26 August 2010 (Music Interview)

Words: John Balfe

Fight Like Apes release their second album The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner on 27th August, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion. The album, recorded in the UK with acclaimed producer Andy Gill, is one of the most anticipated Irish albums of the year. The Dublin band have garnered a hard-earned reputation as one of the most enigmatic (not to mention kinda violent) live acts to come from these shores in many a year. John Balfe made the short journey to Dublin's newest venue The Workman's Club to have a chat with vocalist Mary-Kate 'MayKay' Geraghty, keyboardist Jamie 'Pockets' Fox and the newest kid in the gang, drummer Lee Boylan about the new album, wrestling rings and, er, Dire Straits.

MK - MayKay; P - Pockets; L - Lee Boylan

A lot of people are trying to pigeonhole this new album, to define it. Are you happy with the definitions? I read somewhere that someone said it's darker than the first but I'd be interested in hearing what you think is the difference between your first and second albums? I certainly doesn't strike me as dark in the Nick Cave sense of the word.

MK: I think we're trying to stay away from the word "darker" because that's kind of like we're saying something that it isn't but, at the end of the day, it probably is. It's certainly a bit darker than the last one but we still wouldn't call it dark. It's probably just a little bit more shifty than the last one.

How do you feel about the band, now that you're two years past the debut and about to release the follow-up album? Does it still feel the same?

MK: I'd say that we feel like a much different band, given that we have recorded an album that we feel properly belongs to us and we've had every hand in it that we could have.

P: It's a really bizarre situation. It was great to become really good friends again. We always were good friends but when you're on tour and getting in each other's faces and then when you still want to socialise with these people [the band]. That really, really helped us. It feels like the start again for us and that's the best thing ever because we've got something new, something that no one has heard yet. It feels like a clean slate.

When you're approaching a second album do you come from the same place when you're writing a song, or did you try and shy away from that and have a "that was then, this is now" approach?

MK: I don't think we've ever had any solid approach to any song that we've written. I think it was just, "f*ck, get a few songs down lads!" We tried a few different things. We locked ourselves away in a house for a while.

Does that work for you?

MK: It turns out no!

P: It was really when we got into our rehearsal routine is when it really came together. That just seems to be the way to do it. There's no point in going to a house and writing for a few weeks. Within these three weeks we're going to put ourselves in a quirky setting and, of course, that setting is going to somehow inspire us. We believed that. We were like "this is perfect, this is how you do it".

What was it like working on the album with a producer like Andy Gill?

MK: For us, the whole process was entirely different. The first time we recorded (with John Goodmanson) - stop me if anyone disagrees with me - I don't think we really knew what we were doing. We knew we wanted to record this amount of songs, we want them to be in this order but other than that, sounds-wise, we'd been playing the songs for about 2 years. By that stage, you're suddenly in a proper studio in Seattle with a brilliant producer and the songs have been going through your mind so much that you'd play a new keyboard sound and it would be really exciting.

P: We kept trying to reinvent the songs when there was nothing wrong with the song in the first place.

MK: We knew we were going to record an album but we didn't really know what we were going to do with it, whereas this time we knew exactly what we wanted. We were working with Andy as opposed to under him.

When did you finish the album?

P: We finished in June. The 5th of June.

MK: It feels like ages ago. We've been pretty bored waiting for it to come out.

P: We felt like dicks with our pencils, criticising it for ages but then said, "Wait a minute, this is grand. I can live with this." We were sending all these letters off saying, "Andy, will you sort this out, or tweak that" and then eventually he goes "listen, do you like it or not?" and we were like "yeah, it's pretty deadly actually!"

When were the songs written, generally speaking?

P: A lot of them just came together at the very end so we were still completely excited about them going into the studio.

MK: We had a couple of funny nights actually. You know, some nights if we're having a few drinks and we write some lyrics, on the night you'll be like "that is f*cking genius!" but the next day you're like "don't read those, please don't read those..." But then we did have one night where we wrote three songs. We were all so chuffed with ourselves! We did an overnight in the studio and then the next day we listened to them and it actually worked out.

I know that oftentimes songwriting is an organic process but how do you approach it when you have to work towards a deadline, or when the record company says that they need 12 songs by a certain date?

P: I generally have to wait until I crash. If I sit down and try to write a great song, it's never going to happen. There are good weeks and there are bad weeks and you just kind of get the feeling that you can do it sometimes. Once you get the first line, the first line is the hard one. After that it's easy.

MK: I can only ever write about exes and food. That's literally it. Unless I have a recent ex or a really hungry tummy I can't write anything at all. But there were a couple of frustrating days for everyone I think, when you're ready and want to do it and you are writing stuff but you do know that if you use it for the album it's only because you have to use it instead of really wanting to use it. By the end of it we actually did have a choice of songs.

I get the feeling that some people have a very defined perception of what a Fight Like Apes song should sound like. Do you ever feel forced into taking that into account when writing new material?

MK: We've actually had to train ourselves to not do that. One of our rules, or which we have few, is never say "that's not a Fight Like Apes song".

