Biffy Clyro
On a sunny day in Wandsworth, DIY travelled to Beggars Banquet HQ to meet a typically laid back Biffy Clyro.
Posted 2nd March 2006, 4:36pm in Interviews, by Del Noble
On a sunny day in Wandsworth, DIY travelled to Beggars Banquet HQ to meet a typically laid back Biffy Clyro, fresh from playing the Kerrang! Day Of Rock the previous day. As Simon Neil (guitar, vocals), Ben Johnston (drums, vocals) and twin brother James Johnston (bass, vocals) took their places on the plush Beggars AV Deck Radio Station couches, we cut straight to the chase, and they proceed to give us all these great answers to all these great questions (sorry, couldn't help ourselves...)Your third album is called 'Infinity Land', what inspired this name and who came up with it?
Si: It was in a Jeffrey Dahmer book, he talks about his ideal place, which is called Infinity Land - his idea of heaven - which is really grim, being surrounded by corpses and shit. You don't know what it's about, it could sound hopeful, but when you know what it's referring to, it becomes quite sinister. In a way, it's kinda cool that people don't know what we're referring to, that people make up their own meanings for things... it could be quite optimistic, but it's not.
The song titles seem to get more and more cryptic, are there any explanations behind any of them?
James: A few of them are just things that have popped up when we've been hanging out or something.
Si: 'Pause It And Turn It Up' was when we were listening to some music and James was blitzed, and kept going "Aw man, quit and pause it and just turn it up!" He meant to say "rewind it" but just the way it came out was quite funny.
Ben: 'Some Kind Of Wizard', that was when we were watching some film, and one guy goes, [in a faux-American accent] "What we need is some kind of wizard!"
Si: Things like that, and another one - The Kids From Kibble and The Fist Of The Light... there's a detention centre in Scotland called Kibble, but it's not about that though...
...so had you been from London, it would've been called "Feltham Youth Detention Centre" or something then?
Si: Yeh, haha!
The artwork has changed with each album, is there anything symbolic behind the artwork for Infinity Land?
Si: Well he [artist Chris Flemming] just asked for the song titles, and just some snatches of lyrics and he just did different things, he's such a total artist.
James: It's just quite interesting to have someone else's work on it. The first two albums we had a kind of set artwork, but this has been a bit different.
Si: We've tried to ask him if there was a story or anything behind the pictures, but he's not wanted to tell us...
What have you been listening to lately, and what records inspired you most when you were writing the songs for Infinity Land?
Si: It's funny because the songs that influenced this album would've been what we were listening to back then, when we were recording Vertigo. We were listening to Dismemberment Plan...
James: We were listening to Sunny Day Real Estate a lot...
Si: It's hard to say what filtered through into the songwriting though, because we were listening to a lot of stuff...
James: Listening to Rush...
Si: And Q and not U...
Were you excited or disappointed about Glitter And Trauma reaching #21 in the charts, considering that had it been a few places up, you'd have been all over the telly on chart shows?
Si: I think it's really good because now it gives us somewhere to go with the new single. Hopefully the next single will do a bit better, it doesn't really matter that much to us, we're happy that people like our songs.
You guys seem to have your fair share of obsessive fans, and from what I've seen, you probably have a higher proportion of obsessives than other bands. Why do you think this is, and what do you think of the whole "biffier than thou" mentality?
[chuckles]
Ben: It's mega, we love it! I think the reason that it's probably like that is because Biffy hasn't been shoved in anybody's face, it's one of the bands you have to go out and get into yourself, which as you know probably makes a band more special.
Si: Also because we like to do things on our own terms, we've distanced ourselves from a lot of other bands out there, so we can't really be lumped in with other bands, which always helps.
James: I think some bands maybe they're sitting down and talking about how they're going to go about advertising campaigns for the new album, thinking about trying to get certain tours with certain bands, trying to play to a certain audience... We've just tried to do our own thing, go in the direction we want. Cos if we get lumped in with something, as soon as that dies, like the whole nu-metal thing... then that's it.
It's a well-advertised fact that you all have matching Biffy tattoos, what do you make of fans who show you Biffy tattoos they've had done?
Ben: Crazy...
James: The ultimate...
Si: We don't know what to say! Somebody likes our band enough to get a tattoo for life... it's a bit overwhelming, we don't want to spoil the illusion by saying "Aw, that's awesome!" even if it's shit... You don't wanna disappoint them.
