You most likely would have heard of Scottish three piece Biffy Clyro. Comprised of Simon Neil (vocals, guitar), and twins James Johnston (bass, vocals) and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals) respectively, the band first came together in Kilmarnock, Scotland in 1995 over a shared love of experimental rock and hardcore.
Since then, the band has earned an army of rabidly devotional fans - christened
Team Biffy – who have followed them across the country and beyond, their hearts swelling with the searing emotion; their minds expanded by the threesome’s inventive rock that somehow managed to hit them in the gut at the same time.
And you’ll probably already know about their three albums too. How Blackened Sky, The Vertigo Of Bliss and Infinity Land, have slowly seen the band notch up higher and higher chart positions with each release. Two and a half years later the bands’ hard work was unveiled as the next truly, historically, important rock record to come out of the British Isles. It was called Puzzle and was released in September 2007. Puzzle was a gigantic, ostentatious raising of their game.
"Mountains" – the recently released new single from the band is a breath-taking return to form and a bridging track from the band as they now head back into the studio for work on their 5th album. On their recent jaunt to Australia, Joe Matera sat down with Simon Neil and James Johnson – while James’ twin Ben looked on – for some drinks and this interview for Ultimate-Guitar.
"The last record was quite melancholic underneath and the new tunes are a little bit more triumphant in scope."
Simon: I guess the last record was quite melancholic underneath and the new tunes we’ve written are a little bit more triumphant in scope. The best analogy to use is, the last album was like, going to war while this one, which we’re about to start recording soon, feels like we’re back home and victorious and because of that, it is more upbeat.
When can we expect the new album to be released?
Simon: We start recording on the first of May and we’re going to do it in Los Angeles with Garth Richardson again who did the last album. We’re going to do it at Ocean Way Studios where Frank Sinatra did ‘My Way’, in the same studio. We should have it all done by August and it should come out about September. Well, that’s what is on the schedule, but if not then, it will definitely be before the end of the year.
‘Mountains’ is more of a stop gap between recordings. With the success of the single, are there any plans to add it as a bonus track on the next album?
Simon: You know what record companies are like, if they can find a way to release it again, then, they will. They generally like an album to come out at the same time that the single was recorded. We did ‘Mountains’ because Puzzle was a few years ago now and last summer we wrote a bunch of new songs as we really wanted to play some new tunes. There is nothing worse, than seeing one band one year and then again, the following year or a couple years later, and finding that they’re still playing the same shit. I think it is important for us, as well as the people that come to the shows, to be playing new stuff.
‘Mountains’ peaked at #5 on the UK charts, your highest charting record to date. You must be pleased with that?
James: Absolutely. But we can’t really explain why that fared better than any of our previous singles because we’re proud of every song we do and have done. But you don’t really know why with one song, people really connect with it more so than with another song.
The band has had a sort of love and hate relationship with its critics yet the last album garnered more positive reviews from them than any of your previous efforts.
Simon: Yes. It was nice. But again, people can go off your band just as quickly as they dig it and because that wasn’t the necessarily the case with our first few records, we know that we don’t take any of it for granted or expect it at all. But it is a bonus if people are writing nice things about us. It’s definitely nicer that way than to be seen as shit.
Do you feel a lot more pressure to keep producing more mainstream music since you have a major label behind you now, whereas previously you were signed to indie, Beggars Banquet?
Simon: Every label, whether they’re indie or a major have a business plan for every band. But to be honest, we were getting so frustrated with Beggars Banquet in regards to having the opportunities available, like a major can afford you, like for example being able to finally come here to Australia. With an indie we could never have afforded to have taken this trip a few years ago. Our music was always made to be heard by people and so a major gives you the opportunity for people who may not have had the chance to hear us and buy our CDs before. The only real difference at the end of the day, is they [major label] may be the ones picking the stronger songs from the song writing, but we still work the same way as we have always done. We still practise the same way and we still live in the same small town that we grew up in. So we’re still very much so, trusting our instincts and following what we have always believed in. And it continues to work perfectly.
"You don’t really know why with one song people really connect more than with another song."
James: We do put it all to use in the practice room, but in the studio, when you have someone like Garth with you, somebody who really knows what they’re doing, we just leave it all up to him. That way, it leaves us to concentrate on playing in tune and playing tight as a band.
So what did Garth bring to the recording process?
