May 16, 2007
Kerrang Cover again!
Go and buy it, now.
Posted by Chris at 09:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 18, 2007
Observer Music Monthly
Great little article about British rock/metal over at the Observer.
Posted by Chris at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2007
Edith Bowman discussing TITP
There's a good old entry on Timesonline from 2005, with Edith Bowman talking about TITP in general, and Biffy get a mention. See? She's not just a recent convert...
Posted by Chris at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2007
UK Undercurrent
Never come across this site before, but it's pretty neat.
Key phrase for me: "album's devastating climax, 'Machines'." Ohh yeah. I'm also seriously digging chat about the orchestral arrangements!
UK Undercurrent - click on Biffy Clyro, and then scroll down the page a bit to see the article.
Posted by Chris at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2007
Daily Record Article
I didn't know Simon could play violin! :)
Posted by Chris at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2007
Kerrang Cover Stars!
That's true... the one, the only, Biffy Clyro, on the FRONT of Kerrang. Loverly.
We'll get the rest of the article tomorrow.
Good work, Toe!
Posted by Chris at 07:16 PM | Comments (5)
November 13, 2006
Rock Sound Interview
Where: The Warehouse, Vancouver
(Bryan Adam's Studio no less)
Recording: 4th Album
Producer: Garth Richardson
(R.H.C.P & R.A.T.M)
Title: Puzzle
Label: 14th Floor
Website: www.biffyclyro.com
Why did you want to record in Canada?
Says Simon Neil: "We thought of a bunch of people we wanted to work with and they were all over this side of the pond, so it was always going to be away from home. we spoke to all kinds of producers - Butch Vig (Nirvana producer of Garbage fame) was one - but garth was the one we had the best vibe with. There was a point when we considered doing it in LA too, but we thought there woud be too many distractions. But it's not so bad up in Vancouver - it's quite like Britain in a way. We're also going to be doing some recording in Garth Richardson's home studio which is up in the mountains just North of Vancouver and you have to take a ferry to get there, so it's virtually as isolated as you can get. It's the first album we've done that hasn't been produced by Chris Sheldon, so not having him there took a few days to get used to the way he works, but I think Garth's doing a great job and hopefully we're going to make the album of our lives together."
How many songs have you written for the album? "There are about 40 songs written, out of which we're going to record about 15 or 16. We actually had an entire album ready to go around this time last year, but due to our record company problems, we had to bin it because if we had done the same songs now, we would have been sick of the songs before they'd even come out. That's part of the reason we work so fast; we get bored with our own songs so easily. In an ideal world, this would actually have been our fifth album, but it wasn't meant to be.
For a band as prolific as you, having all that time off must have been hard, right? "Oh yeah; how can you be a band if you're not playing or recording? There was a period of about 6 months when we were just waiting on the lawyer's to sort everything out (BC were previously on Beggar's Banquet). It was a total pain in the tits and you start to worry that there's not going to be an end to all of it, but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run. The fact that we are doing the album probably shows that it was worth it already. It's such a cliche, but the business side of being in a band really does suck the life out of you."
What kind of direction do you think this album will take you in? "I don't know how much you might be able to hear in the album, but the fact that we've been listening to lots more different music than we usually do is probably significant somehow. We've had stuff like the Cars, U2 and the Police on recently, which is the sort of stuff you usually dismiss when your younger. I still think the album will sound totally like Biffy, but for the first time we've had the budget to really indulge our ideas, so there's an orchestra involved, a saxophone on one track, and parts of the album are pretty over-the-top. I think overall it's a darker album, too."
Biffy Clyro always seem to have great song titles, so what have you got this time? "Well, some of the best ones include 'Drop It, Dickhead', 'Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies', 'I'm Probably In Your Pocket', 'Semi-Mental', and '9/15'."
Why is the album called puzzle? "Because it's going to baffle everyone!"
Posted by Chris at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2006
Kerrang Interview
Biffy Clyro front man Simon Neil has revealed to Kerrang! That their forthcoming major label debut marks an exciting, fresh new chapter in their career.
Neil and his band mates – brothers James (bass) and Ben (Drums) Johnston – have spent the last two months in Canada, working on their follow up to 2004’s ‘Infinity Land’ with producer Garth Richardson (RATM, RHCP). Titled ‘Puzzle’, the new album sees Biffy Clyro putting personal difficulties of the last couple of years behind them and moving forward.
