Foals keyboardist Edwin Congreave takes a minute to reflect on the band’s ever-adapting sounds and ponders the road that has lead the British outfit to international success.
Already deep into their heavy year of worldwide tours and festivals, all the while carrying the successes of newly released third record Holy Fire, it is understandable that one must take a second to meditate over the journey to international fame.
“We are all quite fierce perfectionists,” admits the musician, mulling over the production of their three records. “I’m a perfectionist, but in a different way. I’m not really what you would call a productive perfectionist,” he chuckles.
Talking about fellow bandmate and frontman Yannis Philippakis, Congreave calls him “one of the most absorbed perfectionists I’ve ever known, which is an amazing quality. He wouldn’t want to put out anything that’s bad.”
So how does a band full of perfectionists agree on which tracks will make the cut? “We’ve made so many songs that have never seen the light of day because for some reason or another one person has thought it wasn’t good enough. Which I think is a real shame because I think a song that’s lost… it’s just a tragic thing isn’t it?”
Despite the numbers that would never make it to record fame, the British quintet continue to couple aggressive riffs with energetic, rippling beats, all the ingredients required for a celebrated collection of releases, with latest release Holy Fire surprising loyal fans and newcomers alike. “I’m a perfectionist, but in a different way. I’m not really what you would call a productive perfectionist.” – Edwin Congreave
When pressed about which album is his personal favourite, the keyboardist admits “my favourite album is probably the second one (Total Life Forever), but I think this new record Holy Fire has got a handful of the best songs we’ve ever done. The fact that they’re getting played on the radio all over the world now is mind blowing.”
All over the world is right, with Congreave slowly accepting the band’s growing popularity. “It’s always growing,” he laughs before adding “we’ve had an album released three times now so I think we are kind of used to the chaos.”
“It’s wonderful, but I kind of feel like we’re losing touch a little bit. I feel like for the first album it felt like we had quite a close connection online with our fans, particularly through MySpace.”
“I think it’s got a few too much for us to handle now a days, which is both a good and a bad thing,” he adds.
Foals has already dived headfirst into their massive year of touring, headlining gigs around the globe, kick-starting with the Big Day Out in January then stopping off to play a handful of festivals including California’s Coachella Festival, soon heading to UK’s Glastonbury Festival in late June, followed by Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival and a string of Australian shows in September.
With a diary booked up until late November this year, surely it is daunting knowing that they have barely begun their jam-packed year? “Yeah it is daunting,” Congreave agrees, “it was more daunting at the beginning of the year though when the entire year was booked up but now that we’re into it, I dunno I think it’s fine.”
Although the constant trekking must get repetitive, there are standout performances that Congreave is optimistic about. “I am looking forward to playing a festival – the Bonnaroo in the US, I’ve never been before. I think it’s closer to something like Glastonbury than festivals we have played before in the US.”
“What else?” he ponders, “playing Fuji Rock in Japan again, we are playing the same stage as Björk which is a personal highlight… I am a massive Björk fan.” “My favourite album is probably [Total Life Forever], but I think [Holy Fire] has got a handful of the best songs we’ve ever done.”
Has the charming Congreave ever had the honour of meeting Bjork in the flesh? “No, god no. I don’t know if I’ll meet her, I’d wet myself with excitement,” he gasps before putting any further Aussie festival rumours to bed: “No, I think those headline shows we are playing in September are the only shows we’re playing in Australia this year.”
Even though there is no extra-festival stops on the band’s itinerary, the band kicked off 2013 with the Big Day Out Festival in Australia. With a diary packed to the brim with global shows, the keyboardist must have a preferred method of creating some down time.
“I probably sleep more than I should,” he laughs. “We all have different ways of entertaining ourselves. We drink a lot, we’ve actually been sitting by the pool in Buenos Aires today, and we’re all incredibly hung over.”
“I wouldn’t call it a coping strategy, just a mundane reality that’s all,” he downplays, “it literally is the dream.”
