Stages, Songs and Studios

Following a whirlwind career, Conlan Day talks to Feeder’s lead singer Grant Nicolas as Feeder prepare to re-enter the studio to record an astounding eleventh studio album since 1997.

_Hi there, how are you?_

Yeah good thanks, just at the studio doing some mixing for some new tracks.

_Oh Brilliant, So is the new album on the way soon then?_

Yeah, we’ve started mixing already. It’s been pretty hectic actually. We’ve done most of the recording; we’ve got about 18 tracks recorded and a couple mixed already so then we’re gonna pick the album from that list.

_Sounds good! Are the tracks that don’t make it to the album going to be available anywhere?_

Yeah, yeah! We may give away a track; we may give away something soon, we’re not sure yet. We’ll do it through the website; give away a taster or a free track … But yeah, it’ll all be used, be it for downloads, b-sides or bonus tracks.

_That’s good to hear, nothing goes to waste. So was there a major inspiration for the upcoming album?_

It’s a bit more eclectic, this album, than the _Renegades_ album … We really wanted the Renegades to be a really good rock album; really stripped back. That’s how the band started, so this new one has got elements of that. We recorded a few tracks at the same time as _Renegades_, and it’s got a few tracks that were recorded quite recently. But I mean, lyrically’s a lot of the songs that inspired me were things that were going on around me like the student riots – the next generation of people – and that’s been quite a nice thing to write about actually – I’m hoping that the young people will find a bit more in there for themselves this time round, y’know?

_So is this album a bit more political than previous albums have been?_

It’s not really political, it’s just great to have little ideas when you’re trying to write lyrics, you’re slightly governed by rhyme, so you can’t always use the lyrics that you’d like to use; it doesn’t rhyme or it doesn’t fit. Everything I write has some sort of meaning or has been fuelled by something I’ve seen or felt or read, or a character. I think this one, [the new album] covers city life, the whole youth thing, there’s a couple of love songs … it’s definitely got a vibe to it.

_You had your greatest hits released with The Singles album a few years ago; was it a momentous year when The Singles album was released and you had that under your belt?_

We called it _“The Singles”_ as it was really a reflection of what we’d achieved; we tried to sort of join the dots up and show the fans what we were about. It was really introducing our past history to people and it really worked for us, that album sold a lot – I think it’s gone double-platinum. It introduced the indie-rock side of Feeder to the people who’d mainly found out about us through the mainstream songs on radio, and it meant that we could start playing some of those songs live again.

_Do you ever feel mainstream hits like ‘Buck Rogers’ overshadow other songs of yours? Does it ever annoy you?_

Well, every band has it, it’s just that – as a writer – it’s a very simple, bizarre song … It just sort of happened really! I was writing a song for another band and when I played the demo it was quite edgy sounding; the record company fell in love with it. I was kind of terrified of it at the time; I wasn’t sure if it was the right move for us, but it has introduced Feeder to a lot of people. It was a bizarre, bizarre little tune, but I’m not gonna knock it; it’s been a very, very successful tune. I love the reaction it gets, you can’t complain about that.

_What has been the best moment of your career?_

Maybe, the first time we ever did a big stage. That, I feel was a real stepping stone for us, I think maybe the first time we did Reading [festival]? It was always our dream to get on a big stage; it was about working our way up from the Dr Martin Tent to the Main Stage, and we finally got on there and it we really felt we’d achieved something. Fleetwood Mac were watching us and after seeing us live they really started to give us their support. There’s been so many highs and lows but I’d say that although Comfort in Sound was a very weird time for us after the whole issue with Jon, it re-enforced my reasons for carrying on.

_Do you have a message for students at the moment?_

It’s a really tough time and I really feel for them, I know how tough it is; I’ve got a lot of friends with kids in the same position. The world in general is a really tough place, especially with all the government cuts – everyone’s getting shafted at the moment to be honest.

_It sounds as though all is well in the Feeder camp. The summer promises plenty of festivals and frivolities, and the new album looks to be released soon. Feeder are yet to announce a release date for their new album. In the meantime there are plenty of live shows to see, including a gig at the Leamington Assembly Rooms this Thursday 17th February._