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Mar 15, 2022 By Dom Gourlay Web Exclusive

Feeder have established themselves as one of the most consistent UK bands, not only via an extensive back catalogue but also in being one of the most exciting live acts around, nearly three decades after their conception. From the moment debut EP, Two Colours, landed in the autumn of 1995 up to 2019’s tenth LP, Tallulah, the band’s sound may have developed and changed several times but the quality has never wavered.

Feeder were formed in the Welsh city of Newport back in 1994 by Grant Nicholas (guitar, vocals) and drummer Jon Lee, with bass player Taka Hirose joining later that year. The trio quickly became signed to Chrysalis Records subsidiary The Echo Label and immediately found themselves cited as the future of British rock music alongside fellow Welsh acts Manic Street Preachers and Stereophonics, both of whom they’ve shared both a kinship and fanbase (or elements of) with ever since.

The trio’s debut album Polythene came out in May 1997 to a wave of critical acclaim from the British critics, and with an ever-growing reputation and legion of fans, particularly at their concerts, the band quickly found themselves on an upward trajectory both critically and commercially.

However, tragedy struck in January 2002 when drummer Lee took his own life. The subsequent feelings of loss and grief informed much of Feeder’s fourth album, Comfort In Sound, while Lee has never been permanently replaced since.

Commercially, both Comfort In Sound and its 2005 successor, Pushing the Senses, saw Feeder reach a peak. Yet at the same time, they’ve arguably released some of their more experimentally challenging records over the decade and a half since. 2008’s Silent Cry is still heralded by many as the band’s most accomplished body of work to date, while both 2010’s Renegades and 2012’s Generation Freakshow saw them return to the raw, claustrophobic sound of their earlier recordings.

So here we are, fast forwarding to March 2022 on the eve of the release of the duo’s eleventh album, Torpedo. It’s another vibrant shot in the arm and yet another vital addition to the Feeder canon. Its 10 pieces range from the ballsy rock of “Magpie” or the title track, anthemic lead single “Wall of Silence” or the introspectively atmospheric likes of “Slow Strings.” It’s a classic Feeder record that will almost certainly be instantly embraced by hardcore fans from any era while exemplifying the high-octane passion and energy that’s introduced new converts at various junctures along the way.

Understandably, Grant Nicholas seems particularly buoyant, if also a little apprehensive that the band have been away from the live stage for so long thanks to the enforced COVID lockdowns.

He’s also feeling a bit under the weather today, having pulled a muscle in his back. “It’s hurting like hell!” declares Nicholas. “I went for some acupuncture this morning which does help actually. But as soon as I try and sit down it locks up.”

Dom Gourlay (Under the Radar): How was the enforced lockdown period for you? What kind of effect did it have on you both personally and in terms of being able to write, record and tour with Feeder?

Grant Nicholas: What a weird two years it’s been for everyone. I think it had a devastating effect on everybody, not just people in the music industry. It’s been a very testing time. Basically, I’d written loads of stuff before the first lockdown and we did some recording. I sent some tracks to Taka and he put some bass bits on them. We did pretty much an album’s worth and finished most of them bar two or three that needed the bass parts adding. So, they were almost at the mixing stage, and then lockdown came.

Was this how Torpedo started?

