But by the end of the set I think we’d turned nearly all of them around, and left them with a good impression of us.
I noticed you have two festival appearances, you’re playing T-in-the-Park tomorrow, yeah?
Yeah, we’re going down there today actually.
Oh, right. Have you played that size audience before?
Um…well we did Reading last year and that was the Doctor Martens tent, which is fairly small, but I think there was 2,000 ft in there. So, we don’t know how many to expect at T-in-the-Park. I think Reading that we’re doing this year, we’re playing the second stage, so that will be the biggest one yet. There will be a lot of people there.
Cool. So do you prefer the larger or smaller audiences better?
I think they’ve both got their benefits. I think that large crowds, you’re reaching a hell of a lot of people, but at the smaller gigs, sometimes there’s a better atmosphere, it’s a lot more intimate. So I think they’re both just as good really.
So how would you describe the other band members musically?
Well, musically, Ben’s the next most important. I’ll work out songs with him and he puts all the guitar parts in. Bryan and Tony are like the back bone of the band, the bass and drums keep the solid sound…and Mike’s the keyboard player (laughs). Mike does like all the little extra bits on the top. All the nice little keyboard sounds.
Yeah, because the overall sound is just fantastic, I love it.
Yeah, cheers.
So what is the most enjoyable part about being in The Dandys?
It’s definitely the touring. I mean we love recording, getting the ideas that are in our heads down on record, but when you’re actually touring you get the immediate reaction to the songs. You are actually seeing people getting into the music, which is what we do it for really. So that’s definitely the best for me.
And what is the best experience you’ve had through being in the band?
The Reading Festival last year, that was brilliant. We’d spent all year touring and then when we turned up there, you could see the people that had seen us in all these different towns in the country all there, but they’d all come to see us at once. So that was like, a really good experience. Also, we did a radio festival in Amsterdam which…we’d never been abroad as a band before so we went there and they really warmed to us straight away, which was really encouraging.
So what’s the plan now?
Well, we’ve got the Festivals, and in between that we’re going to just be rehearsing and writing and hopefully after the festivals have finished, recording again. Because what we don’t want to do is have a big gap between albums, like a lot of bands will release an album and they’ve got no more material, so they have to go away for another year and write another album. We don’t want to do that, we want to stay in everybody’s face, and keep releasing singles. Hopefully, like it would be nice to get an album out early next year, and a couple of singles before then.
Cool, then you’ll have to come down and tour in Australia if we can create enough attention for you.
Yeah, brilliant, yeah.
(thanks to Alison Dunn for taking time to type this out for me - Genine)
For me personally, It’s stuff from the 60s and 70s really, but I mean there’s all sorts. I mean major influences are people like Bowie and Lennon and The Doors and Led Zeppelin and stuff, but I mean we listen to all sorts of music. We try to listen to as much as we can so that in our music it comes across as interesting and diverse.
Oh, no, not really. It is really varied. Because, sometimes I’ll be just playing guitar and come across a few chords and then later put a melody and some lyrics to them. Or sometimes I can just be thinking and think about what I actually want the song to be about, and write it around the idea.
And in the studio, do you follow a particular method then, for recording ?
Yeah, well with the album we pretty much did it all the same way. You get the drum and bass down and the you add bits part by part. Then you experiment and put different sounds on top of that. It’s the best way to do it really, to just get the basics down and then make it a bit more interesting later on.
Pretty soon hopefully. We’ve already got five new songs written, which is half the next album nearly so we don’t want to let it go too long without putting them down. Because now they’re fresh, it’s best to just get into the studio and capture that energy. What we’re doing with the live set is, we’re putting them in bit by bit. We don’t want to suddenly do a whole new set of songs, because people won’t have heard them before, so what we’re doing is putting them in at one time.
Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean a band like Oasis, who were onto a really good thing, they did on good album, the Definitely Maybe album, which was really refreshing and good. Then they did another two that sound exactly the same. I think my favourite bands from the past , Blur for example, have always reinvented themselves and changed their direction. I think that if you want to survive in the music business, then that’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to keep people interested and reinvent yourselves, and play different types of music. The Beatles were brilliant at that, and so was David Bowie.
No, we do the arrangements. I come to the band with a song, and we’ll sit down and get it together before we go into record. I mean, we add a few little changes in the studio, but nothing drastic. It’s all pretty much worked out before, the it just saves time, and you can just get in there and get it down.
I think it’s a little bit over two years since we’ve been together, but before that we knew each other, but we were all in different bands in Leeds. Do you know where that is?
