British indie rockers Foals are a bunch of Oxford University dropouts who also hail from Oxford. There single "Balloons" has just been released and their debut album "Antidotes" is released in March 2008.
The band received their name from a friend, who said they smell, they are feral and they are young - like foals.
Oxford rockers Foals
'We stand out like sore thumb'
By JACQUI SWIFT
Published: 13 Dec 2007
The Sun
Foals are:
Yannis Philippakis - Vocals/Guitar
Jimmy Smith - Guitar
Walter Gervers - Bass
Edwin Congreave - Keyboards/Samplers
Jack Bevan - Drums
"Anyone for a game of tennis with a cricket bat?"
FOALS are a bunch of Oxford University drop-outs who look set to be one of the hippest new bands of 2008 when their debut album Antidotes is released in March.
But the geeky-looking five-piece are keeping their heads down and ignoring all the hype that surrounds them.
Chatting from the back of the band’s tour bus on the way to a show in Aberdeen, mustachioed singer and guitarist Yannis Philippakis tells me: “We’re just ignoring all the hype as it can be a pretty dangerous thing. It’s not always good for bands to get exposed so early. We’re just going to keep our heads down and carry on with the writing.”
Foals release their brilliant single Balloons on Monday and it’s a quirky, off-beat love song which is instantly catchy and reminds you of the leftfield artiness of Talking Heads.
Yannis says: “I can see the comparisons to Talking Heads as we are massive fans, and PiL too, but I hope people see and hear that we take influence rather than just rehash old stuff like some bands do. We’re a bit cleverer than that.
The new single, "Balloons", from Oxford indie rockers Foals
“There’s too little room to try and do something fresh and there’s too many retro bands — we’re not like one of those.
“We stand out like a sore thumb as we’re not conventional — but that’s the way we like it.
“We’re not your usual guitar band as we take our influences from African music and dance, everyone from Michael Jackson to the Wu-Tang Clan, Afro Beat to The Jam and Techno.”
Foals — Yannis, bassist Walter Gervers, drummer Jack Bevan, guitarist Jimmy Smith and Edwin Congreave on samplers — formed nearly two years ago at a friend’s party.
Yannis says: “It was a bit of an accident really. We’ve been in bands since we were 13 but nothing really serious. Then we got together to play a house party for a friend and did some demos and loved it so much we dropped out of university — well, all of us apart from Jimmy — and concentrated on Foals.
“We were christened Foals by a friend as he said we are like a group of horses — we smell, we are young and are quite feral, running around and beating each other up a lot.
“Growing up in Oxford, we found the music scene there a bit poncey and we wanted to react a bit. But we all have a thing about becoming commercially successful. We grew up so against it and have never had any grand designs.
“Even when we started writing songs for our album, like Balloons, we were ashamed of the hooks in case it made the song too commercial or mainstream.
“We didn’t know if we could play it to our friends as they might call us sell-outs. But then we’d go back and start practising and found we really enjoyed it.
“So now we just think ‘F*** it’ and do as we like. We know our music is authentic and great whatever anyone says. We want to make music that’s universally accessible and we like the way pop music can unite cultures.”
For the album Antidotes, Foals called on the services of producer and TV On The Radio guitarist Dave Sitek and flew to New York to record it in the trendy Williamsberg district.
“We’re all big fans of TV On The Radio and love his direction on the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s album but he’s such a picky b******. He doesn’t really like bands, or music for that matter.
He is an outsider and practically lives in his studio, which has no windows or natural light, and orders food in every day. He doesn’t listen to any contemporary rock music or anything but it felt right.
“He brought in the brass element to the album — there is a lot of it — and elements of New York too.
“We’ve just finished the album properly and we should be celebrating but it’s taken a while to finish and, after 700 listens to each song, the buzz tends to wear off, though we still feel good about it. It’s the album we wanted to make and we are very proud of it.”
Yannis says Foals’ songs are pure escapism and his lyrics are often about dreams and meant to be visual.
He says: “I don’t write narrative lyrics because I see them as a dream and sometimes I am very cryptic.
“Our lives have been so boring and we have done every f****** job there is. I wrote a lot of lyrics when I worked in a cocktail bar, making drinks for people who didn’t appreciate them.
“Next year we plan to see more of the world and have tour dates planned in as far away places as America, Japan and Australia.We’ve done a lot of touring around the UK recently and have just signed to Sub Pop in the States, which we are thrilled about as we grew up listening to bands like Nirvana. I like a label to have history.
“I just hope people like our album. We want to prove you can be alternative and have a big platform — it doesn’t have to be a commercial sell-out. It’s not an album full of singles after chart positions as we’re not like that.
