CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 144: FEEDER ON RETURNING TO AUSTRALIA AFTER 14 YEARS

FMM: We're so happy to be welcoming you guys back to Australia after 14 years. It's about time. What happened in 14 years? What did it take so long?

Grant: Yeah, it's been frustrating because I think we've been there twice. We toured with a band called Muse. That was the first time, I think that we went. I went back to do some promo and some sort of acoustic promo tour on my own. We went, came back and did Soundwave and then we did a few little club shows and that was the last time we were there and I think we did that as a three piece. It was on our Renegades album. We went back to our roots and so we were kind of a three piece then.

FMM: Do you remember what that festival was like?

Grant: Yeah, I do remember. We were on pretty early on the main stage, so it was kind of a bit hit and miss with how many people would be there to see us, but the gigs were great. It was us and somebody else. We had to flip flop. We had to go on first and then they got to have a go. It was better because there was more people.

It was a massive festival, so even being on the main stage first or second year, was still a good thing to be on. It was a really good lineup. It's just the same with any festival. It takes a certain amount of time to get people in there if you're on too early, but by the end of the set it was actually a good audience. The first few songs you'd be like, hey, is anyone going to be watching us?

FMM: Oh yeah, it must be weird, but you definitely pulled the crowds because I think you've mentioned in an interview before that you guys had trouble defining your genre because you are melodic but you're also a bit heavy. When you look back, what do you think about that now? Do you think you guys have forged your own path and sort of created your own genre?

Grant: Yeah, I think so. I think people know. I think We've always done it our own way and I think we stuck with that and not what‘s trending at the time. I think because we started in the UK, it was all a massive Brit-pop thing, which is huge here. And in America you had the so called, grunge scene. Bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam. So, we sort of fitted somewhere in the middle really because we were kind of heavy but we were also influenced by a lot of UK stuff and I was into bands including The Police and The Beatles. We sort of fit in the middle. Even quite a few of the American bands kind of had a bit of that element to them as well. I've always just been into songs, but I love heavy guitars, but I also love really good melodies.

When I was a kid I listened to a lot of ABBA, but then I got into punk rock and 70s rock, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin. I think you can hear it in our music. I've always wanted to be in a band that was a bit like bands like Led Zeppelin or whatever had that kind of folky, like really mellow, but then they had all the heavier stuff as well, like cashmere and rock and roll and I love that. We used to get labeled, oh, we're like the British Smashing Pumpkins when we first started. And I get that Smashing Pumpkins had that element. They had so many influences in there.

They had the heavy side, they had the kind of slight 80s side, they had the strings and acoustic. I think we aren't that dissimilar. I think we've always wanted to have that freedom as a band and that's what we set out to do. I think as we've evolved and the albums have got a bit more anthemic, we've gone even more that way. It's hard to answer. I don't really plan it, it's just what happened naturally and I think the music I grew up listening to influenced that.

FMM: I think that’s awesome. You guys have been around for 30 years. I think it's saying something that it really doesn't matter at the end of the day whether you did feel slightly or not you. But other people felt that you guys were either too melodic or too heavy. Certain lineups and things like that.

Grant: It just proves that it's because you get a big radio song and we've had a few songs and it doesn't necessarily reflect what we are totally as a band, and that goes here for a lot of bands, but to get on the radio, you know what it’s like, especially if it’s a really heavy rock station. It's not quite heavy enough for us. It is frustrating. It's like, well, you know, we'll listen to this song on the album and you can play that one. That's a heavy track. But for me, being one thing all the time, for me as a writer is just not what I'm really into. I like to have light and shade. Even some of the best heavy bands, they always say every good rock band has a ballad and it's kind of partly true.

Even Metallica have love ballads and it's just a natural thing. I think it's great to rock out, but I think it's nice to have some dynamics and to have a little bit of light and shade. It's something we do naturally. I think it is frustrating at times because I think people maybe hear one of our bigger songs, you know, big radio songs, like Buck Rogers or something, and they think, oh, they're kind of indie-poppy rock band. I was like, yeah, but you should listen to some of our heavy stuff too. I think you have to get us more. When you need to listen to a lot of our music and you also need to see us live as well. That goes for a lot of bands.

FMM: Yeah, definitely, to get a full feel of the range of what you guys can do.

Grant: Yeah. I mean, going back to Smashing Pumpkins, if you heard some of their songs, you wouldn't think they sound like an electronic thing. And then you go in here when they're early, off their album, Gish, and they have rock songs too.

For a band like Feeder, it's the same thing. You have to really listen to what we do and listen to more than one song, you know.

FMM: Yeah, definitely. Well, that brings me to my next question. Can you tell us a little bit about your latest release, Black / Red, and how it fits together with Torpedo?

Grant: Yeah, well, it's a sort of double album. I've always wanted to make a double album. I know it's a very old-school thing, it's quite prog rock double album, but I always wanted to do it because I write a lot of songs. We've been a band for 30 years and we've done quite a lot. The songs are there. Let's do it. Let’s do a double album.

Torpedo was going to be a double album and I got cold feet last minute, so we decided to make that a single, so there was a lot of songs left over from that. Plus I wrote more than another album’s worth of material, and I just thought this feels like one big body of work and should be connected in some way, almost like a trilogy.

