Liam Fray of The Courteeners at Academy of Music, photo by John Packer | Blank Slate Photography
The Courteeners
look very at home whether on stage or sitting 'round in the Plough
& Stars as we settle in with Liam, Michael and manager David for
some drinks and a bit of chat about their first US tour, the band's
Mancunian status, and being chosen to open this half of the Tour Of Refusal supporting one of their very own; Morrissey. The
Courteeners will play a special Girl About Town sponsored engagement
(one of their very few non-support dates) right here in Philadelphia,
tonight—Tuesday, March 24th—at The North Star Bar.
Formed
in Manchester in around 2006, the band became fast-featured in UK press
upon the exciting release of their Stephen Street-produced (The Smiths, Morrissey, Blur, Kaiser Chiefs) debut album, St. Jude,
last April. The album was released by Polydor and early-on hit a high
position in the UK charts, eventually going on to achieve Gold status.
Already at work on their newest album, the band has excitedly been
cutting the new songs into their live sets in anticipation. Of course
we had to work in a little football talk—was it Manchester or City?
"Manchester United all the way," said Liam. And on the topic of
controversial England coach Capello and The Courteeners' own bassist
with the similar sounding name? "Oh, we think we'll keep him. We like
him alright; and he is a great bass player!" Cheeky monkeys! The
Courteeners are: lead guitar and vocals Liam Fray, drummer and vocalist
Michael Campbell, guitar Conan Moores, and bassist Mark Cuppello, not
Capello.
Girl About Town: Has America lived up to your expectations so far?
Liam: Yes,
definitely. We weren’t sure if anyone had even heard of us in America.
The crowds have been phenomenal. Very, very receptive. I think it helps
when you’re backing up somebody like Morrissey. Obviously, his fanbase
is….a very loyal one. So when they see that he has tipped somebody
else, suggested that they would be a good band….they’re already half
way there because of it.
Do you feel as though you are given a kind of ‘stigma’ being a band that comes from Manchester, or ‘Madchester’ as it was known to those who were listening to Manchester-scene bands (probably in their mid-to-late 30s and above, now)? And does this kind of ‘stigma’ make you feel as though you have something more to prove?
L: Yeah, I mean, it's an unnecessary weight on our shoulders I think. People expect you to be, that you have to be as good as the Stone Roses or The Smiths, straightaway. A lot of bands have trouble in Manchester, because of that. And, you get comparisons, straightaway. We’ve been compared to every single Manchester band (within good reason), most of the time even in the same review. Which is in no way, a kind of….bad thing, but ultimately we’re doing our own thing. We’re not trying to sound like Oasis or rip off The Stone Roses. It’s purely geographical. But, again; Manchester is where we’re from. We’re very proud of it, and the songs have a semi-universal meaning. Everything is written from where we’re from. This is possibly more of an English, press-thing though, that we’re not expecting to happen while we’re over in America. I only write songs because I love singing, and I love playing the guitar. I don’t care much for people who write reviews; unless it’s a good one—and then they can have all of my time!
Where did the name "The Courteeners" come from?
L: The rumor is that I came up with it, but nobody knows. Dave will probably claim that it was him!
And how long have you all known eachother?
L: Ah, well, we’ve known eachother all since we were knee-high to a grasshopper!
What inspires your songs and your music?
L: We kind of stumble across them. We don’t really go looking for a sound, maybe for the second album, we tried to channel things more….precisely, maybe, to get a certain….feeling. I nearly said ‘vibe’ there. I hate that term ‘vibe’. I had 7 or 8 songs, and I usually play acoustic guitar on my own, and when I ask Campbell if he’d like to play with me, I just end up shouting really loud over the drums—which explains the kind of, yodel, of the singing voice.
How did you come to the point of releasing your first album, St. Jude?
L: Through being a very good live band. We just have a lot of strong songs and people have a lot of faith in us—it’s good! We were playing a lot of big shows before being signed; it was a ‘word of mouth’ thing. It happened quite quickly. We had already had a lot of gigs in Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool before it came out.
Do you think Manchester has a supportive live music scene?
L: I think it can be. It can be very supportive….it can be very….unsupportive—it can be scathing. But, I think that’s what makes you good; it’s what kind of, what sets you up, then. It’s like, someone will say something very nice, and then someone will say something not very nice. You learn to deal with that—it happens in all walks of life. So. I don’t get hopped up on what 'such and such' said.