Right. So we were just gigging in different bands and we just decided that instead of going nowhere in these separate bands we’ll join together and we’ll form one really good one. And I had like a lot of songs already, so we spent a lot of time rehearsing and just getting a set together that we thought was really strong, and we all believed in. Then the first proper gig we did was when Radio One City Sound was in Leeds and we did that and we got a lot of interest from that. You know with, A & R men and stuff coming down. So it all moved pretty quickly from there because we had all rehearsed and that, so then we did a few showcases for record companies and then signed the deal (with Artificial Records) pretty soon after that. Since then it’s just been gigging and releasing singles steadily.
The last single was "English Country Garden", and that got to Number 57, so I mean it’s building. As long as it keeps going up, you know, as long as the next one goes to 42, and the one after that goes to 30, whatsoever, I’m happy. I don’t just suddenly want to pounce straight in atNumber 1. I think the best way to do is to like build steadily, just build the fan base up. Because that way, you’re not suddenly going to get knocked down over night like a lot of bands can. They just go straight in the charts at Number 1, then that’s it, you never hear from them again. We want to stay around for a long time.
Yeah, well yeah. Obviously it would be nice to have a bit more press and radio play but I mean you can do it without them, and eventually they’re going to get to a point, where they’re going to have to write about us and they’re going to have to put us on the radio. You can see it starting to happen already.
I think some may do, but I think that we’re going to keep our feet firmly on the ground. I mean, I couldn’t really imagine being like, you know, rock star character, having tantrums and stuff like that. We’re pretty ordinary people…well not ordinary, but um…down to earth, if that’s the right word.
Well obviously I want to get into the charts because to survive in the business, you have to. You can’t keep releasing records that don’t get into the charts. So eventually, we are going to be wanting to have Top Ten hits and stuff, but I mean, the products we’re putting out is the main important thing to me. As long as we’re happy with that, and the people that are buying it are happy with it, then that’s what’s important. I would never want to release anything on purpose to get into the Top Ten, that was a sell out really. I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I did that at all.
Um…I wouldn’t say. I think Oasis are past it, I don’t think they’ll do anything else. They may record one more album and I don’t think it will do that well at all. You’ve got stuff like Embrace coming through now which is pretty similar to that but there’s definitely a lot more energy in music these days which I think is a good thing.
It’s strange because when we start playing, they sort of think "Well, what’s this?", they don’t really know what to expect. Then after a couple of songs, you can see the heads starting to turn. We nearly always win the crowd over. Like we supported Shed Seven on their tour a couple of months back when we were doing "English Country Garden" and "Scream" singles, and it was like that every night. There you see, there was 1,500 people who hadn’t even heard of us before and when we were coming on they don’t know what to expect at all. But by the end of the set I think we’d turned nearly all of them around, and left them with a good impression of us.
Yeah, we’re going down there today actually.
Um…well we did Reading last year and that was the Doctor Martens tent, which is fairly small, but I think there was 2,000 ft in there. So, we don’t know how many to expect at T-in-the-Park. I think Reading that we’re doing this year, we’re playing the second stage, so that will be the biggest one yet. There will be a lot of people there.
I think they’ve both got their benefits. I think that large crowds, you’re reaching a hell of a lot of people, but at the smaller gigs, sometimes there’s a better atmosphere, it’s a lot more intimate. So I think they’re both just as good really.
Well, musically, Ben’s the next most important. I’ll work out songs with him and he puts all the guitar parts in. Bryan and Tony are like the back bone of the band, the bass and drums keep the solid sound…and Mike’s the keyboard player (laughs). Mike does like all the little extra bits on the top. All the nice little keyboard sounds.
Yeah, cheers.
It’s definitely the touring. I mean we love recording, getting the ideas that are in our heads down on record, but when you’re actually touring you get the immediate reaction to the songs. You are actually seeing people getting into the music, which is what we do it for really. So that’s definitely the best for me.
The Reading Festival last year, that was brilliant. We’d spent all year touring and then when we turned up there, you could see the people that had seen us in all these different towns in the country all there, but they’d all come to see us at once. So that was like, a really good experience. Also, we did a radio festival in Amsterdam which…we’d never been abroad as a band before so we went there and they really warmed to us straight away, which was really encouraging.
Well, we’ve got the Festivals, and in between that we’re going to just be rehearsing and writing and hopefully after the festivals have finished, recording again. Because what we don’t want to do is have a big gap between albums, like a lot of bands will release an album and they’ve got no more material, so they have to go away for another year and write another album. We don’t want to do that, we want to stay in everybody’s face, and keep releasing singles. Hopefully, like it would be nice to get an album out early next year, and a couple of singles before then.
Yeah, brilliant, yeah.