Let's make this the double album, then we can put a full stop on that and then move on to the next thing, whatever that is. That's how it kind of came about, really. But with Black / Red, the reason why I like the title, and the simplicity of it is because I really wanted it to be a double album, but almost like two standalone albums in their own right. It is like a trilogy thing, so if you had the one CD and you put it on, it would hopefully stand up as an album in its own right. You'd rather just be one big long thing.

FMM: Oh, that's awesome.

Grant: That's how we wanted it to be. I think sometimes, it's a lot of information for people to hear in one play. To have a lot of filler and just be that typical album double-album problem. We go, yeah, it would have been better as a single album. Too much filler. I really tried to avoid that and split it up.

From the reaction from the fans and the press, I think we achieved that. I think there's enough. Hopefully it doesn't sort of outstay its welcome.

FMM: Oh, no, I'm sure it won't. I'm sure that's what we've all been waiting to hear, especially after Torpedo, and as you said, you just had so much there. It'll be great developments on that record.

Grant: There's something there that kind of reminds me of some of our really early stuff, but now we're a bit older and we've done certain things. We don't want to lose identity as a band, but we don't want to feel like we're just making the same record over and over again. We just try and make the music that we like and hope other people like it, and that's the best way of doing it. Otherwise, you compromise. Otherwise.

FMM: Feeder will be here in Australia in April. What can your Aussie fans expect to hear? Are we going to hear a mix of your old and new stuff or is it just going to be Black / Red?

Grant: No, it'll be a mix. I mean, obviously we're going to do some Black / Red stuff. It'll be a good mixture of stuff, you know, probably a bit more of a mix than we did on the actual Black / Red UK tour, because obviously that was more focusing on Black / Red. But even then, we still did some of the big hits. I think because we haven't been to Australia for so long, we will try and do something from our earlier records. We do a few of the big spin records and obviously favourites. Maybe alternate a few from Black / Red, because there's quite a few. We will definitely do most of the singles from it and maybe the odd will pick a different one and maybe alternate it some nights. We'll do some stuff on Torpedo. We'll probably do something from our first album. It'll be hopefully a nice mix, but obviously we still want to play some new songs to people as well.

FMM: Oh, Fantastic. I know it's very early to talk about, but do you have an idea of any support bands you'll have on the Australian up?

Grant: No. This whole thing just comes quite quickly because I've been trying to get back to Australia for so long. Our agency put some feelers out and we had some really good feedback and people who really wanted to come. I only saw the ad go up like a few days ago. I was like, oh, it's happening, so as far a supports, I haven't got a clue at the moment, but we'll see what the promoter comes up with.

What I try and do is unless there's a band that we get sent that we love and they want to do all the dates, or we just start to get really good bands from those cities, probably because they can hopefully bring their own fans along as well. Maybe they'll like us and their fans will be into us, and vice versa. That's always the best way, I think.

FMM: What's the key to keeping a band together for 30 years? And congratulations on that, by the way.

Grant: Like a marriage. It is a bit like that, I think, but you're just keeping it. We still enjoy doing it. We don't take it for granted. You have to work hard. And it's like, okay, you know, we do have a massive catalogue of music, but we're always trying to write new stuff as well. I know people go, oh, I like the old stuff, but I personally think that the new stuff we're doing is as good, if not better than a lot of our radio work. We still feel inspired. I think inspiration, that's what keeps you going.

I think the fact we have a great fan base also, which is growing and it's very mixed. It goes from old-school theater fans, old school rockers and to really young kids. Honestly, we have some really young kids that come to our shows and quite a good student following and quite good skateboard followers.

It's really nice to have that cross section of age group because it's quite hard to actually get that, but we seem to be up to new fans, so they're obviously finding out about us whether it's from Spotify, whether it's from their older brothers and sisters and their mums and dads, we get new people that come and see us.

That's what keeps us going. I think that's so important and we're lucky to have that.

FMM: Definitely. If you weren’t ion Feeder, what do you think you would be doing?

Grant: I often think that myself. I’d be writing songs for other people, maybe, or whether I would be doing something completely different. Maybe something in fashion. I love vintage clothes. I mean, mind you, look at me, you're probably thinking fashion, but I mean, I like like vintage clothes shops. I've always been into that. I love vintage furniture, anything like that. Maybe I'd have a vintage shop or something like that. Maybe I'll be doing something like creative or maybe something in the art world. I can't imagine myself working in a bank. I mean, I'm terrible at math. I’m better at creative stuff than the academic stuff.

FMM: Is there anything you'd like to say to your Australian fans?

Grant: Yes, we can't wait. It's been a long time. Come and see us. It's going to be a fun. We just want people to have a great time. Every time we played there, there's been really nice audiences, and it’s been really relaxed. We've always felt very welcome. So come along. It's going to be a rocking show with a good mix of Feeder classics and obviously the new record. It might be a while until we come back next.

FEEDER April 2025 Australian Tour Dates

Saturday 5th April - PERTH, The Rosemount

Sunday 6th April - ADELAIDE, Lion Arts Factory

Wednesday 9th April - MELBOURNE, 170 Russell

Thursday 10th April - SYDNEY, Manning Bar

Friday 11th April - BRISBANE, The Triffid

 Tickets:

Pre-sale: Thursday 21st November @ 9:00am AEDT

General Public On Sale: Tuesday 26th November @ 9:00am AEDT

From: https://thephoenix.au/