Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals release their latest studio album, Phantom Power, today. Gruff Rhys explains the reasoning behind the title: "Speakers and microphones work on phantom power, there's no batteries and they're not connected to the mains, and yet they work. Similarly, as a band our make up is the same as anybody else and yet we write songs and play music to people, and we have no idea why. It's a mysterious power source. I like the idea of it, a phantom power that nobody understands."
He continues, "Phantom Power also sounds like a sinister power source that controls the world from beyond people's comprehension. And a lot of the things that go on today seem completely illogical and I think we watch the world go by with disbelief."
Pixelsurgeon spoke with Super Furry Guto Pryce to find out a little bit more about the recording of Phantom Power, Indian drum machines and Ozzy Osbourne...
- PIXELSURGEON: Phantom Power sounds more homely and welcoming than Rings Around the World. Did you deliberately decide to simplify things this time around?
- GUTO PRYCE: When it came to deciding what kind of album we wanted to do, we chose to record songs that where mostly acoustic based, and a lot of the songs where put to tape, played live as a band. They sounded pretty good right from the start so we didn't feel the need to over-tweak them in the studio. We also engineered a lot of the recording ourselves, so we had to simplify things. But it's not a lo-fi record either.
- Has there been any particular musical inspiration behind Phantom Power?
- As always, where listening to all sorts of music. A lot of the tunes were written on an acoustic with an unconventional tuning. d-a-d-d-a-d in fact, which was something folk guitar players like john fahey and davey graham would do. Digital music and hip hop producers influenced the way we use a computer.
- Do you have any new musical toys at the moment? I noticed a pedal steel on a few of the new tracks for instance.
- Bunf started on the pedal steel on the last lp, and that's carried on. We got an Indian drum machine and a sitar-in-a-box. We also used household objects such as cars and guns as musical instruments during the recording.
- Golden Retriever and Out of Control rock like a moustachioed mullet-god in tight denim. What's your pre-metal of choice?
- We've been using some footage of Ozzy doing some headbanging in our live visuals, and made a headbanging video for golden retriever. We certainly have time for rock. I'm an MC5 man myself.
- The vocal harmonies throughout Phantom Power are incredible. How do you write them? Do you ever burst into song a cappella like a boyband?
- I'm the only person in the band who doesn't sing, but the lads do a lot of experimenting with harmonies in the studio. Alcohol can sometime lead to outbursts of close harmony singing.
- You complain about the abundance of "problem rock" in new track Valet Parking. How do the Super Furry Animals feel about the current musical climate, and how do you fit into it?
- There's plenty of good music about. For me, there's a lot of exciting underground hip hop been made at the moment, and some of those laptop fellas are doing some interesting stuff. I think we fit in well with the global music scene.
- Why do you think that more bands haven't followed the lead you took in releasing Rings Around the World on DVD? Why did you decide continue the trend with Phantom Power?
- Don't know. Since making rings around the world, surround sound technology has moved on and you no longer need to go to an expensive fancy studio to make records in surround sound, it can be done on a home computer, and it sounds ace. There was no reason not to mix phantom power in surround sound.
- Is the "full-sensory experience" approach to your work becoming more important? Could you envisage a DVD-only release in future, especially considering the medium's scope for reproducing the surround-sound of the SFA live experience?
- It's songs and melodies and rhythm that are most important to us as a band, and I don't see that changing. But at the same time we're into presenting those songs in different ways. I hope we never make a record that's not on vinyl, it's still the ultimate for me. It'd be cool to make a surround sound live recording just so I can hear what it's actually like as I'm on stage during the show, choosing a setlist would be tricky though.
- In addition to the visuals accompanying the tracks, the DVD features a distinctive Pete Fowler animation before each song. They're so striking that I find myself picturing them when I hear the album tracks. Did he hear the finished songs before doing the animations? How long did they take to put together?
- Whenever Pete does some artwork or a film for us, we play him the songs, give him some references and Gruff'll explain what they're about, then Pete'll go off and do his interpretation. He doesn't take long at all, and everything he does is quality.
- Pete's illustrations have become synonymous with your music. Did you think your relationship would last as long as it has when you first started working with him?
- We get on very well with Pete, and he's a big beach boys fan so we'll always have things to talk about.
- There's a remix of each album track on the DVD. Will these be released anywhere else?
- Yes indeed, on placid casual records. Sometime.
- Phantom Power deals with some serious issues and the lyrics are often very bleak and reflective. Was this album any harder (or any easier) to make than your previous ones?
- Every album is a joy to make! Gruff writes lyrics from an honest and personal perspective, and there's been plenty of bad shit going on in the world to influence him to write. But I don't see it as a negative LP at all.
- Do you think that people pay more attention to serious sentiments if they can sing along to them?
- We are not politicians, we're musicians. I hope people pay attention to the lyrics as well as enjoy the tunes.
- Who (or what) is public enemy number one in your eyes?
- The Welsh football team, 'cos we're going to destroy everybody in Portugal 2004.