No, the songs for Torpedo came after. All of that was written during lockdown, so we actually had two albums ready. We haven’t decided when the other one will come out yet—possibly this time next year—but it’s in the bag and ready to go. The two records work in tandem, but even though Torpedo was written afterwards it makes sense for that to come out first. We used the same artist’s work on the cover and both have a similar look and theme. It will all make sense when the second one comes out but, technically, the next one and Torpedo could almost be a double album in two halves. I don’t want to have a two-year cycle like we normally have with our albums. I want to get this out next year, which is much sooner than we normally would. That record will be a combination of the pre-COVID songs and some of the material I’ve been writing over the past few weeks. I’ve got seven new tracks, which is a bit weird considering Torpedo hasn’t even come out yet. So, we might go old school Feeder and also put out a little EP in between the two albums. Maybe sometime in the summer, and then look at dropping the album early next year. It might get moved back because it may be too soon to tour it. I’m not sure, but it’s always been our plan to bring it out in 2023. So, if you’re not a fan, bad luck, because you’re going to be hearing a lot of Feeder music for the next couple of years. If I was to compare it anything we’ve done in the past I’d probably say Yesterday Went Too Soon. But then the new stuff I’ve been writing is even more old school and very rocky, so we may mix it up. Or we may put those songs separately on an EP. We haven’t decided yet. It’s just great that we’ve got loads of music to put out when the time is right. I didn’t want to dilute this record and try to just put the obvious songs on to make it a bit more radio friendly. I thought it was already strong enough in its own way as a record. Just getting the sequence right was a big deal for me. It’s been sequenced very much like an old school vinyl. Side A then Side B, and I think it flows really well because of that. Cut it in half and it still sounds pretty good as two separate things. We still really care about things like that. Maybe I’m just too old but I can’t really view a record in any other way. It’s quite a heavy record but there’s also some mellower moments like “Hide And Seek” to break things up a bit. I thought it was important to be able to do that without confusing the message. I’m not into just everything being a big riff on every song. It’s like a live set. You need a bit of a break sometimes. You need a “High” or “Just the Way I’m Feeling” or “Yesterday Went Too Soon” every now and then just to break it up, and that’s how I feel albums should be. Or certainly how Feeder albums should be. I think the only album of ours that doesn’t as many different dynamics so is more direct is Renegades.

“Wall of Silence” and “The Healing” have already come out as singles prior to the album’s release. Will there be any more singles off Torpedo in the foreseeable future?

I guess the first two tracks we put out [“Magpie” and “Torpedo”] weren’t official singles as such. I really like those tracks, but I knew we’d never get on daytime radio with either of those. So, they were gently put out there but “Wall of Silence” was the first one, even though I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s commercially accessible for radio either. We are looking at maybe doing one more—I’m not sure which song just yet—after the album’s been released and it is quite rare to get more than two songs off the same album played on the radio anyway.

In the past, you’ve been able to road test new material live. Particularly with the Renegades and Generation Freakshow albums, if not so much the more recent ones afterwards. Did it feel strange to not have that opportunity this time around?

We haven’t really done that as much since the Renegades era so it is frustrating because sometimes you can play a song live and it takes on a whole new meaning, which informs the recording. Also, you never quite know what people are going to think of the track. It can be really nerve-wracking doing rehearsals for a tour knowing people have never heard any of those songs played live before. It’s exciting but those first shows are often quite nerve-wracking. Some of the new songs can often take a while to gel in, so you have to adapt. I’ve written all the new songs on acoustic so hopefully we’ll find a way of making all of them work live. It just depends how much of Torpedo we’re going to play on the tour. I’d like to play as much as we can. It’s a new album so we can’t just do a “Best of” set every time.

How many of these songs have been rehearsed? With the Tallulah tour being cut abruptly short in March 2020 due to the COVID outbreak, will some of those songs feature heavily in the forthcoming live sets as well?

