The Futureheads Chat About All Their Recent "Chaos"

By Michele Lenni in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 1, 2010 9:00PM

Photo by Ian West

Change is a constant, especially within the music industry. Bands change their lineup, their name, their sound, but even though most bands are constantly evolving, that doesn’t mean that they forget why they got into music in the first place. Suderland, England’s The Futureheads, a quartet probably best known for their new-wave rendition of Kate Bush’s "Hounds of Love," are a band that’s roots are steeped in their commitment to making the music they want to make. Over the past year they have split from major label Warner Brothers, started their own label, recorded the album they always wanted to make, The Chaos, and toured across the globe to support and celebrate their new found freedom. Somewhere in the middle of all of this lead singer and guitarist Barry Hyde made time to talk to us about the whole thing and managed to even crack a few jokes during his busy schedule.

Chicagoist: So you recently split with your label Warner Bros. and decided to start your own, Nul Records. Why did you decide to leave Warner and take on the immense responsibility of not only being the creator but promoter and manager? Is this the path you originally sought when you started the band?

Barry Hyde: Seems like so long ago that we were let out of the cage! We had a great experience with Warner’s, “living the dream” for a while. We were hijacking a reality that was never meant for us, or rather we were being hijacked a reality that could not provide us with what we wanted. This has always been freedom, musical freedom, artistic freedom and the freedom from having A&R people drinking your rider when you are on stage.

C: The new album, The Chaos, seems to be a decidedly more upbeat and pop-driven record than your past efforts. What has pushed your music in this particular direction?

BH: The Chaos is the album we have been striving to make the whole time, we have delivered it now, we learned after the second album that songs need to be playable live, and by that I mean that our gigs need to go to a certain place and the songs need to make that happen, i.e. slow songs do not create a great Futureheads gig…I guess we are all a lot more upbeat.

C: How did you guys come about working with producers David Brewis [Field Music], and Martin Glover, [aka Youth], on this record? How do you feel their unique taste and intuition reflected in the sound of the album?

BH: We have worked with some of the most amazing people on this album; we went to Dave Brewis because I think he is one of the people with the greatest understanding of what we do. He was involved very early on as a fifth member; he used to do our sound, creating huge walls if white noise and infinite loops of feedback delay. He has a very punk rock attitude, Mr Brewis. He's a technical wizard but also has a great deal of soul; a mathematical poet. [We] got some of best ever guitar sounds on the tunes he did with us.

Youth, is a fascinating man and a true artist, his understanding of energy is incredible and when we are with him we come out with ideas that are otherwise off limits, he puts us in to a unique mental state by being gently demanding and through really knowing how to push our buttons. It's as much about psychology as it is about music with Youth and if you go in with a producer you have to be willing to surrender yourself to their unique point of view otherwise you might as well not bother.

C: A lot of bands have recently migrated their music to a more dance-beat-driven sound while you guys have managed to maintain your simple rock aesthetic. How do you feel about the current dance music movement and why have you chosen to keep your sound more static?

BH: Sonically we have always been very puritanical, the amount of arrangement possibilities with two guitars, drums, bass and four part harmonies are insurmountable; we still haven't executed every possible option so we are more than happy to keep trying to exhaust the aesthetic. Buying a drum machine should never be confused with having a musical idea.

C: Lastly, You guys are pretty loyal attendees of the Camden Crawl Music Festival in London. What were some acts that caught your attention this past year?

BH: I know The Postelles played, they recently supported us and were a great band …Camden Crawl is total madness; I love it.

The Chaos is out today, June 1 on Dovecote Records. The Futureheads play Lincoln Hall on June 12.