Fightstar Interview
We weren’t quite sure what to expect when our interview with Fightstar came along. Sitting down in their dressing room, Dan and Alex pulled up chairs, and within 5 minutes of the dicataphone being on, Dan had already burped, Omar came strolling in, and we were told that Charlie was stuck in traffic! Already it was eventful. Here is what happened when Flecking met Fightstar…
How is the tour going so far? What has been the best date?
Al:Norwich, the stage sound was amazing.
Do you reckon London will beat it?
Al: Not stage sound no. The stage sound from tonight is crap. Last night was the perfect stage. But I bet it’ll be a good show tonight, it’s always good.Course it will be, it’s a gay club.
Dan: Charlie’s wearing crotchless leather chaps.
And why are you not joining in on the fun?
Dan: I don’t have any.
We heard that you’d be wearing Spandex!
Dan: Hmm.
Al: Have you heard about our new Facebook page?
Ah the turd and Lady Gaga, right? (‘Can this turd get more fans than Lady Gaga?’)
Al and Dan: Yeah!
Al: We were bored, so we thought we’d do a Facebook page. It’s the new hip place to be.
(At this point, Omar walks in)
Dan: There’s a new picture of Omar doing a big shit.
Al: Yes, he’s sustaining the pile
Omar: Sustaining the pile? How?
Al: By adding to it.
(Omar looks stressed so Flecking checks he’s ok)
Omar: Yeah.
It’s ok, you’re playing a gay night.
Al: It’s a bit of a sensitive subject.
You have some extremely dedicated fans. How does that make you feel knowing people travel around the country just to see you?
Al: Well the day it stops is going to be a very sad day.
People travel to Europe…
Dan: Yeah, and the amount of money they spend on it. Of course these things do not go unnoticed by us, so we extremely appreciate it.
You’ve had a variety of support bands on your tours. All the way from Laruso to more commercial bands like Saving Aimee who have actually split up…
Dan: Oh really?
Yeah, we blame you. Do you have much say in who supports you?
Dan: We have almost all the say…
So you chose Saving Aimee?
Al: We have the say when we can be bothered.
Dan: We have say, and then there’s things that happen within the industry. Sometimes if you help people out, then they can help you out. Basically all the cool bands… we chose.
Aside from Saving Aimee…
Dan: Maybe we did choose Saving Aimee, you’ll never know.
Al: Yeah, maybe we did. We’re all in the same boat really.
When the band first came about, did you find it hard for people to take you seriously? Was the transition hard?
Al: No that was the easy bit. Coz we just played, and that’s all we had to keep doing really. It’s just people’s opinions.
Do you think you’ve become more established now?
Al: Yeah I guess. We get a lot more respect from people. We wrote what we wanted to write, and if people liked it then that was just a bonus.
Who’s idea was it to extend and re-release the album?
Dan: It was a group decision.
Al: Well Omar kinda had the idea coz he’d done it with his other bands.
Dan: Basically we had songs left over, and they were a similar style to the ones on Be Human. And we had this DVD, and the videos, so we thought, let’s just do a deluxe.
Al: I think it’s good to try and give as much away as you can. And the DVD is pretty cool, so I’m happy with how that came out.
Or another good way to make money…!
Al: Well I doubt we’ll make money out of it! We’ve only made 5,000 copies.
What are your plans for the fourth album? Will it be heavier?
Al: Who knows! We haven’t even though about starting to write that yet. We’re gonna take a bit of time out before we think about what we’re going to do or which direction we’re going to take coz we’re all burnt out really. We’ll just hit it with a fresh perspective.
Photo: Paul Harris
Dan: This last year has been really relentless. The kind of record we made on Be Human, for the kind of money we made it for, it’s just not done. To have an orchestra on your record, and a record that that’s epic, and the amount of money we spent on it, we had to pull every fucking trick out of the book. It was a struggle. And doing it on our own label too. Then having to do promo, and competing against artists that have thousands of pounds worth of marketing, it was a fucking struggle. So this year, to have done what we’ve done… well, we’re proud. So now we’ll gather the strength again, and get ready to play properly.
Al: Our ethos is to keep making better albums. This next one’s gotta be really special. We’re not getting any younger.
Awww. Your cover of Jordan Sparks’ Battlefield for Radio 1 went down very well. Do you have any other covers planned?
Al: Not for the foreseeable future.
Dan: There are cover ideas kicking around… but they’re secret!
Go on, tell us… just one…
Omar: Kelis! [starts dancing and singing] My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard…
Well that’s Omar’s cover sorted! You recently collaborated with Lethal Bizzle…
Al: Bizzle.
Did you actually get to call him Bizzle?
Al: Yeah, and we called him Dizzee one time.
Are you going to be releasing it?
Dan: Depends if people like it. It needs to go to radio next. It’s on Kerrang on the Upfront List. So if it does really well, then we’ll have to make an extremely cheap video for it. So if everybody really likes it enough, then cool. So get on it and make some comments!
Yes, we’ll just dedicate our life to promoting your projects…
Dan: Well if you could!
Is there anyone else you want to collaborate with?
Al: Lethal Bizzle.
Just him, for life. No one else?
Al: I wanna collaborate with a British world UK pop act.
Dan: Hmm, Pat Sharpe from Fun House.
What about Lady Gaga?
Al: Yeah maybe!
She’d dress you up in crazy stuff…
Al: Like a huge turd.
Or she can dress as a huge turd, and you can dress up as her.
Al: Yeahhh…
Dan doesn’t look like he’s feeling this.
Dan: You’re giving me ideas!
We heard rumours about a Fightstar film on the horizon. What’s happening with this?
Al: It’s not a Fightstar film, although we’re in it. Omar’s plays a terrorist.
Omar: I’m the only terrorist with skill!
Dan: This is just a short film basically, that’s been about for a while. We’re nearly finished filming, and then there’s the editing and the sound and music for it.
You’re not really stopping are you…?
Dan: No… Would you buy it though? If it was online and downloadable?
Can I illegally download it?
Dan: We’ll code it with a deadly virus.
We’re interested to know… what does HIP in HIP Enough stand for? We found a few online and our favourite was Help for Incontinent People.
Dan: Yeah that’s it.
So it’s Help for Incontinent People… enough?!
Dan: It actually stands for the Human Instrumentality Project. It’s a long discussion… Google it!
Sex, drugs or rock n roll?
Al: Rock n roll.
Dan: Sex.
No one ever says drugs…
Omar (shouts): Loads of drugs!
And with that the interview is done. We really did learn a lot today. Fightstar are lovely, talented, and do like a good joke about turds, drugs and Lady Gaga!