"Radiohead bottled it"

Interview with The Futureheads

The lads from Sunderland are back, this time with a new album and on their own record label. ************* meets opinionated guitarist, Ross Millard and talks to them about a comeback on their own terms and the state of the music industry.

What have you been doing since your last album, News and Tributes in 2006?
We basically had a little bit of time off and then started some new tunes. It was difficult at first because we didn’t know how we wanted to do it but we started our own label and then the songs came pretty quickly once everything was resolved.

Are you excited about the new album? Does it sound different to your old stuff?
Oh most definitely, I have a good feeling about this one and I think it’s definitely our best record. We’ve kinda gone through the mill this year and now we can see the four of us are really buzzing again.
With our last album, the sound was completely different to the first one (The Futureheads) and people didn’t seem to go for that! I think we’ve figured out what we’re best at and the new album is somewhere in between those two. It’s a mixture between the energy of the first and the song writing of the second.

Were you disappointed with the reaction to your last album?
Yeah, ‘679’ (their previous label) didn’t do a very good job at pushing it and I’m not afraid to say that. But on top of that, if Radio doesn’t play you then people don’t buy your records. There’s not that many people in this country that are totally enthusiastic about music, you know. I lot of people wash their cars on a Sunday morning, go to Tesco and buy their albums there and our second album totally passed that lot by. That’s fine but it’s not the end of the world and I think in time that record will do us alright cos we’re proud of it.

What do you think of the new music that has come out since you’ve been away?
New Rave is alright, I dunno, I think a lot of those bands are quite shambolic live. The Klaxons have made a really great record but every time I’ve seen them live they’ve been pretty appalling. But they’ve made a good record and that seems to be what counts.
We’re all into DJing at the moment. I love bands like Digitalism and Glasvegas, I’d love to do something with them.

Do you still enjoy touring? What about the student dates of the tour?
Oh yeah, I mean it’s the reason we got the band together. You never sure if you gonna make an album or get a record deal but you are sure that you can give it all you’ve got live and have fun.
This tour has been great playing to students and took us to a lot of places we haven’t played before that we missed the first time around. The set list is a mixture of old and new and we want people to have a good night. We don’t get annoyed playing the hits like ‘Hounds of Love’ and it would be foolish as it’s better to have hits then no hits! It’s kinda ripping people off not to play the favourites.

What do you think of the state of the music industry today? Is the album dead?
Well I think it would be awful for us to think that the album is dead, it kinda renders our job pointless in a way. We’ve set up our own label for our new record and I think that’s the future for a lot of music. Young bands should probably think about taking that road rather than looking for a record deal because companies are scrabbling around taking shares of bands like merchandise and stuff which they have no right to take. For me, I feel that we’re one of the first bands adopting this new model of business. Even Radiohead have farmed their business off to XL (who released their album on CD) and bottled it a bit. They’re ok to stick their new record online and say you decide what you wanna pay for it because they’re already millionaires. It’s not as brave as they could have been and I think what we’re doing a lot of people will do in the future. It is a bit make or break, and if it fails we’re fucked but at the same time it’s quite exciting.

Don’t you feel that now though you’re businessmen and not musicians?
No I think it’s the other way round because now it’s solely for the music. The minute you make the decision to put an album out there, you have to think about the whys and wheres, how it’s being marketed and how it’s being received because otherwise it’s not yours anymore. The stupid people in labels just see you as a product like a bottle of water but now we’re in charge and doing the job for the right reasons.

New single “Beginning of the Twist” is out 10/3/08

This is what a Feminist looks like

Saturday 10th March 2007 saw FEM 07, a national conference for women and men at Sheffield University Union. The third FEM conference to discuss gender inequality in society offered a range of lectures, seminars and workshops ranging from a ‘Bluffer’s Guide to Feminism’ to ‘How to set up a Feminist Group’.

The day was just one example of the resurgence in the UK of the Feminist Movement. Some may have thought the campaign for gender equality was killed of by depictions of bra-burning, hairy legged, dungaree-wearing lesbians, portrayed by Viz’s ‘Millie Tant’ and discussed in the seminal book, Faludi’s Backlash. However, groups and magazines are cropping up everywhere, men and women, desperate to show how women’s inequality remains as entrenched in our society as ever.

The facts are staring at us in the face.

● Only 6% of reported rape cases end in the rapist being caught and punished.
● Two women a week are killed by their current or former partner.
● Men make up more than 70% of local councillors and 80% of MPs. The huge majority of judges are men and so are 96% of executive directors in the UK’s top companies. Black and Minority Ethnic Women are even more excluded from power in all these areas.
● The average woman working full-time is paid 17% less an hour than a man – and 38% is her job is part-time.

FEM 07 was an opportunity to learn about the issues surrounding gender inequality, make links with organisations and to find out how we can make a difference. Founded by Kat Banyard in 2005, the day provided lots of interesting opportunities for attendees. A presentation of films by Vera Media, a Leeds based group, told the history of Feminism in the Leeds area. The film showed how the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ murders in the 1970s caused thousands of women to live in fear of becoming the next victim in Peter Sutcliffe’s reign of terror. Advised by the authorities to stay indoors at night, the women took a stand and decided that they should not be the ones trapped in their homes. ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches were formed where the groups marched through the city with banners and torches, proclaiming their right for freedom. ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches are still popular, to protest about violence against women.

Seminars gave the chance for attendees to learn more about specific gender related issues, such as women in higher education. Evidence from Sheffield Hallam University Professor, Liz Doherty showed that women working in higher education are subject to a ‘glass ceiling’, often unable to reach the positions of Senior Management. The session provided suggestions to women for how they can improve their own career prospects and implement institutional change.

The most interesting seminar I went to was ‘Porn as the Norm – What can YOU do about it?’, a thought-provoking discussion provided by Dr Sasha Rakoff from the group, Object. Object is a UK group challenging media misogyny, targeting specifically lad’s mags. Passing round examples of Nuts, Zoo and Loaded and hanging up posters of typical responses to the debate (“It’s natural to look at porn”, “the women enjoy it”) was fascinating. But it wasn’t just lads mags that were under the microscope but Tesco and their ‘Peekaboo Pole Dancing kit' aimed at kids.
Charliegrrrl, a feminist blogger also spoke about her own campaign, where she goes into high street shops and defaces lad’s mags with permanent marker. The crusade is not all serious though. Rather humorously, she dresses up as a pink ‘Porn Detective’ and accosts men entering porn shops or buying magazines. Her actions achieved much publicity last year at the Labour Conference when she made banners featuring Tony Blair’s head on bikini-clad girls and shouted Lads mags headlines such as “Get your girl to dress like a Prostititute” (Front) and “Wanted: 100 Hottest Virgins. Do you know a lady who is still ‘intact’?” (Zoo).

Throughout the day, an Exhibition area showcased the work and services of organisations and groups such as The Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading campaign for equality between women and men. Supporting the conference, the society traces its roots back to 1866, when Millicent Fawcett campaigned for women’s vote. The group advertise their campaign by getting celebrities to wear their “This is what a Feminist looks like” t-shirts. Other groups included Ladyfest Leeds, a festival supporting female musicians, bands, comedians and poets, and Subtext magazine, a new publication with stimulating opinion about feminist issues.

The day culminated in FemFest 07, a live gig and club night at the Raynor Lounge featuring all female DJs and bands with female members such as Sheffield’s Slow Down Tallahassee, Vile Vile Creatures, and Service Users.