We are just a really good band! 3 Schotten auf dem Weg unser aller Leben zu verändern…
05.05.2007
Biffy Clyro ist eine Band aus Schottland, die allerdings ganz anders klingt als alles was man seit einigen Jahren vom hohen Norden gewohnt ist. Die Band kreiert Musik der Sonderklasse, dabei ist der Aufbau der Musik nicht einmal so unglaublich einzigartig: laute Gitarren gepaart mit hämmernden Schlagzeug, starke Basslines umschmeicheln rhythmische Melodien.

Und trotzdem: Biffy Clyro tragen eine Aura mit sich, die unbestechlich von allen anderen Musikformationen hervorragt. Intelligent, direkt und mit einer seltenen Ehrlichkeit verzaubern die Jungs von Biffy Clyro bereits in ihrer Biografie:

Zusammenfanden sich die drei Musiker bereits in den 90er Jahren, wobei sich Schlagzeuger James und Bassist Ben schon seit ihrer Geburt kennen. Die beiden verbindet nämlich nicht nur die Liebe zur Musik, sondern auch dasselbe Gesicht. Zwillingsbrüder in einer Band ist wirklich mal etwas Originelles. Mit viel Fleiß und Geduld spielten sich die Schotten rund um Sänger Simon Neil von Club zu Club in Schottland und England und können mittlerweile auf eine Fanschar zurückgreifen, von der so manch andere Band nur träumen kann. Mittlerweile haben die talentierten Biffy Clyro schon 3 Platten herausgebracht, und ihre Vierte, mit dem Titel „Puzzle“, klopft am 4. Juli an die Türen und bittet um Einlass in unsere Ohren.

Von Platte zu Platte erfinden sich die Musiker neu und immer wieder schaffen sie es, sich in neue Sphären zu spielen und kreieren.

Die neue Platte wird laut den Musikern die beste sein, die sie bisher gemacht haben. Mit ihr haben sie auch ihre Aufnahmeroutine geändert, hatten sie doch die zweite Platte „Vertigo of Bliss“ an nur einem Tag eingespielt. So nahmen sie sich diesmal so richtig viel Zeit: „For every album we are trying to create new goals and new challenges for ourselves and I think we wanted to know how it is, to spend a lot of time for recording”, erklärt Sänger und Gitarrist Simon. Facettenreich wie die Band selbst wird auch ihr neues Album werden. Im Zentrum des lyrischen Spektrums steht der Tod der Mutter von Frontman Simon, der im Interview erklärte, dass es sowohl schön als auch bizarr ist, seine Gedanken und Gefühle mit tausenden von Fans zu teilen: „You are definitely taking parts of your soul in the lyrics. We are writings songs for the right reason“.

Einen Vorgeschmack auf „Puzzle“ kann man sich schon mal bei der aussagekräftigen Single „Living is a problem, because everything dies“ holen, die am 14. Mai released wird.

Am 5. Mai gastierten die sympathischen Drei als Support der Jungbriten Bloc Party im Wiener Gasometer. Zuvor aber durfte ich Simon, Ben und James zum offenen Interview bitten, in dem mir die drei Schotten verrieten, wie wenig sie mit Songs über „cool new shoes“ anfangen können und wie gerne sie doch eine Band wären, die die Menschen ein Leben lang in ihrem Herzen herumtragen.

Meine Kollegin Karin und ich waren uns auf jeden Fall einig: Der schottische Dialekt ist verdammt schwer zu verstehen UND Biffy Clyro sind nicht nur unglaublich talentiert, sondern auch eine der sympathischsten „superhuman“ Bands, die wir bis jetzt treffen durften.

Britishrock: How is the tour with Bloc Party going so far? Do you enjoy it?

Simon: Yeah, it has been brilliant. They are great guys and we have been enjoying each show so far. And it is a good chance to play to people, who have no idea we exist as a band, it is a nice introduction.

Britishrock: So you hope you are getting a lot of fans through this opportunity?

Simon: Yeah well, I think we play much heavier music so we are much more of a Hardrock Band, but it just great to play on front of so many people. We enjoy it very much.