When not recovering from an indulgent night on the town, the 28-year-old can appreciate how there is “nothing to complain about” in their lifestyle. “The tour that we have been doing recently – in South America – it’s a real treat to be here. We have been treated incredibly well.”
It was the release of Holy Fire and its countless praises from fans and critics that propelled the band into their world tour. Reviews have been commending the band’s shift into more humane and less polished tracks.
As Congreave explains, the change in direction “certainly wasn’t planned,” but the transition in the way they wrote their music for this record “enabled the maturation” of their music to come forth.
“When we wrote the first album we would all run and stick together in a room and it was all very frantic,” he explains, but the hectic process of developing their latest record proved to shift once more.
“There was a deliberate attempt made for when we wrote the second album to loosen up the writing process, so that two of us would go into a room and one of us would just be playing piano and we would leave the drums aside entirely.”
Edwin describes this method as “radical”, allowing the best songs on the record to be played more naturally and fast paced, where the first record, 2008’s Antidotes “needed the structure.”
When tracks like crowd-pleaser ‘Inhaler’ highlight the revolutionized sounds, it brings about the question as to how easily the more muscular tracks of Holy Fire will be incorporated into the energetic live shows, which feature some of the band’s mix of signature punchy riffs with dance-lined grooves, such as on tracks like “My Number”.
“I think there is a distinct difference between our live shows and our records,” Congreave reasons. “We still like to play very intensely with a lot of aggression at the live show.”
He continues, “I think those have been the ones that are the easiest to incorporate into the live shows. We need to see the crowds physically react, and so to get that reaction we have to play the harder songs, songs like ‘Inhaler’ and ‘Providence’, both from this record.”
For anyone who has had the pleasure of standing in the high energy crowd at a Foals performance, you can relate to the sweat, heart pumping, knocking and jumping frenzy from the crowd as the fireball of rock pulses out of the speakers. “We need to see the crowds physically react, and so to get that reaction we have to play the harder songs, songs like ‘Inhaler’ and ‘Providence’.”
None moreso than in the aforementioned lead single ‘Inhaler’.;“It was like the most provocative song on the record in that it surprised a lot of people,” Congreave describes, “and in such a positive way.”
“[‘Inhaler’] was always one of our favourites. It’s one of the oldest; the origin of that song lays a couple of years back in live jams that we used to play. It took a while to come together in the studio but once it finished we all knew that it was going to be the song that we wanted to lead with.”
Coming so far from the Antidotes days, with a flurry of different musical influences and producers, how does Edwin feel now when he listens back to the initial record?
“I personally haven’t listened to Antidotes all the way through for years, and I feel that it would actually be quite frustrating listening to that album,” pondering the production he notes how the group say it didn’t feel “finished”, especially when it carried “so much anticipation” – being the first record.
“But then as time passes you all listen back to certain songs and recognize the strengths,” he concedes.
When pressed on the older tracks, Congreave explains that there are some that age well with time.
“In songs that we carry on playing, songs like ‘Balloons’, it’s changing all the time. Every tour we go on and play it we bring a different approach to it, and I think for this tour it’s got a lot of anger, well not anger, but pure aggression, which I think we’ve sort of learnt how to play from what we’ve learnt on this record.”
Aggression as form of energy. And evolution. “The songs that survive feed off each other. It’s kind of re-energizing.”
Holy Fire is out now through Transgressive/Warner Music Australia, read the Tone Deaf review here. Foals tour Australia this September and are expected to announce more dates following their Sydney and Melbourne shows selling out. Dates and details below.
Foals 2013 Australian Tour
SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER: METRO CITY, PERTH – (18+)
Tickets from: oztix.com.au & 1300 762 545
TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER: HQ, ADELAIDE – (LICENSED ALL AGES)
Tickets from: oztix.com.au & 1300 762 545
FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER: THE PALACE THEATRE, MELBOURNE – (18+) – SOLD OUT!Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER: ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY – (LICENSED ALL AGES) – SOLD OUT!Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER: THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE – (18+)
Tickets from: ticketek.com.au & 132 849
Tickets on sale 9am, MONDAY 18 MARCH
