Words - Tom Willmott
With one album under their belt and another due out this Summer Noise Addiction catch up with Northern Island’s General Fiasco.
The new single “Don’t You Ever” is released on 5 March. Is the new album to follow some time soon?
Yeah, we don’t have a definite date on that yet but we will have it out before summer.
What will the new album sound like compared with your debut “Buildings”?
It feels different to me, a little more groove orientated, our musical tastes have changed slightly since the first record and think that is reflected in the songs. The new album on the whole has a more varied pace than the first record also.
What was the concept behind the video for “Don’t You Ever”?
Its basically just displaying the lyrics, someone who isn’t worth investing your time in because something else is always at the front of their mind.
You have a short run of dates in the UK next month. Are you looking forward to playing them?
We love touring, there is a strong core of fans who always make it worthwhile heading out, we just wish we were doing more shows on this run.
What have been your best and worst touring experiences?
Best have been the most recent headline shows, its great playing your own gigs and have your own fans responding to the songs, we have had a lot of great support tours and a lot of fun festival shows but playing your own sold out gigs has a different buzz. Worst has been some of the travel, on one tour we played the show, loaded off stage drove for 6 hours slept for 4 got up and drove to the venue sound checked played and the whole thing repeated for a few weeks. It was also extremely cold and snowy and our van heater wasn’t working. Cold, tired and sitting in a van for hours on end wasn’t the most fun.
Recently you added an extra guitarist, Stuart Bell to the lineup. Do you find that by converting to a four piece, you have a more dynamic sound in contrast to when you were previously a trio?
Yeah, as a 3 piece we always worked on being loud and having a full sound, we don’t feel like we have to do that now, its easier to give the tracks lifts with the extra player. It also allows us to have more layers, it really has helped with the development of the sound.
When Buildings came out, were you disappointed that on a commercial level it didn’t succeed as some people would have expected?
Yeah I wasn’t particularly happy with how big the record got, there were tracks on it that I wanted to release as singles but sometimes these things are out of your control. Saying that it did build us a solid fan base and took us all around the world.
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about how guitar music is in a state of flux. What’s your view on this?
I think its in pretty bad shape but I think there will always be bands who play guitar who can break through. The Vaccines and Two Door Cinema Club are two bands who broke through in the last year. Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club and Biffy Clyro have all got bigger on their last records so I think there is still hope. Synthy Dance Pop is what sells at the minute but there will always be demand even if its on a smaller scale than before.
What bands have you been enjoying lately?
Black Keys, Goyte, Pixies, Group love and loads more.
Finally, can we expect you at any festivals in the summer?
Yeah you can!!
General Fiasco have just released an acoustic video of Owen singing ‘German Roads’ taken from their ‘Waves’ EP released November 2011 via Dirty Hit. Watch here.