Carrying on the fans discussion, you've always been a band who have a special kind of relationship with them, and over the last couple of years, although you've played larger and larger venues, you've also done shows, for example at Tuts last year, and on the Gonzo tour, which have been aimed more at the 'hardcore fanbase'. What do you make of bands like The Libertines playing these 'guerrilla gigs' all over the place, inviting their fans round their house and stuff, and what do you think these shows herald for the future of music?
Si: I think it's a good thing, but I think The Libertines are doing it to finance their smack habits, which isn't really the best reason. But I think it's cool, people doing gigs anywhere - although when we do a gig, we want to sound good, we're probably not suited to it as we like having all our equipment there and stuff. It's cool though, anything that's taking music to a new place is good, but I don't think it's going to change the world as much as anybody thinks.
James: I always get very cynical about things like this, I get cynical about anything that The Libertines do...
Si: I think it's more that people are interested in the tabloid stories they generate, but the problem is that it's really not got that much to do with the music...
James:...everything's got an angle to it, like, "What can we do this week that will get us into the papers?" and so on...
... when at the end of the day it's all about record sales, isn't it?
Si: Yeah, exactly, I mean, The Sun had 'Doherty Watch' or something for a couple of weeks didn't they? You know it's getting to a ridiculous stage by then.
James: Alan McGee had the cheek to say in Music Week, not that I'm a subscriber to Music Week, but that tabloid coverage just doesn't help the sales, and in actual fact the week after a big story, the sales went down.
Si: Yeah right!
And from that last question, what kind of gigs do you prefer playing, the small, intimate ones, or in front of a large crowd?
Ben: I think we like both. The big ones, like, Main Stage at Reading, is just unbelievable, because it's so overwhelming, but the small ones are great 'cause of the intimacy. I really can't choose between them.
Si: You can have shit gigs in both situations, and you can have great gigs in both situations. But I think because we've started playing slightly bigger gigs, whenever we do small places, there's something about the energy in a small place, but it doesn't always sound great.
Have you noticed any differences between the live crowds in Scotland and England?
Si: Because we're a Scottish band, and we've played Scotland more, it's hard to say... Because we're a Scottish band doing well in Britain in general, people in Scotland are really keen for a Scottish band to do well. But I mean, we played the Virgin Megastore in London yesterday, and the crowd went absolutely mental. So there's really not a lot of difference here - the British crowds in general are all pretty much the same.
Is there anything really bizarre that's happened while you've been on tour over the last year?
Si: There was... [looking at James and Ben] do you remember that time... when our bus got fucked that time?
Ben: Oh yeah...
James: Oh jesus yeah! At Nottingham Rock City, Goldie Lookin' Chain were playing as well, and we were partying in the dressing room. And I think some of the guys from GLC got in a fight with some local kids...
Ben: Nah, that's all wrong. Totally wrong.
[laughs]
Ben: I think we all made that up. There was an on-going battle between, I don't know what you call them, urban neds, just a group of guys, and the Hells Angels who run the Rock City. They turned up and tanned all the motors, totally regardless of whose they were, and our bus got smacked in. We were lucky we indoors 'cause it looked like it would've been quite scary, apparently there were bats and knives involved.
Si: I think that's gone from bizarre to rather sinister there!
Ben: I'm sure there's something else...
James: We had a minor 'Beatles incident' in Stockton... We were leaving the gig, and there were kids jumping up and smacking the windows on the van, and chasing us for miles. We'd stopped at lights and they'd come running after us!
What do you consider more important - being a good live band or releasing good records?
[all of them think very hard...]
Si: I think you roll into making good records if you're a good live band...
Ben: I think first and foremost it's important to be a good live band, cos if you can't... if you're not a good live band... ah fuck it!
James: It's kinda fair to say that but then if you're releasing records, that's what's going to have to last.
Si: Yeh, if you make shit records and you're good live, no-one's going to remember you're good live.
Ben: You've got to be able to get together in a room, and as a band, make a good sound, you stand more of a chance of being good live. But if you're not a good performer... fuck, this is so hard!
Si: I think you've just asked the impossible question!
You've got a few dates in America just before the big headline tour in the UK, have you got any plans to return there in the near future and visit other cities in the States?
Ben: Hopefully yeah, it all depends on how it goes while we're over there. This is like the reconnaisance mission. We're actually trying to shop around for a record deal over there at the moment, and if we get one, we'll just tell Britain to get to fuck and just stay over there!