We haven’t rehearsed any of these tracks yet. We’ve not had one rehearsal! I’ve seen Taka five times since lockdown. Mainly because we played a couple of festivals towards the end of last year when restrictions became more relaxed. That’s all we did, so those sets mainly consisted of “Best of” material plus a couple of Tallulah songs. We didn’t play anything new. Mainly because we didn’t have much time to rehearse any of them. We were tempted to try and get one together but we didn’t want to rush it either so we didn’t do it in the end. So, we haven’t actually played any of these live at all. But that’s quite normal for a lot of bands where you just spend a couple of weeks in rehearsals then get on the road and just do it. We didn’t get a chance to play any of the Tallulah stuff before either, and that worked out okay. For the first half of the tour anyway. I’m not dissing any of the old songs or records. They’re always going to be there. But if we fill the set full of the same songs people always expect us to play, it doesn’t leave any room for the new ones. This is a tour for the new album. If people are unhappy with that, I can’t do much about it. This album does remind me of Renegades in some ways. It’s not an obviously commercial record but there’s still some songs that have done quite well on radio. I was looking at some stats the other day and we’ve been on some really good radio playlists. It’s done really well on Spotify too. So far, the early signs are good. We’ve done a lot of pre-orders as well. I’m not expecting any big chart result with it but it’s doing really well considering we’ve done everything ourselves. The whole project has been self-funded and more importantly, the feedback from fans has also been overwhelmingly positive. It’s been as good if not better than it was on the last record. So that’s a positive. We’ll know more about which songs work best live once we get in a rehearsal room, but I’d like to think we’ll play a big chunk of this record. I’d also like to revisit a few songs off Swim and Polythene because I think they’d go really well with Torpedo. Then maybe throw a few of the old classics in there as well. But I don’t want the set to be predictable. I don’t want people to think we have to play “Buck Rogers” or “Seven Days in the Sun” every single time. We’re still going to play those songs. Just not necessarily on every night of this tour.

The artwork for Torpedo is very striking. Who designed it?

As you know, we’ve always had pretty cool record sleeves. We’ve spent a lot of time working with really cool people and always tried to find really good artists. The Tallulah stuff was done by a really cool artist friend called Rugman. This one came about through a conversation with Mikey, who does all our online stuff. I was looking at classic ‘70s/‘80s covers. Anything from Pink Floyd to Roxy Music and even American AOR bands like Journey. I had this idea for the Torpedo cover being something really old school. Anyway, he came across this Russian artist called Sergei Nehaev. He’s basically a mad Russian collage artist. I got cold feet initially as I wondered whether it would be too much for an album cover. But his was by far the strongest image we had. It was the perfect cover for this album. When we contacted him, it turned out he was a fan and really into music. His favorite band are Smashing Pumpkins. He even does music himself and is a really nice guy, so to find somebody who’s a Russian collage artist that actually knows and likes our music was quite bizarre but also meant to be, I think. He sent us a few things to use and tweaked a few bits and pieces. He’s also done the sleeve for the next album as well which will connect both records in some way.

With such an extensive back catalogue of material and 11 albums worth of material among it, there’s always going to be anniversaries on the horizon. Polythene turns 25 in May, Comfort In Sound is 20 years old in October then Generation Freakshow which celebrates its 10th birthday in April. Will you be doing anything special to commemorate any of those milestones?

We’ve been going nearly 30 years now. It was back in ’92 when me and Jon [Lee] first started playing together even before either of us met Taka so I guess that was the start of this. But in the time, we’ve been going, I can’t think of many other bands that have never done a live album. I was always against doing one because I’ve never really been a fan of live albums, but I’m starting to think maybe it’s time we did. We’ve never toured an entire album either whereas loads of other bands do. The Manics being one who’ve done several of their popular albums really successfully in recent years. I’ve often thought about it, but never gotten round to it because I’m always writing new material. So maybe after this double album/two records in two years idea comes off it might be nice to play something like Comfort In Sound in its entirety then finish on a few “Best of” songs at the end. That’s how the Manics do it and it always seems to work really well. That’s a really great way of doing it because then you can come back on and play the greatest hits with a few B-sides and rare singles thrown in for good measure. People then get a really good night where they get to hear a record in its entirety that they love plus a few of the singles and B-sides at the end. It’s difficult to play a new album in full unless you specifically say you’re doing that, which I know some bands do. But it’s always a bit of a gamble unless the album’s been out a long time. So, revisiting an album like Comfort In Sound might be a good place to start. Some of the other Feeder albums might work well in that context too, but it would be good to do something to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Comfort In Sound. It’s our biggest selling record and an album lots of people know, so I think it may be the best place to start it. Maybe we’ll do a few more if that goes well. Who knows? I think Polythene and Echo Park would work really well, but Comfort In Sound is the one that definitely stands out. Maybe do a couple of special nights, record them, then put it out as a commemorative live album? That would be great. Or possibly remaster then re-release the album? I’m not going to remix it. I don’t see the point. That was what that record is. I’m fine with remastering it, giving it a bit more EQ to make it sound better. But I’ve never been a fan of remixing for the sake of it. It might sound better if we did but personally, I don’t think it’s necessary.

