Singer Matthew Davies-Kreye is charmingly humble when he discusses the band’s commercial success. “It’s something you don’t expect,” he says. “I know our music isn’t that easy to digest, we do have some melodic moments but I do get surprised that we translate to a more mainstream audience. I guess we also have the chance to introduce people into a whole new circle of bands that they otherwise mightn’t listen to and that’s a real bonus.”
Like many of their contemporaries, lineup changes have plagued the band. These changes haven’t been born out of drama, no one has stormed off stage or left in a maddened state following a dubious lover’s tryst, but they have chopped and changed a fair bit and the most recent inclusion was Pat Lundy taking over skins duties after drummer Ryan Richards departed last year. Their sound has steadily evolved during this time rather than ever undergoing a sudden shift in direction and Davies-Kreye is thoroughly enthused by Lundy’s contributions. “We were writing this album and we had a particular idea in mind so when Pat went to record the drums he added a new energy to the sound,” he says. “He has a really different approach to how he plays compared to how Ryan played so it felt like it had a more cutting edge to it and we were really excited. I think Pat is one of the best drummers we’ve ever played with hands down. He made things more natural and didn’t overdo things for the sake of it.”
Long-term FFAF producer Romesh Dodangoda steered the ship as producer once again and it seems as though he’s becoming part of the Funeral furniture. “For the last few records Romesh has really shaped the sound of the band and he seems to really have a handle on what we can and should do,” he says. “In terms of recording, he was open to the idea of things like doing the vocals naturally with a microphone like I’d use on stage and doing just three or four takes of a song all the way through and picking the best one rather than trying to make every moment absolutely perfect. Some producers are really rigid; they’ll have their microphone and have the singer perform over and over and go in and cut and paste everything. That’s something we try to avoid and he’s really receptive to the different ways bands want to work and he’s an honorary member of the band.”
With this the band’s most extensive Australian tour to date, Davies-Kreye and co. are enjoying the time they have to spend in every corner of this brown land. They’re driving and not flying for once – in fact Davies-Kreye is sheltering from the rain in a car park halfway up the east coast when we chat – and they’re loving the opportunity they have to play to audiences that go beyond flybys of the major cities. This tour is a metaphor of sorts for the calm and centred approach that the band has right now. While the line-up changes were born out of circumstance, they have led to FFAF finding exactly who they are. “I think right now – we happened to be in discussion about this the other day – I think that if any of the members left at this point, I think we’d probably call it a day,” he says. “Right now we feel like we’re in a really positive place and are so happy to have the people that we have in the band. I think we’re more Funeral For A Friend these days than when we first started out and we’re totally a unit. We’ve had previous members come and go but we didn’t always share the same opinions on music or have the same ideas of how we wanted to run the band like we do.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
