Party at the Funeral

Indie dance-punk group Funeral Party are currently the opening act for 30 Seconds to Mars on their UK tour. I travelled to Birmingham NIA to see what the breaking, East-LA five-piece had to offer. They opened the show with a mesmerising, incredibly energetic set, complete with typical frontman antics from effortlessly cool Chad and a frenzied, passionate vocal delivery. The set included tracks from their upcoming album ‘Golden Age of Nowhere,’ notably, ‘Finale’ and ‘Just Because’. Closing the show with LA anthem, ‘NYC Moves to the Sound of LA,’ or ‘NYC can suck my balls,’ as introduced on stage.

I sat down with the band’s vocalist and keyboard player, Chad Elliott, after the show to find out a bit more about one of, ‘NME’s 50 Best New Bands of 2010.’

_So you’re currently on a massive tour with 30 Seconds to Mars and Enter Shikari, how has the experience been so far?_

It’s been a little crazy. We were just talking about this earlier, it’s kind of a weird mix. I mean you have us, and we’re all crazy, and then you have Enter Shikari, who have some sentimental songs and then they have their hardcore side, and then you know, the theatrics of 30 Seconds to Mars, so it’s probably a wild show.

_What would you say the best aspects of touring are?_

Well over here it’s completely different from when we tour in the States. We like it over here, the people are definitely more polite, we get treated way better. I guess in LA, people aren’t really impressed by musicians, unless they’re like huge musicians, so everyone kind of gets treated poorly. But over here it’s awesome.

_And what would you say are the worst aspects of touring? Do you miss anything or anyone from home?_

I miss a couple of friends, you know. I wish that I could spend some of the experiences that I’ve had here with people from back home.

_So you mentioned that in Britain there’s a nicer atmosphere whilst touring. What do you think of the British fans?_

I think the English really appreciate music more. People get more crazy! The crowd out there was really cool tonight, it was really fun, especially for probably, I bet more than 50% of them don’t even know who we are, and for them to show us that reaction! Wow.

_You played Reading and Leeds this Summer, how did that go?_

It was pretty crazy. I mean, first of all when we heard that we were going to play it was really exciting because, you know I’ve only seen those on TV, so to be a part of something that’s so historical, to me, was pretty off the wall. When we were there we got a good response, we filled the tents up… God, I came out of that thing so muddy. I lost my shoes a couple of times!

_So, speaking of history, what sort of music inspired you growing up?_

A lot of Motown. My family really, really likes Motown. But music was not really a big part of my life, as far as me picking up my own CDs, until I was a teenager. But as a child music really mainly focused around holidays, so when the family would get together there would be music playing all the time. So yeah, a lot of Stevie Wonder, a lot of Jackson 5, and all that, some good stuff.

_Which bands do you listen to now? Have you got a favourite album of 2010?_

2010’s favourite album. Hmm… You know I don’t know if I have a favourite of this years. The last album that I’ve really, really been playing a lot has been, I think it’s the Girls’ album.

_You’ve just made a new video for ‘Finale’ the lead single for your new album ‘Golden Age of Nowhere’, what was the process of filming that like?_

It was really fun. For ‘Finale’, it was like a big set up. We showed up and there’s a set, there’s extras, there’s catering, it was like wow this is an actual video. And the storyline was cool because I actually got to write the story line, so the whole story concept is from my head. So it was really awesome, I really love that video.

_And you’ve got your new album out in January?_

January the 24th, ‘Golden Age of Nowhere’, it’s an album we’ve recorded, almost a year and a half ago now. It’s been delayed, for whatever reason. The Label just want to keep going back and making it as perfect as possible. We’re really proud of it as a band. It has a lot of our first songs that we ever wrote together. It’s very energetic.
I read a review already and someone was like, ‘I put it in, in the morning and I didn’t need coffee, it woke me up.’ So I think if you’re looking for something, you know like that then I think that you would find it in our CD.

_**Funeral Party’s debut album, Golden Age of Nowhere is set for release in the UK, January 24th, 2011.**_