My favorite repackages have been ones where previously unreleased tracks resurface for the first time that not only tell a story of the writing and recording process for that record, but also where the band were heading to next. Hence the reason they’ve never been released before because they didn’t really fit either the album in focus or its successor, yet successfully act as a bridge between the two.

We could probably do a really nice vinyl reissue and include some of the B-sides and demos from that era, because a lot of people might not have heard them. It would be quite cool to show that side by way of something we haven’t used before. Maybe add a new track or something or even an alternative [early] version of one of the songs off the record. I’ve always said no to it before, but I think now is a good time as we go onto the next chapter of our lives. Also, I don’t want to be too old to play it! We’d have to go into rehearsals and really learn to play most of those songs again. We’ve only really played the obvious ones live since the album came out. We don’t even play some of the singles live because we just don’t have time to fit them all in, so it would be great to do that. I wouldn’t do loads of gigs, just a few. But make it really special. I wouldn’t over-milk it. It needs to be a real thing, that.

It’s probably fair to say one of the reasons behind Feeder’s longevity is that you continue releasing new music. I’d also say its one of the facets which unites your fanbase with that of other bands like the Manics, Stereophonics, and Muse—all bands who’ve been around a similar length of time—yet all continually writing, recording then touring new albums. Everyone undoubtedly has their own favorite era, but they’re also still excited to hear the new songs as well. It’s no coincidence that whenever those bands tour, they always sell out, and whichever festival they’re playing its always rammed out front. Even though you’ve been going for such a long time, there’s still that buzz of anticipation surrounding a new Feeder album. That must be an incredible feeling, rather than being a band that’s just living off the back of one album or a handful of singles.

That wouldn’t be enough for me. I still think people would really be attracted to us playing something more bespoke like Polythene in its entirety. There are a lot of people that grew up with that record who’ve since got families and might not go and watch live music any more. Yet I think if they knew we were playing that record it would remind them of a certain time in their life. It would be great, and fun to do sometime. They all have their place, but I think Polythene would be special. For me anyway, and Comfort In Sound a good one to start it off with. I wouldn’t want to over-milk them. We might only do Comfort In Sound, who knows? I think this new album really connects with that period of Feeder as well.

You’re on tour at the end of April and beginning of May. Will you be doing the festival circuit then touring again in the autumn as with previous albums?

We’re in talks with our booking agent at the moment, but it’s quite slow all across the board and has been since everything reopened. I’ve turned up to gigs that have supposedly been sold out and the room has been half empty. It’s really bizarre. So, I’d be lying to you if I said we’ve got shows and tours planned for the rest of the year, because at the moment we haven’t. Some of the bigger bills are selling out where there’s numerous big acts on the same line-up. But the smaller arena and theatre tours have been quite slow in terms of ticket sales. I guess people are still nervous about going out but I’m hoping we’ve turned a big corner now. I think we’re slowly coming to terms with the fact we’ve got to live with COVID, so hopefully people will become more confident about going to a show. People still want to hear live music. But there’s also that element of trepidation when it comes to buying a ticket for a show. I really hope that changes sooner rather than later.

We have got a few festivals booked, but the biggest problem we had trying to get new ones was that most of the line-ups were rollovers from last year or the one before when the festival couldn’t go ahead. So, getting a place on some bills was incredibly difficult. We’ve got quite a few in, but I think the plan is to try and hit it much bigger next year. But when it comes to touring, we’re not looking too far ahead just yet. Hopefully 2023 will be as near to normal as it can possibly be, but I think this year might still throw a few obstacles our way over the coming months. I’ve noticed bands postponing or rearranging tours into next year even now, and we thought about moving ours as well. But the problem is, where do you move it to? Because most dates for the next 18 months are already booked up by bands who’ve moved their tours already. It’s really hard to get any venues. We were really lucky to get these dates. We’d liked to have done more shows, but just couldn’t get the right venues. So, we have got a few dates pencilled in for October which we’re hoping will be the second half of this tour, but I’m not going to stick my neck out and say that will definitely happen. You just don’t know at the minute.

