After listening to the Friendly Fires sound check at Ibiza Rocks Hotel I was buzzing to meet the electro-funk band. With a busy schedule and their Ibiza Rocks performance only a couple of hours away I was lucky enough to grab lead guitarist Edd Gibson for a quick chat.
You’ve not long released your second album ‘Pala’, what’s the reaction been like?
The reactions been really positive so far, we were really terrified and shiting it a bit beforehand not knowing what was going to happen, but it’s been really good. We’ve been away for so long so I think people were thinking Christ they must have come up with something pretty special for being away.
Why were you away for so long?
We find it really hard to actually write while we’re touring and on the road because when you are sound connecting you are travelling and getting planes really early and the last thing you want to do between now and doing a show is actually get back and write a song, and we need to set up all the equipment you cant really just have an acoustic guitar in the back of the bus.
Is there a concept behind the album?
Well there was a point where Ed went off to this cottage in the north of France, a little secluded haunted gaff with no electricity, internet, central heating, or anything like that. That was for about a fortnight or so just trying to get ideas together because sometimes when you write a song it gets to the point where you have to put vocals over it and if you’ve got no lyrics to go with it you loose the momentum when you have to down tools to actually write a load of stuff. Its good to have an arsenal of ideas before you start writing songs, but there was no strict concept I think we always seem to end up writing fairly uplifting songs.
What's it like performing at Ibiza Rocks?
Well you’ve got a literal crowd on your doorstep, I guess for some bands they might feel out of place, like they are invading the dance capital of the world, but I think we have enough of a cross over that it should appeal.
Your song ‘Jump in the Pool’ could cause some havoc here. Will you be jumping in?
I doubt it as it’s halfway through our set and I’d have to leap out and probably get electrocuted on the live wires at the back of the stage. I’m hoping they’d just fill up the swimming pool with people just being shoulder to shoulder standing up.
You were performing at Mallorca Rocks last night how does it compare to Ibiza Rocks?
It seems pretty identical to this hotel its basically a carbon copy but with a bit of a bigger area in the middle.
Where will you be touring this year?
We just did Glastonbury before we popped out here which was fantastic and we’ve got Benicassim coming up which is always a really amazing festival and there’s a really good water park nearby which goes on all through the night.
Ibiza is mainly known for electronic music, do you all have a little passion for that?
Yea, and Jack’s been DJ’ing for longer that Friendly Fires has been going, so last time we were here we made the effort to go to Amnesia and had an amazing time there, just seeing how a super-club works.As a band we go out raving more than to rock shows.
Lately there’s been a more diverse range of live acts in coming to Ibiza, didn’t you perform at ‘Come Together’ last year?
Yea that was odd though as we were in the DJ booth which was almost a story above the audience so you feel like you’re looming over people. It sort of looses the intimacy of a small show, but I think it would be cool eventually, just need to iron out a few creases here and there.
It must be different performing in a DJ booth?
Yea, you just worry as there’s a pothole where the actual DJ stands in the middle of the stage so with wrong foot yourself into a casualty.
Any other plans for Ibiza this year?
I don’t think so as we sort of have our touring plans until December, with a pretty chocka block schedule, so it’s a shame because we are in this incredible hotel called ‘Pikes’ where ‘Club tropicana’ was filmedin that very pool and it’s also where Freddie Mercury was said to of had his birthday party where the story of all the midgets having plates of class As on their heads wondering round, apparently he had his own sort of suite full time there. It’s crazy it’s just a same we are getting whisked of at half 6 tomorrow morning to go onto the next gig.
Where are you going next?
We are going to a festival in France tomorrow evening, its non stop, and its times like this when you are clawing at the real world and you want to be apart of that.
Do you get used to all the travelling?
Yea you do its just as soon as you down tools for an instant and when you stop touring that it hits you and the fatigue, you need at least about two days in bed to recover, which is a shame because when you do get the odd day off you want to go and see you’re friends and family.