Your 4th album “Puzzle” will be released in June. What can you tell your fans about this new album, just in a few words?

Ben: The new album is more direct than the previous albums. I think the songs give a little bit more space to breath and there are not so many ideas on it. We just concentrated on a few ones as strong as possible.

James: It is much better than the other albums. It will be the best album you will hear all year. (General laughter)

Simon: Have you heard it yet?

Britishrock: No, unfortunately. But on 4th of June (Release day) I will head to the store and get me one.

Britishrock: When do you know that it is time to do a new album? Do you have to be in a certain mood or is your idea more rational, that you record when you have enough ideas?

Simon: I think as soon as we are excited enough by our new songs we go and record. For this album we had to take a one year break, because we changes the record company and that was strange for us because we normally tour for a year and record and album then tour again and record a new album. For this album we had 40 songs to choose from, so we knew we are going to have a great new album when we are finished.

Britishrock: Wow, 40 songs? When do you find the time to write all those songs when you are touring all the time?

Simon: It just happens I guess. You never really know when you are going to write a song. But mostly it happens when we are at home, we don´t really write when we are on the road so when we are at home for a few days, we try to get some new ideas.

Britishrock: With this new album you changed your record habits. I read that you recorded the second album in just one day. This album took a way more time to get finished. Do you think that “Puzzle” is the most rethought album?

Simon: I think we definitely wanted to do it in a different way. For every album we are trying to create new goals for ourselves and new challenges and I think we wanted to know how it is, to spend a lot of time for recording. We always have all the songs written before we go into the studio, so it was just a case of having patience and building it up more slowly with the band. For the next album we might go back to do it in a day, so we will see.

Britishrock: In your biography you write about the importance of being independent. Now you signed a major deal with Warner, did you loose a bit of independence?

James: We signed with an almost independed label, which is founded by Warner. But even so, we have done 3 albums anyway, so nobody would take our independence. We are still honest with what we are doing.

Simon: I mean the main thing for us was to get the chance to tour the whole world. With an Indie-Label you are very restricted with money, we have only played Vienna once before and that was four years ago. It just gives us the chance to bring our music to as many people as possible. So it definitely hasn’t changed our way of thinking or music.

Britishrock: Is it true that you are still practicing in the same old little rehearsal room, without windows?

James: (laughs) No, we changed. It was so tinny so we had to. We have upgraded to a farm, which is cool.

Britishrock: Because I wanted to ask if this room is like a retreat- centre for you…

James: That was just because it was free, and we have never had any money.

Simon: If we could have practiced in a castle we would have practiced there.

Britshrock: Cool, you guys are honest! (general laughter)

Britishrock: While other bands get famous through the Internet, so in a very fast way, you decided to go the long way with playing live very very often. Do you think that is the smarter way r to stay in this business?

Ben: I think you have to have a lot of patience to do it like we have done it. It definitely worked for us. I think all these things like MySpace can make you famous very quickly, but only for a short term. But it doesn’t really give bands the chance to develop behind closed doors. I think it can be a good thing and a bad thing.

Simon: But I think it is still for the good bands, the Internet works for. If you are not a very good band, the Internet wouldn’t help you because of this mass of new bands. You still have to be good to be noticed.

Britishrock: I loved the quote on your homepage about “not understanding an album with the first listen”, because that is exactly what I am thinking. So could each of you name one album, where we had to grow in and after that it got one of his favourite albums or band?

Ben: The first time a listened to Pearl Jam I didn´t like it. Probably two or three weeks later I went back to it and listed to it again and it became one of my favourite albums. It was definitely worth to go back and listen to it again a little bit closer.

Simon: For me it was a band called “Far”, which is an American Band. I bought their first album and I hated it. Later I took it back and recorded it on a cassette and like 2 months later it was the only tape in my car and I kept listing to it and finally I understood it. Now it is one of my favourite albums, it is going to stuck with me I guess.

James: It is a band called “Breed”, and with the first listen of one of their albums it sucked. And then we went to see them live and the energy was incredible and I went back to the album and now they are one of my favourite bands.

Britishrock: So you needed the live-performance to get into their music?

