Feeder are back - and they won't compromise

May 16 2008 by Victoria Richards, Western Mail

Feeder are returning with a new single, their sixth studio album and a series of intimate preview gigs – and they promise to be bigger and better than ever. Victoria Richards catches up with frontman Grant Nicholas, who just happens to be her music hero

HE may be preparing to perform in front of thousands of music fans but Grant Nicholas admits that these days his biggest critic is his three-year-old daughter.

The Feeder frontman is now also a family man and it seems that his first-born, Hanna-Sky, is already showing a keen ear for music.

Nicholas clearly adores spending time with her and his eight-month-old son Ko.

“It’s been a pretty mad few years really, I’ve been working as well as being a dad for the first time, so I’ve got a few more grey hairs!” he laughs.

“It hasn’t been that bad, apart from being more tired. In some ways it’s inspired me more and it’s put more life into the band.”

Silent Cry, the band’s first full studio album since Pushing The Senses in 2005, follows 2006 compilation The Singles – which featured 18 of their UK top 40 hit singles – and is set to be released on June 16.

“I felt that I needed to sit down and rest and write again, and find myself again, so it was great to co-produce it and spend a year doing it,” he says.

“It was hard work – we concentrated on creating a few sample demos and that’s how it started. I needed a bit of space and I just love being in the studio. We’ve always been involved in producing, and I’ve been doing it with young bands so I think I’ve really learned a lot from them.”

It appears that he’s also been learning a few things from Hanna-Sky.

“My daughter is only three, but she loves listening to the music and then telling me what she does or doesn't like. Her favourite song on the new album is Into The Blue – she dances around to it. I can see that I’m going to get into trouble with her when she’s older already!”

The new album will be previewed during a series of intimate warm-up shows at the end of the month, including a gig at The Point in Cardiff.

And unsigned bands were invited to support them by entering a competition via website 7 Digital Indiestore. The acts shortlisted to two per venue.

“There was a shortlist picked from about 400 which is always difficult,” admits Nicholas. “We thought it was a nice idea and there are so many bands out there at the moment, the competition is incredible, so I wouldn’t rule out doing something later down the line with them – I might produce a single with them, you never know. I just thought it was a nice way to give them some exposure, especially when the gigs are so small this time round.”

Nicholas says they are keen to concentrate on getting back into touring again and trying out a few new things.

“We’re going to be doing a lot more stuff including tours in the UK, and festivals in Japan, Korea – we’re not concentrating on Europe so much at the moment as Asia.

“My kids are half-Japanese, my partner Kana is Japanese and Taka (Hirose – Feeder’s bassist) is Japanese, so we do have a bit of a bond with the place.”

After a relentless cycle of touring and recording following the success of The Singles, which sold more than half a million copies, the band – which also features drummer Mark Richardson – took more than a year to produce their latest work, the longest recording session Feeder has had in 16 years.

“The name of the album, Silent Cry, was a lyric that came with the single – it sounds a bit sad but if you listen to the record it is actually quite uplifting,” says Nicholas. “I like to put emotions into songs, I like things to be a bit more personal or real. As you get older you worry more – when you’re a young band you don’t think about it much unless you’ve had a really hard life. I definitely worry more about things now I’m a dad, about the future, about climate change.

“But I’ve not put that into it in an obvious way, I don’t want to preach at people. We Are The People, our first single, is a bit of a gamble really, it’s got elements of the big guitars, it has a big anthemic soundtrack which is early Feeder, but vocally it’s more like new Feeder. It’s still got the trademark falsetto tones in there, but it’s more in line with the way we’re feeling at the moment.

“We really wanted to drive forward as a band and we said that if people bought this record then they’d realise that it sets the flavour of what we’re doing now. It’s just what we felt was right.”

Free download track Miss You was sneaked out on the band’s website in March, and was downloaded more than 8,000 times in the first day of its release. Yet despite its imminent release date, the album in its entirety has been leaked on the internet a month ahead of schedule.

“It’s a shame,” Nicholas admits. “I spent hours and weeks getting the artwork right, that part is really important to me. But it’s impossible to stop this kind of thing happening. We do worry about it but I think it’s happening to everybody, no matter how big you are.

“You’ve got to use the internet as a tool. In a perfect world it wouldn’t happen in quite this way but then again, if it gets out and the music interests new fans then hopefully they’ll go ahead and buy the record.

“Apparently Coldplay’s last single was downloaded more than 200,000 times on its first day by people all over the world. It was a free track, but they’re the biggest band in the world so it’s not surprising.

“We’re just hoping that there’s enough there for the old fans. People do seem to come on board with Feeder, we’re quite a wide-reaching band because we’ve had quite a lot of chart success but we’re still seen as being quite underground. I think there’s something in there for everybody.”

Despite being on the South Wales gig circuit since they formed in 1992, the band’s recent successes have led them to bigger and better venues, including Cardiff International Arena.

But now Feeder are returning to the more intimate venues of their past, including Cardiff’s The Point on May 28.

“We haven’t played at The Point before,” Nicholas says. “We’ve played at the Coal Exchange but the sound was a bit difficult. I’m sure there will be lots of mistakes, but the sound will be more raw and more honest. We will do a few old singles for the fans but it will be a chance for us to play the new stuff and to see what people think of it. It’s going to be a really intimate, in-house gig.

“We do get back to Wales as much as we can. I come back to see family in Chepstow and Newport and I’ve still got a lot of friends down there – it still feels like home. I always get nervous playing in Wales. It’s where we started, and I’ve seen some really embarrassing pictures of us back in the day, in our orange boiler suits! But it will be nice to be back.”

At the age of 40, Nicholas is now twice the age of some of the newcomers to the business but he says he has no plans to bow out.

“We’re certainly not stopping – you must be joking! We’re really gunned up. I don’t know if people are going to buy it (the new album) or not, but we feel as though we’ve done something really worthwhile. We’ve been away for a little bit but this will be a bit of a comeback. We really want to get onto Radio 1’s A-list, we don’t want to compromise.

“We played at the Millennium Stadium for the Tsunami gig and that was our biggest gig. But we’ve never headlined there – so maybe one day...”

Feeder play The Point in Cardiff on May 28. Silent Cry is released on June 16 and the single, We Are The People, on June 9