[laughter]
James: I think we realised that if we wanted to sell records in America, we have to go out there, and we've played Britain a lot recently, probably because we've got more time on our hands.
Si: I think as well, because we've played so much, we're quite wary of going a bit overkill, and the thing is it'd be great to go to the States and play some shows over there. It's amazing that people come and see us play all the time, but we're quite aware that at some point, people are going to stop coming, or be like, "Oh, we'll just see them next time they play."
Aereogramme and Oceansize, both bands who you're closely linked with, have toured Europe recently - why have you not toured Europe more yourselves, and have you any plans to?
Si: We'd like to... I was going to say it's a record company thing, but it's obviously not if [Beggars Banquet labelmates] Oceansize are doing it! Hopefully we'll be doing it a bit more, we're going to France at the start of the next tour. I don't know why we haven't been over more, I think it's because we're doing quite well in Britain.
Ben: I think it's seen as a total step backwards, when we go over there we want there to be a bit more hype over here.
Si: Yeah, we just want a bit more of a buzz before we go out there... I think we've got a very European sound!
If you were to organise a one-day festival where you were the headliners, who else would you have on the bill?
Si: We'll go on first!
Ben: Yeah, like Shellac at ATP.
[all thinking hard]
James: I've got a band, but I think you'll laugh so I don't want to say... but someone like AC/DC!
Si: Yeah, Guns N' Roses... Rush! Lightning Bolt! Let's get them on, they'd headline. They'd just sit on the grass in front of the stage, probably... Um, Karate...
James: I'd still always love to see Weezer at their best, around the time of the Pinkerton release. I probably wouldn't go and see them now.
Si: At The Drive-In! Make it a two-day festival!
Are there any bands who you think don't deserve they hype they get?
All three: Yes!
Si: Lots... The Libertines, Good Charlotte...Every band over the last two years... haha!
There's been rumours of side-projects involving members of the band, can you clarify and tell us what's going on?
Si: Basically, I played guitar with Sucio[perro] at their last gig... but I'm not really going to say any more than that!
Could any of this constitute a break from Biffy work for a while?
Si: Never!
What would you be doing if you weren't in Biffy Clyro?
Ben: Doing sound for Biffy Clyro..
James: It's weird because we've been doing this since we were 16...
Si: Thing is, being in Biffy Clyro is all we were ever going to do. Even if we had 9-5 jobs, we'd still get together and be Biffy Clyro because we enjoy it.
[at this point, we tell them we've grabbed a few questions from fans from the Biffy messageboard...]
If you could own any object from a film, what would it be?
Ben: That's a great question, who asked that?
That was a guy from Sweden called Liam.
Si: Sweden?! Cool!
Ben: I'd get the light sabre that Obi-Wan Kinobe gives to Luke Skywalker.
James: I'd get one one of the hover-boards from Back To The Future 2.
Ben: Aw, that's a great one!
Si:......and I'd just get some shite!
Ben: You can get a sword or something...
Si:...I would take Elisha Cuthbert from The Girl Next Door!
[laughter]
Ben: That's a good thing to own!
If you could have anyone as your slave for a day, who would it be?
Si: I think I just found my slave!
Ben: I'd go for Kirsten Dunst...
James: I'm too nice for all that, I'd get them, and then I wouldn't want to do anything like that... Although we did meet Scarlett Johansen recently!
Which band member would make the best James Bond, and which band member would make the best Bond girl?
Ben: I'd be the best girl, cos I've got girl's legs... he'd be the best James Bond [points at James].
James: Yeh, I'd fuck you...
Si: Haha, rather fuck you than fight you, right?
James: Yeh, I'd make a good James Bond. I've got half the name already...
If you were superheroes, what would your names and special powers be?
James: We actually had a chat about this last night, which superhero we'd be...
Si: Yeah but we've got to make up our own ones...
Ben: I dunno, we'd probably be something like, 'Power Biffys' or something...
Si: I'd be able to guitar solo people to death! [he then plays air guitar and starts wailing]
Ben: I'd be able to fart amazing prog drum beats... [he then lifts his legs in the air and starts blowing raspberries... everyone laughs]
And finally, what does it for you - marmite or jam?
Ben: Marmite.
Si: Jam.
James: Yeh, jam as well.
Ben: Actually, marmite and jam together... no I'm kidding! Marmite and peanut butter is amazing though...
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