James: Yeah, a lot of people say that about us too, but I think our records are great! (general laughter)

Brithishrock: The Kerrang!- magazine wrote “This band will change your life”. Was/Is that your intention?

Simon: We definitely want to make music to get into peoples life for a long time. We don´t want to be the cool band of the moment, like Panic! at the Disco. We rather be a band that stays with people through their entire life. We are lucky enough that we had the chance to make four albums, although we are not a huge band. But we are claiming up and rather change peoples life than be fashion- accessory. That is much more important to us.

Britishrock: Did you know that a lot of Austrians do know Biffy Clyro?

Band: Really?

Britishrock: Yeah! Unfortunately a lot of people don´t know that you are supporting Bloc Party tonight. That is a pity!

Anyway, Simon you are writing all the lyrics. Is that something that cleans you up from the inside and helps you to get over problems? (note: The album “Puzzle” is partially based on the death of Simon´s mother)

Simon: It just happens as I sing in this band I write the lyrics. It is definitely nice to express yourself in the lyrics and people can get to hear what is going on in your head. It is nice and bizarre. But then some people think they know you as a person because they know your lyrics, but that is not always the case. It is just a part of me, not the entire person. You are definitely taking parts of your soul in the lyrics. We are writings songs for the right reasons.

Britishrock: And how is it for you to express your feelings in front of thousands of people?

Simon: If it is going well, it is really great. If people aren´t getting into it or can´t connect, it can be frustrating because you are putting so much in your music and lyrics. That is kind of tough to take. In the UK we are playing quite big shows and if you get to a thousand people singing along to every word it is an incredible feeling and it is hard to explain how amazing that feeling is.

Britishrock: That sounds really beautiful. But are you sometimes afraid that you will have a sort of Burnout, that you are running out of ideas and that there is nothing worth to write about?

Simon: Yeah, you always have to be aware of that as a songwriter. If you don´t want to write about the same things again and again and try to create something different. We haven´t run out of ideas yet, but anybody can get to the end every moment. Fortunately we haven´t yet.

Britishrock: Great, I hope you will continue with all your good ideas.

Britishrock: You have to have good ideas to stay in the music business for a long time. So how big is the chance that bands in our time will be remembered as a classic band like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, especially with all these young “UK- Bands”?

Simon: I think the problem a lot of bands have or make, is that they are trying to become f.e. the Rolling Stones and forget to create their own history. I think the internet has made it harder for bands to have that kind of mystery. Back in the days where The Rolling Stones developed, they could have had 10 albums and nobody would know any personal stuff about them. And the Internet makes bands a lot more normal which is a good thing, because that is what bands are, just superhuman. But it definitely makes it harder for bands to have a long life. You can check them on Youtube or on Myspace, and you know everything about them. I think it is nicer not to know everything about a band. But anyway, I hope we continue making records and hopefully we can be the new “Rolling Stones” (Laughter)

Britishrock: So, you would accept this huge inheritance?

The Band: YEAH…but

James: We don´t want to be the Rolling Stones. (Laughter) We won´t be as huge as the Rolling Stones, but we are just a really good band!

Ben: I don´t think the Rolling Stones had something like a benchmark, that tells that they are going to get a band that chances culture. If you are lucky enough to be one of the chosen ones, you have gotten the biggest goal. But you can’t really decide to be one of those bands.

Britishrock: It seems that you are recreating yourselves with every new album. So how can we imagine Biffy Clyro in 20 years?

James: To be honest: We have no idea! We are not going to put any limits on what we are doing, so we can do anything. It is exciting!

Simon: It could be a straight Pop- Record, or a Heavy Metal Album, it could be an orchestral- classical record…

Britishrock:…or and Trance-Dance-Rave-Techno Record? (general laughter)

Ben: That is the next album actually…

Simon: A New New Rave- Record…

Britishrock: Oh wow, I will tell your fans so they can stock up on whistles and light- skewers. (laughter) Hopefully you will avoid that! Thank you so much for the Interview and see you tonight!

BIFFY CLYRO, 05.05.2007 (Wien, Gasometer)  

05.05.2007, 21:01 von M. Punz