Room Thirteen recently took some time out to have a chat to Gareth Davies (bass) from Funeral For a Friend.

Room 13: You've just finished a US tour. How different do you find US crowd and how would you compare your success at "breaking the states"?
Gareth: USA crowds are no different to any crowd in the world and "breaking America" is something that we have never set our goals at. To just play shows - anywhere - is a great buzz for us. The shows are exactly the same as the 200-500 capacity shows we did in the UK, the vibe, the kids, everything. We will be happy to play to that many people every time we go there, because they are as passionate about the music as the people in the UK are.

Room 13: You headlined the Radio 1 stage at Leeds/Reading last year, to a fantastic reception at both. How did you find it - being able to draw such a large crowd when playing at the same time as a band such as the White Stripes?
Gareth: It was the culmination of a fast and great year for us. They were probably the first shows that really hit home about what we had achieved as a band over 03/04. We were proud. There is no other word for it. The Label presented us with our gold discs for "Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation" just 10 minutes before we hit the stage at Reading. That just made it that little more special. We had only just flown in from the states and so were jet lagged as fuck. Seeing these discs really gave us a well needed adrenaline kick. It wouldn't have been possible without all the people that shared those 2 nights with us. We cant thank them (and the people that couldn't make it) enough for everything.

Room 13: You've said the tracks on your upcoming album are something of a departure from your previous material; deeper lyrics and darker music - not focusing on "being hurt by the girl". Care to elaborate on this?
Gareth: I would say that this record just has more balls. It's more of an album to us than our last album was; that still feels just like a collection of songs to us because of the older tracks from the EPs being on there. I suppose the new album has more of a "fuck you bitch" feel to it - rather than a "boo-hoo she's gone" one. We are very excited about the new songs - they still sound like Funeral, just with guts.

Room 13: What inspired this change?
Gareth: We just grew up, you know? It's just a natural progression for us. We have just done what we should have done when it came to "Casually Dressed..." and written songs with grit to them. It has taken us nearly 2 years of touring that album to realise that. Its part of the art of music that we can be critical of our own material, and we see now what needed to change. We did exactly that.

Room 13: What kind of reaction to the material are you expecting amongst fans and critics alike?
Gareth: That's in their hands. We wrote this record for us. Kris likes to say that one of the differences is we have gone for is no middle ground. You either grow with us or hate us from this point on. Hopefully people will choose to grow with us.

Room 13: You've always said you don't like pigeon holing your music. What would you like FFAF to be described as?
Gareth: Three words - "a rock band". We want to be able to write songs in whatever "genre" we want. Why pigeon hole ourselves? The term "rock band" has no limits. We like that.

Room 13: Where would you like to see FFAF go over the next few years?
Gareth: I would like to see us still on the road having a great time. That's always a tough question though, because we could have never of predicted what has happened to us at all. None of us know what's coming next.

Room 13: Loads of bands release DVDs that leave the fans disappointed and cheated - yet your "Spilling Blood..." DVD released last year received universal acclaim. Did you work much on the project yourselves and what did you try to portray with it, other than the usual?
Gareth: We were on it as close as we possible could be. The whole idea was to show us as the 5 lucky "valley boys" we really are. I was exactly the same as most kids when i was 15 or 16 - seeing these bands on TV and wondering "what are these people like when they are not on stage?". It wasn't until I started doing this that I realised that they do the same shit as everyone else. They are only human, as are we. We just wanted to bring the walls of curiosity down and be honest. I think that's why it was received so well, because of its honesty.

Room 13: If you could give your fans one message, that you actually want them to read without journalists twisting it - what would it be?
Gareth: Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You. Would be a bit difficult to twist - but seriously, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for keeping us writing music. Without you, it wouldn't be possible. We'll see you soon. xx


Funeral For a Friend's new album is due out in May 2005. For more information visit www.ffaf.co.uk.