P: We've done one album, who's to say what a Fight Like Apes song sounds like?

MK: But if Fight Like Apes wrote it, it has to be a Fight Like Apes song. We just keep widening the spectrum of the songs we write so no one can say that it's not a Fight Like Apes song.

I was at the show you did last December in The Academy in which you played in a wrestling ring. How did that come about?

P: We wanted to do something different. We were coming up to the point where we had to release a new album but we felt like we might do one last Christmas gig but we didn't want to do the same gig as we did the year before. We only had three new songs to debut and that wasn't enough of a reason to just play a regular show. I sometimes feel that a lot of bands cheat punters by putting the same show on over and over, like a cabaret version. But we wanted to take it even further than cabaret in making it into a wrestling show! We figured if we're going to be a cabaret show, why not be a Vegas cabaret show!

You've definitely earned a reputation for being a really exciting and vibrant live act. Is that ever hard to live up to?

MK: Only in the sense that I don't want to be tired before a gig because I want to live up to it myself. There are always some shows where you feel the show was a bit shit but the crowd loved it, or vice versa. But the ones that are always solid are the ones that are really high energy and that's all I ever worry about, that I won't enjoy it.

P: If you walk out on stage tired you're not going to tired the minute you get there and if you are, go home. What's the point in going on stage if you can't have a laugh?

Even if it's the tenth show in twelve days?

P: Don't do ten shows then. Just do nine! Don't get up and do a shit one, what's the point of that? There is absolutely no point in playing a shit show, so don't bother. We've always tried to keep to that. Of course, sometimes we've really tried to have a good show and ended up having a bad one but at least we're trying to have a good show every night.

So the first single from the new album is 'Hoo Ha Henry'. Why that particular song?

P: I think we thought it was the best link between where we were and where we're going.

MK: We could have done other ones but it might have been almost unrecognisable, so it just seemed like the easiest transition.

P: It's a catchy little song for the radio lads.

You've made some movies into overseas territories; Japan and the US specifically. Is there any specific strategy in place?

P: We're making it up as we go along. That's the ethos of Fight Like Apes. Don't turn down anything and say yes to everything. If you make a mistake, you're alright. At least you made a decision.

MK: Don't get lazy about it either. It would be so easy to keep going around Ireland.

I think a lot of people fall into that trap in this country.

MK: Yeah. I think it's a strange one because it isn't that easy to fall into.

P: You'd have to be an awful sap, wouldn't you? Sure f*ck it, they've opened up a pub in Skibereen, let's head down.

MK: It's almost like a defence mechanism as well though, isn't it? It's this big daunting thing to go off to somewhere else to try and break wherever it is you're going.

P: I think people are too scared and they need someone to actually ask them to go places. You don't need that at all, you just decide to go over there for a while. Book the shows and just do it. Get a van. Rob your mate's van. Buy a car and shove all your gear in the back. It's not that hard, just make the commitment.

MK: It obviously doesn't work for a lot people though, which I suppose stops people from doing it. If the worst thing that can happen is that you're not going to make an impact, you weren't going to make an impact anyway if you didn't do it.

P: Don't don't blame the industry because you were too lazy to book a ferry. 

Lee, I know you're no stranger to these guys but what's it like to be a fully fledged member of the family now?

I haven't really experienced it yet. It's just been a laugh so far, it hasn't felt like business really. Maybe I'm in for a shock but it just feels totally natural.

And you were just working in your studio beforehand, that was the full time job?

Yeah, I play drums around as well.

Do you have room for both, or are you now a full time drummer?

P: Tell the truth.

MK: Who do you play drums for Lee?!

L: I play drums for the lad out of Dire Straits.

Fight Like Apes collectively erupt in laughter.

L: Off the record!

MK: No way! That's the most on the record thing that's ever been said!

So what's happening between now and the end of the year?

MK: We're doing a midnight Mass in Tower Records on the 26th, then launching the album in Cork on the 27th. Then we're doing an In-Store tour around different little record shops around the country and that'll just be new stuff off the album. Then we have Electric Picnic, that's the big one for us. After that we'll dig a big ol' extensive Irish tour.

Have you anything planned for Electric Picnic?

MK: We realised that we work best when we just decide to have complete disregard for our own personal safety on stage. If we plan anything - with the exception of the wrestling ring - I, without fail, cannot move my neck for four days. I end up in physio, or with a broken foot, or broken fingers. It's always because we plan on doing something and then, last minute, I say "I don't want to do that let's DO THIS INSTEAD!!"

Is the key to a good live performance to somehow harness or manage the chaos?

P: I just f*cking LOVE throwing stuff at people while they're playing. Nobody ever gets annoyed at all.

MK: That's one thing that's really funny about the band. If he came over here now and kicked me I could be as furious as I wanted. Anything that happens on stage, you just cannot get annoyed about. Whatever happens on the stage stays on the stage.

L: I've been told a couple of times "you're f*ckin' dead!" on stage.

And how long have you been with the band?!

L: That's only four gigs in!

*******************************

Special thanks to Loreana Rushe for the first two photographs.

Back to Music Exclusives