“We want to prove you can still do it without compromising as so many bands do.”
thesun.co.uk
The band received their name from a friend, who said they smell, they are feral and they are young - like foals.
Oxford rockers Foals
'We stand out like sore thumb'
By JACQUI SWIFT
Published: 13 Dec 2007
The Sun
Foals are:
Yannis Philippakis - Vocals/Guitar
Jimmy Smith - Guitar
Walter Gervers - Bass
Edwin Congreave - Keyboards/Samplers
Jack Bevan - Drums
"Anyone for a game of tennis with a cricket bat?"
FOALS are a bunch of Oxford University drop-outs who look set to be one of the hippest new bands of 2008 when their debut album Antidotes is released in March.
But the geeky-looking five-piece are keeping their heads down and ignoring all the hype that surrounds them.
Chatting from the back of the band’s tour bus on the way to a show in Aberdeen, mustachioed singer and guitarist Yannis Philippakis tells me: “We’re just ignoring all the hype as it can be a pretty dangerous thing. It’s not always good for bands to get exposed so early. We’re just going to keep our heads down and carry on with the writing.”
Foals release their brilliant single Balloons on Monday and it’s a quirky, off-beat love song which is instantly catchy and reminds you of the leftfield artiness of Talking Heads.
Yannis says: “I can see the comparisons to Talking Heads as we are massive fans, and PiL too, but I hope people see and hear that we take influence rather than just rehash old stuff like some bands do. We’re a bit cleverer than that.
The new single, "Balloons", from Oxford indie rockers Foals
“There’s too little room to try and do something fresh and there’s too many retro bands — we’re not like one of those.
“We stand out like a sore thumb as we’re not conventional — but that’s the way we like it.
“We’re not your usual guitar band as we take our influences from African music and dance, everyone from Michael Jackson to the Wu-Tang Clan, Afro Beat to The Jam and Techno.”
Foals — Yannis, bassist Walter Gervers, drummer Jack Bevan, guitarist Jimmy Smith and Edwin Congreave on samplers — formed nearly two years ago at a friend’s party.
Yannis says: “It was a bit of an accident really. We’ve been in bands since we were 13 but nothing really serious. Then we got together to play a house party for a friend and did some demos and loved it so much we dropped out of university — well, all of us apart from Jimmy — and concentrated on Foals.
“We were christened Foals by a friend as he said we are like a group of horses — we smell, we are young and are quite feral, running around and beating each other up a lot.
“Growing up in Oxford, we found the music scene there a bit poncey and we wanted to react a bit. But we all have a thing about becoming commercially successful. We grew up so against it and have never had any grand designs.
“Even when we started writing songs for our album, like Balloons, we were ashamed of the hooks in case it made the song too commercial or mainstream.
“We didn’t know if we could play it to our friends as they might call us sell-outs. But then we’d go back and start practising and found we really enjoyed it.
“So now we just think ‘F*** it’ and do as we like. We know our music is authentic and great whatever anyone says. We want to make music that’s universally accessible and we like the way pop music can unite cultures.”
For the album Antidotes, Foals called on the services of producer and TV On The Radio guitarist Dave Sitek and flew to New York to record it in the trendy Williamsberg district.
“We’re all big fans of TV On The Radio and love his direction on the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s album but he’s such a picky b******. He doesn’t really like bands, or music for that matter.
He is an outsider and practically lives in his studio, which has no windows or natural light, and orders food in every day. He doesn’t listen to any contemporary rock music or anything but it felt right.
“He brought in the brass element to the album — there is a lot of it — and elements of New York too.
“We’ve just finished the album properly and we should be celebrating but it’s taken a while to finish and, after 700 listens to each song, the buzz tends to wear off, though we still feel good about it. It’s the album we wanted to make and we are very proud of it.”
Yannis says Foals’ songs are pure escapism and his lyrics are often about dreams and meant to be visual.
He says: “I don’t write narrative lyrics because I see them as a dream and sometimes I am very cryptic.
“Our lives have been so boring and we have done every f****** job there is. I wrote a lot of lyrics when I worked in a cocktail bar, making drinks for people who didn’t appreciate them.
“Next year we plan to see more of the world and have tour dates planned in as far away places as America, Japan and Australia.We’ve done a lot of touring around the UK recently and have just signed to Sub Pop in the States, which we are thrilled about as we grew up listening to bands like Nirvana. I like a label to have history.
“I just hope people like our album. We want to prove you can be alternative and have a big platform — it doesn’t have to be a commercial sell-out. It’s not an album full of singles after chart positions as we’re not like that.
“We want to prove you can still do it without compromising as so many bands do.”
thesun.co.uk