The arrangement of your live set has you moving between rock n’ roll to rocking a bit of the power ballad in the middle of the set—what made you choose these songs for your first dates of the tour? Did it seem a bit risky to break up the set like that for a brand new audience?
L: Well, it’s difficult when you’re playing a support show. If you get like, a half an hour set, with only 7 or 8 songs—you want to play the ones you enjoy the most. Really, we just play what we want to play.
Will you be changing the set up on these dates, then, versus playing the same set every night?
We will! Normally, if we were doing our own gig—we’d play about 18 or 19 songs. And there’s only room right now for like, 9 or 10. So we have to leave our norm behind, and this also makes it different for us.
Michael, what is your favorite song to play live?
Michael: Good question! I like, well….our album St. Jude came out in April in the UK, and since the turn of the year—last year, we’ve kind of been doing more of the second album. And while I love St. Jude, and playing songs from that album, there is nothing quite like playing new songs. We have two newer songs that we were playing tonight, and one of the ones from there (I love playing). “Good Times Are Calling”, it's called. It’s a great song, it’s just....metaphorically and lyrically…. [It has a driving beat?] Yeah, and I just really enjoy playing it! It’s not like, don’t let’s come across as us saying, you know, that its in any way detrimental to St. Jude…but its right up there with songs like “Bide Your Time”, I love playing that song.
And, Liam, what’s the cleverest lyric that you think you’ve ever written--something that strikes you? A lyric that makes you stop and think whenever you sing it.
L: How
long have you got! Ehhh…let’s see. I liked the first line tonight in
“No You Didn’t No you Don’t” where it says, “just because I use salty
phrases and I go through stages Where I neglect endeavor does it
mean I'm not clever?”. Because I think, you know—being from the North,
if you use a ‘swear’ word, then you’re automatically bastard-ed off as
this, you know, ‘oik’ of a drunk.
Like being ghettoized, or being branded as what some might call a ‘thug’?
L: Almost. It’s just kind of....ridiculous. And, the length of my eyelashes are very full, so....
Holding down the middle 'c'; Mike and Liam surrounded by Conan and Mark
What is the next step for The Courteeners?
L: World Domination. Yes, absolutely. No, but really—we’re looking forward to tackling America!
How did the support call come about for doing the Morrissey tour?
Liam: He knows his stuff; doesn’t he? He knows his stuff.
Michael: He came to a show, yeah
Liam: ….knocks on the door, and asks for a cheeky beer. So we got him beer, yeah, we just started talking and….
Michael: Did he have a beer….
Liam: Yeah, he had a few….he brought quite a few with him.
Were you freaked out, or excited?
Liam:
I wasn’t freaked out really, but I was…I think; I was just really
pleased that he wanted to come anon! But that’s all you have, because
then you’ve got the show, haven’t you—and if you’re shit, then you’re
shit.
Michael: It was kind of strange because, we’d gotten
out of our transportation to the gig. Out of the foot of a Black Cab in
London. And then, Morrissey walks out, and….and he says something like,
‘are you any good?’ and then he came for the whole gig and spoke to us
afterwards for around half an hour and was such a gentleman.
Liam:
He has love for it, because honestly—there are just so many rubbish
bands about. There are so many bands that no one’s given any….a lot of
bands, it’s like they don’t care or they don’t want to be there. Then
go—and get into the trade of a plumber or something. As soon as you
stop enjoying it, then stop doing it. So, he must really love it. And
all this time; you know that he just really must know the legacy that
goes along with it. And he must love it that the fans…I mean, I just
buzz off of it, the fact that he is whatever the age he is, and that
fact that he’s still got passion. I watched him last night and he was
absolutely, electric! And I couldn’t believe it. We were on the
balcony, and he was absolutely, fucking brilliant. From beginning to
end. And for someone to have that much passion and get excited about
new bands when they come along….is brilliant, I think. I mean it. And
it, I mean, it makes you almost believe in yourself a little bit more.
But then again, he’s only human.
For your first time in Philadelphia, what has been your favorite thing so far?
Definitely, the gig. Playing at The Academy of Music for our first show here in the city was just beautiful. It makes you….well, it’s just great to play places like that. It really takes your breath away a little bit, doesn’t it?
Girl About Town special thanks to Liam, Mike, the rest of The Courteeners, and especially Dave S.
Thanks Carly for transcribing the interview, because I couldn't hear a single word that Liam was saying between his accent and the loud music playing. So now I know what you two were saying and I am glad I was there, even if i couldn't hear.
Posted by: Royce Epstein | March 24, 2009 at 09:21 AM