How was it playing some of the first festivals to reopen such as Victorious in August? Was it quite regimented in terms of avoiding contact with other artists and their crews?

A few were quite strict. I wouldn’t describe any as being “regimented.” They were all well organized with everybody wearing masks and stuff. It was a bit weird having to keep within our bubble while onsite and I know some festivals were stricter than others. We didn’t quite have the level of audience interaction we normally have and it wasn’t as relaxed which felt a bit weird at times. If anything, the strangest feeling was just walking out on that stage again for the first time in two-and-a-half years! As soon as I walked out there everything was fine, but then that’s nothing new either as I always get that nervous adrenaline build-up before a show. As soon as I lose that, it means we’re going through the motions and just doing it for the money which has never been the case with us. We really care about what we do.

With the double whammy of COVID and now Brexit, do you think it will be possible for both the live touring industry or record manufacturing plants (with all the highly documented vinyl shortages) to ever get back to where they were three years ago?

The whole Brexit thing was just an absolute car crash as far as touring is concerned. Tour managers must be having nervous breakdowns. I know there’s been a few concessions made since but its really not ideal. We’re hoping to do a few shows in Europe but it’s looking bleak for a lot of smaller bands. Just the paperwork and costs alone make it financially unviable for most. Unless you’re a really big act, and you do it with no crew in a van then literally just turn up every night and play. Touring Europe and America was always expensive anyway without the addition of hidden costs and extra paperwork. We find it tough touring Europe and the costs involved trying to put on a decent show every night far outweighs any perceived income from our own personal experiences. As much as I like touring in a van and doing everything ourselves Renegades style, I still like having a couple o crew.

Bearing all that in mind, what advice would you give to a new band just starting out? What pitfalls would you tell them to avoid?

Pass your driving test so you can drive the van! It’s a really tough question because so much has changed since we first started out. I’ve come across loads of bands over the years and wondered how did they not become big? It’s always been a tough industry. It took us a long time to get signed. We had to work really hard and still do. What’s encouraging is there are loads of great bands out there. There certainly isn’t a lack of talent. It’s probably easier to be in a band nowadays because you can make records in your bedroom. Technology has really come on so much. Even when I think about how much we spent making records while on an indie label budget it’s frightening. I’ve got mates in bands and when I found out how much they spent on making their records I was gobsmacked. It was silly money in those days, but people bought CDs so there was more money around. It’s a different world. I love being in a band. It was something I’d dreamed about since I was nine years old. But it is very competitive, and social media makes it even harder because everyone’s a critic. It doesn’t matter how old I am or how thick my skin has got, if I see one comment that drives me mad it can sometimes wind me up for days. So, I think you need to have a thick skin and just believe in what you do. At the end of the day, it is really about your songs. Your band might have a vibe about them, but you really do need some songs as well. You see some bands live and they sound amazing, but then you hear a demo and there aren’t any songs there. There were lots of bands like that when we were just starting out in the ‘90s. They were great live but it didn’t translate to the songs themselves. Also, don’t sign any dodgy contracts. If you’ve got someone that believes in you, they’ll stay with you so when the time is right you can do your deal then. Don’t follow the trends, trends come and go. I think trends are less now than they used to be when we started. I think we’re spoiled for choice now, with so much music out there, especially through social media. Maybe it’s always been that way, but I think nowadays we’re more aware of it. It just feels like there’s a million bands, which is great for music. But it’s also difficult to have room for everyone. Radio only has a certain number of playlists. We know how hard it is to try and get on a playlist 11 albums in. So, it is tough but also encouraging to hear some guitar bands getting played. The likes of IDLES and Fontaines D.C. being good examples.

Torpedo is out this Friday, March 18, through Big Teeth Music.

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