“We’ve had a rough few years,” confesses Neil. “After our last album, we went straight on tour and a lot of stuff happened in our personal lives. We didn’t really have time to assess it all because we were away all the time. It’s only recently we were able to deal with it.”
The band have split their time between two studios during the making of ‘Puzzle’, which isn’t due for release until next spring. Many of the tracks were recorded at Bryan Adams’ Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, which played host to Slayer when they recorded their 2001 album ‘God Hates us All’, and where AC/DC made their last album ‘Stiff Upper Lip’, in 2000. Most recently though, they’ve set up camp at Richardson’s secluded Farm Studios, 40 miles from Vancouver. Kerrang! Caught up with the frontman to discuss the latest Chapter in the Ayrshire trio’s career…
WHAT’S IT LIKE RECORDING YOUR ALBUM IN VANCOUVER?
The people are really cool and it’s a great place. We stayed in the city for about three weeks and we’re now in the mountains, which is miles away from anywhere. It’s a completely different vibe. On the way to the studio in Vancouver, you could see the smackheads dancing around in the street as the kids are going to school!
ARE YOU ENJOYING WORKING WITH GARTH?
He’s great, he’s very Canadian and is a great laugh. He’s really on the money! There’s also another guy working with him called Mike Frazer, who’s worked with AC/DC. They’ve both done so many cool bands. Mike has just worked on the Satyricon album, and he says we’re slightly more upbeat than they were. We’re doing the album as old school as possible, getting all the takes on tape and choosing the best performances. It’s been quite liberating.
IS THAT A NEW WAY OF WORKING FOR YOU ALL?
In previous situations, we’d have everything planned down to the last detail because of time constraints in the studio. We’ve been given a lot more time in the studio this time so we’re taking our time. We could easily have recorded four albums in the time we’ve been here, but we just want to make sure we’re taking full advantages of this and thinking things through a lot more than we’ve done in the past. We’re working with songs we’ve had written for a while and new songs we’ve written here. We don’t know yet how the album will take shape because there’s lots to do and lots of different things we want to try. We’re really focused and enjoying the way it’s coming together. It’s a really exciting time right now and we’ve got so many ideas we can go with.
WHAT HAS INFLUENCED THE LYRICS ON PUZZLE?
Because of what’s happened in our personal lives, the lyrics weren’t so much influenced by stuff I’d or seen, but it’s been more a case of pouring my heart out. I’ve tried hiding that stuff behind metaphors and phrases in the past, but now it’s personal and (xx). It’s a bit uncomfortable. I’m on the verge of changing certain things because they might be too intense for my relations and people I know.
HAVE YOU GOT A FAVOURITE SONG?
There’s a couple I’m really enjoying at the minute, they’re really rocking and simple. One song is drums and bass, with a tiny bit of guitar called ‘Love Has a Diameter’. We’ve reworked that and changed the rhythm and it feels amazing when we play it. There’s another called ‘Living is a Problem Because everything Dies’ and it’s one of the most complex songs.
“PUZZLE” WILL BE YOUR MAJOR LABEL DEBUT. HOW HAS THAT CHANGED THINGS FOR BIFFY CLYRO SO FAR?
We had a great time at Beggars and now we’re with Warners. It’s been really liberating. Any idea we’ve wanted to try, they’ve been able to help. We’re getting an orchestra in for ‘Living is a problem…’ and will use it on the song ‘9/15s’. We got a guy in to play sax and we were able to pay him! We’ve hired in an accordion and violins, and it’s exciting to be able to use different instruments instead of relying on just what we had in the studio at the time.
HOW WOULD YOU DECRIBE “PUZZLE”?
I would say less sarcastic, more triumphant! Some of the songs are going to be quite over the top and theatrical. As our albums do, we touch on all bases,. We have straight up pop songs, heavy songs. We’ve just honed what we do . I think we’re getting better at it as well. We’re making the weird stuff work, rather than weird for the sake of it. We’re really excited. We’re sitting in Vancouver making an album so why the fuck wouldn’t we be!? It’s unbelievable.
Posted by Chris at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2005
Kerrang
Why... I do believe that's Langey holding up a sign during all american rejects....
(If anyone knows the date of this article, that'd be cracking...)
Posted by Chris at 08:05 AM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2005
NME Article on Biffy Fans
I think the comments from Deejay nee' 'David' about 'my ex girlfriend used to put them on while we were making out' made me laugh for about a week. Genius. Interesting that they seem to think Del's from Inverness as well... did his London accent not give it away, no?
Posted by Chris at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)