Simon: The main thing he has brought is basically giving us patience in making a record. With the first three albums we made, the longest we spent in the studio was two weeks! It was pretty much play the songs and not labour too much over them or on the sounds. We just wanted capture a good vibe. But when we started working with Garth it was very slow paced and we couldn’t handle it. He made the point to us one day; “you’ve written the songs and you know what the songs are and it is my job now to make them sound good and this is how I work!” So we learned to accept that.
How does the song writing process work within the context of the band?
Simon: I write the songs and then they become rock songs and better songs once we start playing them together as a band in the rehearsal room. I usually write the songs on a nice Gretsch guitar that I have back home.
Your music has a lot of dark undertones. Is there a lot of inspiration from the esoteric elements of life and literature?
Simon: Yes. For example, there is a new song we’ve been doing that’s slated for the new album called “God And Satan” which is all about “the brothers” (laughs) No, seriously, I’m very interested in the dark side. I think right from the first record we’ve had that interest. At one stage, I was walking around with a Bible and a Satanic Bible in my bag. That is, until we got to the airport and as soon as they searched my bag, they spotted the Satanic Bible, and out that went.
James: I think a lot of great pop songs tend to have a lot of dark lyrics. And a lot of dark songs have sweet lyrics. Sometimes you can get the lyrical point straight away, while at other times, it takes much more of a deeper analysis to get to the point. I think it’s great to have that nice contrast in a pop song though.
Simon, your main guitar is a black Fender Tele Custom ’72 reissue, the same guitar that appears in the ‘Mountains’ video. I’m curious, is that guitar modified as the track sounds like you’re using some other guitar rather than the Tele?
Simon: The guitar has no mods. And you’re absolutely correct. I didn’t actually play that guitar on the track. It was a Les Paul. When it comes to live, I only use Strats but when recording, I never do the first tracking of guitars with any Strats. Garth has this amazing guitar collection so we tried some of them in the studio.
And what about amplifiers?
Simon: Live, I use a Fender Hot Rod Deville, a Peavey Classic and a 1959 Marshall Super Lead 100. In the studio, we usually have six amp heads going. Everything from a Soldano to an Orange and we run all of them at once but have it coming into one track where we blend all the amp tones together. We find that if we use our live gear in the studio, we are only in our default mode and so it’s less evasive and you tend to get stuck in your own ways. But to use different gear will help push you musically. And working with Garth is great in that way. We’ve tried using a lot of these amps live, and we found it just didn’t seem to work for us. And we’ve tried using other guitars too live and they also just don’t work. So the Strats work perfectly for us live, but in the studio environment, things need to be just a little bit fatter which is where the Les Paul comes in.
"There is nothing worse, than seeing one band one year and a couple years later find that they’re still playing the same shit."
Simon: The main thing really was in the way it got me to use all my four fingers. And also the pinky is used a lot more in my chordal technique.
The band’s use of shifting musical dynamics is usually attributed to Nirvana and The Pixies. How much did those bands influence your approach?
Simon: Well Nirvana was definitely the main one and Soundgarden as well. Mainly, all the Seattle scene bands from that era. We did love Guns & Roses before that because they were larger than life, but once Nirvana came upon the scene, that was it. It is the reason why we play and became a band in the first place.
You’ve toured with the likes of Linkin Park, The Rolling Stones, Queens of the Stone Age, and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers…
James: Yeah they were great. Queens of the Stone Age for example, we did a tour of Europe with them and we usually are able to hold our own but those guys, man, when it comes to parties we came out the ones worse for wear. It was very hard. But though those guys may like to party, they also know how to work hard and they do everything immaculately. We learned so much from them. They are extremely hard workers, and they will work on a song for ages during sound check just to make sure they’ve nailed it. And their set is changed every night too.
Finally, Simon, I want to ask you about your side project Marmaduke Duke. I hear another album is coming out soon?
Simon: Yeah, and we recently just did some Marmaduke Duke shows. The new record is more of an electro funk outing. The first album was called The Magnificent Duke and that was kind of hardcore, with a droning section and an acoustic section. This new one is called Duke Pandemonium and is the second album in a trilogy. The last record is going to be called Death of The Duke and it’s a 40 minute guitar suite. We’re two thirds of the way through finishing that last record at the moment.
Interview by Joe Matera
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2009
/ my profile 
