So congratulations on the release of your album 'Radiosoul', so do you want to tell us a little bit about that and what the recording process was like?
The Recording process was quite messy at first to be honest. I started recording this record off the back of a really busy tour in 2022 and we finished it in December 22. Came back home and I was just like what the fuck am I going to record. We had been touring so much that year that I hadn't really recorded that much music because it hard to do both at the same time. So came back and I was like I'm going to try and produce my next album .Then I spent 2 months in my bedroom locked away doing nothing. Everything kind of fell apart and it didn't sound very good so I had a meeting with managment and I was like 'look this is what I've got' and they were like 'jeez this sucks'. So I had a bit brainstorming and I was like ok I need to change the way that I record. So I had all of these great ideas, problem was that I didn't I was good enough of a producer to put them together and materialise them. So I got a small list of people that I really appreciate and respect as producers and I was l.ike here I want to work with these people so I just did it basically. I went to all of these different studios in London and we jjust basically made the record in 3 months. It didn't take very long to be honest, all of the ideas were there it was just recording with different people.
What song was the most fun to make in the studio?
It was probably one called 'Beckham' because I did it with Dan Carey who is like the best producer ever to me and his stdio is really sick. He's really good at conserving energy in songs, if you listen to every Fontaines album apart from the new one, you can hear the energy because he produced all of them. The new one is good, I just mean he didn't produce it. Something about the studio, it's just in the back of his house and it's just really fun to record in, he's jiust really great and let's you do whatever you want to do which is cool.
Who would be your dream collab?
I mean Prince is definitely up there, I think Prince and I would've made a great song. I mean he's right at the top. I'd love some Joni Mitchell harmonies on a song. I'd probably say those 2 really. There's so many good artists, I'd love to get produced by Magee.
What was the overall inspiration of the album compared to 'Mellow Moon'?
It was quite a contrast really because this album was made in response to ‘Mellow Moon’ in the way that it was made and the way we toured it. ‘Mellow Moon’ was my first album and I didn’t really know what I was doing, like I recorded most of it in the pandemic in 2020 at my house. So I didn’t really know what I was half the time because we were in a pandemic, what was I singing about because it was the same thing everyday so it was an album of its time really. So I wanted to make something that was a complete flip from that and I basically wrote it about how I had just gone on tour for the first proper time, played 100 shows and felt very overwhelmed just by everything and I kind of wanted to just put that into an album. Just say look I don’t really know what’s happening and I don’t really know where I want to go next. This album is just me saying he’s a billion different pathways and all of the songs sounds quite different because I’m saying I have so many different places that I want to go to but I don’t really know how to go to them. So it was just like ok I’m going to cross my fingers and just hope that everything kind of comes together and sounds kind of coherent you know. It really was just a bit of a scatter brain album, I don’t really have a particular sound right now I just want to play music and have fun with it. Where ‘Mellow Moon’ was like ok I’m making an indie pop album in my bedroom.
If 'Radiosoul' could soundtrack any film or TV show which one would you choose?
To be honest I think some of those songs could be great in The Simpsons man. Even Futurama, any of those shows. It’s kind of acidy because The Simpsons and Futurama are acidy.
What's been a core memory since the album release and celebrating ?
It’s funny you ask that because I feel like we’re only about to tour it now. We’ve only really done a few in stores and a couple shows so the main kind of memory I have of this tour so far is actually just meeting people after the shows. I just think of me and Jos, my guitarist and best mate, turning up to a tiny little vinyl store and setting our amps up and drinking about 7 beers before we play and messing up all the chords. Just meeting people and signing records and being overwhelmed by people being overwhelmed and loving that feeling because the energy is amazing and it’s just really lovely to meet people. So that’s a core memory really, meeting a load of new people, I think I was really surprised by the amount of people that I’ve never met before at our signings. I thought it was going to be a lot of the same faces but it’s really nice to see new people become a fan and mixed in with everyone.
So with tour coming up pretty soon, do you have any pre-gig rituals?
You know what, it’s a bit shit because I don’t really. I think we use to do stupid stuff to be honest, me and Jos use to beat each other up a bit. We use to have a really disgusting one if you go to the loo before you go on stage, don’t wash your hands. You need a bit of first while you play. That was an old one but obviously we’re not teenagers anymore so we’ve actually got better at hygiene. I’m trying to think because these days we haven’t really got one. I need to put one together and figure it out because I’m pretty sure we use to scream too in the back of the room to open up our lungs.
What song are you most excited to play on tour?
There’s a few, ‘Radiosoul’ the title track is really fun to play just because there’s so many different parts to it, it’s very musical and very fun and long flowing song. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ is really fun to play just because people really enjoy it and have a boogie. I’m really looking forward to revisiting a bunch of older stuff. I think this time around we’re really going to try and go back, now I’ve got 6/7 years of music behind my back I think it’s time to reanalyse what we’re playing. We normally just play the music that’s just come out whereas now I just want to collect it all up and make it an eras tour.
So on this tour, is there any cities that you're most excited to revist or visit for the first time?
I’m excited for the whole of the UK tour to be honest, I’m actually really really gassed about it. We keep doing these one off gigs and it’s a bit annoying because I really like the experience of checking into your Travelodge and eating crap and stuff. We only get to do that for one day or two days and with Leeds it got cancelled. I’m just really excited to just go up and down the UK, there’s just something about it that’s really fun especially at the end of the year so that’ll be sick. I’m also really excited to go to Mexico. We played it a couple years ago but we did it at like a festival. Last time we did it, we left our guitars out in the sun before we played so when we went on stage all of the strings broke but we were in Mexico so it was sick and everyone loved it anyways. This time we actually have a chance to play a good show in Mexico. Its like a headline show, I don’t know what’s going on but it’s like a 2000 capacity room and we’re sharing it with Anna Of The North which is a sick singer from Norway so I think it’ll be jokes. I don’t know how many people will come but the energy will be sick and we actually have a lot of amazing fans in Mexico so hopefully it’ll actually be
quite full. The fact that it’s a bigger venue than our main headline show in the UK is crazy.
What's the funniest thing that has happened while touring/performing?
There’s been a few funny moments. We met this guy in Liverpool he was helping us load in and was like I’ll selling you a 3.5 if you want. Then the next time we walked down the road and he was just there outside one of the pubs in Liverpool. He was like “ah I’m just at one of my mates funeral, do you want to come and crash the wake?” He just brings me in and is like here’s this vodka and stuff and do you want this shot? He was an absolute legend. He just took me to his mates funeral and we just got all these pictures together. So that happened at The Grapes but the last time we were there I think I was upstairs just having a pint of Guinness and Jos went downstairs and he just met all of Fontaines. They were just all there having a pint.
If you could choose any celebrity to feature in a music video, who would you pick?
I want Cillian Murphy to star in ‘Beckham’ and be all undercover and sly and shit. I want him to be a cooler version of me and dramatise me being on tour but make me look really cool.
What's next for you?
Well weirdly I’m trying to record by myself again and I think hopefully I’m going to put out and EP end of this year or start of next year of a bunch of different tunes and different vibes, I want to move on. Every time I release something I want to change my sound. I know I probably have less fans than I use to because of that because I’m constantly moving away from that but it doesn’t really bother me because I just like doing it. So yeah keeping changing the sound, keeping making new stuff, just keep trying to excite myself and see what happens I guess. Keep touring, see how long I can stay relevant. Two more tours, two more albums and then probably write songs for other people.
Words - Katie Graham
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