THE FEW THAT REMAIN
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 4th February 2011.
The Few That Remain - Christian Murphy on vocals, Rob Barlow and Ian Harrington on guitars, Matt Chivers on drums, and Tommy Curwen on bass - have a new EP out in the next month or two, so we caught up with Rob to find out more...
Hi Rob, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Rob: Hey Jon, yeah I'm good thanks :)
What’s the history behind The Few That Remain? How did the band form, and what’s the background of the various members?
Rob: The majority of The few That Remain hail from Hertfordshire. However myself and Tommy hail from Suffolk and Cornwall, the amazing joinmyband website put me in contact with Christian, Ian and Matt when i joined Hertfordshire university. We met Tommy later through out music technology course. We haven't been around that long but we feel like we've known each other for years
Who were the early influences? Do you all have similar listening tastes?
Rob: Personally i had a very 1980's metal up bringing whereas I know a couple of the lads are very pop-punk orientated, I think we've all had a taste of different genres including funk, jazz, classical, hardcore and rap.
Did you know what sort of sound The Few That Remain was destined to have at the start, or has it developed a lot since you began?
Rob: To be honest I think we're still unclear on the exact sound we aim for now. We write songs and just see what comes out of the mix but I think our mutual input makes us unique and diverse in a lot of ways.
How would you actually describe your sound to somebody who hadn’t heard you before?
Rob: Loud, energetic and fun. But you'll have to let the music do the talking.
How has your local music scene helped or hindered the band’s development? Are you able to play “local” shows, or have you always had to travel further afield?
Rob: Local Promoters like the independent creative movement and twisted promotions helped us out a lot in the local Hertfordshire scene. Because of this we are now able to spread our wings and play new places.
Tell us about the new EP... How long did it take to write and record? Was the process enjoyable, hard work, or a combination thereof? What’s it called? Give us details!
Rob: The EP is still in the making. We have all the material and are recording it in our own studio (deaf-trap studios). We're making brilliant progress and are hoping to have it done by the end of February. It's a 4 track EP and is called 'We'll Sleep When We're Dead' titled after one of the first songs we wrote which is featured on the album.
How do you go about writing your songs? Talk us through the construction of a typical track...
Rob: Usually someone will come up with a riff, beat or melody and the rest of us work our parts around it. It's a long process and we try and get every little detail tweaked until it's set in stone. We think it's important that we all have our input so we're all 100% with each piece.
Where do you look for your lyrical and musical writing ideas?
Rob: Our influences are along the lines of many pop-punk and post-hardcore bands including A Day To Remember, Deaf Havana, Memphis Mayfire and Story Of The Year. However we try to come up with original themes and riffs to make our music our own and not similar to someone else's.
Is there a story/theme running through the songs, or is it more a collection of standalone moments?
Rob: So far I think we write about what comes to mind. We usually write the lyrics last so Christian mainly focuses on the feel of the music before he thinks of his concept. Hopefully in the future when recording our album we can think of a decent concept to underlay the foundations.
Do you do anything special or unusual in the studio to get your sound?
Rob: We're all music technology students and have been around it for many years. I'm sure the techniques we use are common, however we try and add things that are a little bit quirky and unexpected.
What pieces of equipment (or recording gizmos) couldn’t you live without?
Rob: I think Logic 8/9 has been a godsend to us, ever since we first started we plugged in and just recorded our ideas. This made life a lot easier when recording and writing songs.
Are there any particular tracks you rate highly, or is it all brilliant?
Rob: Ha ha, I think we all have our personal favourites but I'd like to think our song-writing gets better as we grow more mature as a band.
Do you enjoy the whole studio/creative experience, or do you prefer getting up on the live stage?
Rob: I think most of us would say our live performance is what makes us who we are. We live for playing gigs, we love performing and doing our best to put on a good show.
What is one of your live shows like? What should fans expect from one of your performances?
Rob: As mentioned before our energy is what makes us who we are. We don't choreograph or anything but we are all very passionate about our music and I think this shows. If someone were to come to our gig open minded then I think they'd enjoy it as much as we do.
Talk us through your existing touring plans, and how you plan to promote the EP...
Rob: We haven't really talked about touring as of yet, we are focusing on the red-bull bedroom jam a lot which could lead to us playing a few festivals in the summer, but I think we'd really love to hook up with a more established band and tour with them. The thought of touring is very exciting and definitely something we would like to do.
What have been the highlights and lowlights of your musical lives so far?
Rob: The forum in Hertfordshire was a delightful gig and the quality of P.A etc made us sound at our best which gave us a really good feeling. The lowlights however are the stressful stages in which we get writers block or everything gets a bit too much.
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Rob: We all love being asked when we can come play different people's hometowns! the answer being as soon as we can! :P
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
Rob: Back to recording this EP i guess! we've got a couple of shows coming up in London and St Albans that we need to focus on too!
Anything else you would like to mention?
Rob: For anyone reading we would really appreciate you taking a few minutes of your time to jump on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam (here) and vote the few that remain, then hit us up on Facebook and come have a chat!
Thanks again to Rob for his time.
http://www.myspace.com/thefewthatremainofficial
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Few-That-Remain/380161936286
