Interview - The Guillemots

[By Kate Mitchell - First published in ForgePress 7 November]

I’d always had the impression that Guillemots’ music was a little too complex and ‘alternative’ for someone like me who sings to Sugababes in the shower.

So naturally I was terrified before interviewing Guillemots front-man Fyfe Dangerfield. What if I revealed the extent of my ignorance about achingly cool indie pop? I was expecting gruff, non-committal responses from the man who started this rather unusual quartet after he moved from Birmingham to London in 2002.

I was relieved, but maybe slightly disappointed, at how normal he sounded in our phone interview. No arty pauses; no dark, moody replies. And he even revealed he gets nervous, which was reassuring for me as I gripped the phone, white knuckled and nervous.

"We’ve supported REM recently that was pretty amazing. It was really inspiring to see a band at their level be so down-to-earth and clearly still doing it for the love of music and nothing else".
It’s no surprise that this is what impresses Fyfe and the band. Guillemots, who named themselves after a sea bird, are definitely a rare breed in a business like music where money and fame often seems to eclipse the music itself.

Nobody could accuse them of being in it for the notoriety. Fyfe’s worked as a music teacher and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performed one of his orchestral pieces last year. The other members have impressive musical credentials too.

Guitarist MC Lord Magrão’s pre-Guillemots career includes years on the Brazilian noise scene, while Canadian double bassist Aristazabal Hawkes is a classically trained pianist, and drummer Greig Stewart has been drumming since he could pick up the sticks.

This talent has enabled them to build up an impressive list of achievements including a nomination for the Mercury Music prize in 2006 (losing out to the Arctic Monkeys no less) and two commercially successful albums, 2006’s Through the Window Pane and this year’s Red.
You get the feeling this is a band who reluctantly accepts the fame their talents have earned them. Red repeated the success of their first offering, and singles like ‘Get over it’ are proof the band are still very much in ascendance.

Although Fyfe admits that keeping in touch with their creativity is harder than when they were a relatively unknown band, I am impressed with how Guillemots manage to remain focused on the musical love which has earned them their following.

"I think it’s harder to write when you’re so immersed in the music business because it’s not really a very ‘real’ thing.

"So, I think it’ll be nice just to spend as long as it takes next year recording, just standing in a room and playing without loads of pressure and just trying to get loads of new songs together".
And when they do write their new material, Fyfe seems even more determined to preserve the "stripped down" musical spontaneity the group had when they were unsigned, unwilling to let notoriety affect their creative freedom.

"We’re really keen to get back to feeling like an unsigned band again. I think the thing you have to be careful of is that when people know who you are, it’s easy to let that start affecting the music you make.

"With the first album, no-one has any idea who you are so they have no preconceptions about you.

"Then as soon as you’ve done one album, anything else you do is going to be compared to it, because people like you for certain reasons. So you get carried away thinking about what people want to hear, but I think you have to ignore that stuff."

This sort of musical pigeonholing seems to be one of the downsides of being well known. But because Guillemots’ sound is as accessible as it is edgy, they do seem to have reached a wider audience than they might have imagined back when they recorded their first album.
In fact the extent of their fan base was evident when I heard ‘Get Over It’ coming from a middle- aged business-man’s headphones on the bus the other day. If they are this broadly appreciated though, does this make them ‘mainstream’ or cost them their obscure ‘coolness’? And does this annoy Fyfe?

"We got called (mainstream) a little bit with the last record, but then every band who progresses gets that.

"Whenever you move forwards as a band, there’s always people who wish you’d stayed as you were-it’s like if you have a perfect day out with someone, a perfect date or something, then you try and do the same thing again, it’s never as good. So we’re going to keep changing as a band".

When I ask him how, he’s quick to point out that moving forwards doesn’t necessarily mean getting wackier. He reassures me there will be no unduly raucous experimental shouting, braying or bird calls.

"We have done so much on the last two albums where we’ve pushed ourselves to be daring and, in a way, what we do next will be simpler and more straight forward, but I just don’t know until we start doing it."

It will be a surprise to fans that turn up to gigs on their forthcoming tour this November, which includes a date at Sheffield’s Plug.

Fyfe says they like playing live because a song sounds more "stripped down" to its true musicality. I think this confidence sums Guillemots up. How many bands could claim their songs sound better without studio doctoring?

I feel slightly guilty that I jumped to conclusions about their eccentricity. It’s fair to say Guillemots manage to ooze the appeal of a pop band without losing their unique, experimental approach.

They might well have cracked the formula for making challenging, thoughtful music which doesn’t alienate sceptics like me.

I think I may even start singing their songs in the shower.