Hello McFly, lovely to meet you - how are you?
All: “Very good thanks!”
Tell me about the new single “Lies”, which you’ve said is one of the darkest songs you’ve written…
Tom: “It’s the most ambitious song we’ve ever done - it’s a step away from our normal stuff and it stands out on the album. It’s about this horrible girl who lies and who you hope crashes her car, dies and burns in hell…”
Harry (the diplomat): “Which of course we’d never really wish on anybody…”
Of course not… Is it about anybody in particular?
Tom: “Our songs are never about one person - they’re based on our personal experiences.”
Harry: “It’s fictional too - which is what we tried to portray in the video.”
Ah yes, the futuristic video. I watched it yesterday and couldn’t make head nor tail of it. What’s it about then?
Tom: “It’s set 200 years in the future, water is scarce and everything revolves around water.”
Dougie: “We end up in this dark and dingy place called Nogo City where we need pure water to power our cells…”
So nothing at all to do with the song then?
Harry: “We wanted to take a risk. The song is a new sound for us and the video doesn’t have to detail it - it just has to connect with it and I think it does that perfectly. A video that follows the song is pretty boring…”
Tom (nodding): “We wanted to make a piece of art. And anyway, most hip-hop videos are in clubs but the songs don’t relate to that…”
Dougie: “Unless it’s 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’…”
Or Usher’s “Love In This Club”…
Tom: “Apart from that…”
You write all your own stuff - still in a room on the third floor?
Dougie: “We wrote bits of the new album on the second floor in Tom’s house, so not far off - but we can write on ground, first or second now we’re more experienced…”
Your new album was released on your label - how did it differ from recording on with a major label?
Tom: “We’ve got creative control now, so we can do cool videos like the new one and give away our album if we want - that would never have happened on a major label. Plus we own all our masters now which is amazing. I think a lot of bands would like to be in our position…”
Do you think Mail On Sunday readers - who include my mum - appreciated getting your album for free?
Danny: “They sold 300,000 more copies than normal, so everyone was happy and we hope we got our music out to people who hadn’t heard us before - including your mum! Plus, our fans got it for free, so that was good too.”
I came to your Wembley gig and you seem to love playing live - what’s the worst gig you’ve done?
Danny (mumbling): “There was a bad gig the other day wasn’t there?”
Tom (nodding): “Really bad…”
Where was that?
Harry (the diplomat): “We wouldn’t like to say where really. Most of our gigs are great.”
Danny: “We’ve had power cuts too - they’re never good.”
You covered Jellyfish’s “Baby’s Coming Back” - are you fans of the band?
Tom: “Massively - they’re an awesome band. We were obsessed with them at one stage…”
You also did a cover of Queen on your tour - any other covers coming up?
Tom: “Most covers are ones we’re asked to do - Queen was for Sport Relief and we got asked to cover Abba’s “Winner Takes It All” for the Olympic Torch handover…”
I saw that - did you enjoy it?
Danny: “We were really nervous - I got the words wrong and sang ‘destiny’ twice…”
Dougie: “And you pulled some really strange faces…”
Danny: “I nearly lost it totally and when I sang destiny twice I thought I was going to…”
So they’re not lying on The X Factor when they say Abba week is the hardest?
Danny: “Is that what they say? No, they’re not!”
What sport could you do at London 2012?
Dougie: “Women’s 500m. Or we could be a really bad rowing team…”
Harry (laughing): “You could be the cox.”
Dougie: “I could be the what?”
Do you dance to your own tunes when you hear them on the radio?
Harry: “The other day I was walking past my kitchen and my mum was in there listening to “Lies” - it was on Radio Two. She said they kept on calling us Mac-Fly…”
Was she dancing?
Harry: “No, she was just being sweet…”
You’re not shy about getting naked in your videos, in interviews or on-stage - is it something you do together a lot?
Danny: “We’ve done it a few times but I think we’re through that stage now…”
Harry: “But it would be funny to do it in a performance soon wouldn’t it? It’s good when it’s spur of the moment.”
What’s the most random story you’ve heard about yourself?
Tom: “There was a random one on Google saying that we popped in to see Danny’s cousin on the way back from a gig in Carlisle, but we didn’t it was just some bloke saying he was Danny’s cousin…”
Danny: “What!?”
Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
Danny: “Rod Stewart would be cool…”
Tom: “A girl would be better - someone like Rihanna would be great.”
Is there a song you wish you’d written?
Dougie: “‘Yesterday’ - that’s pretty cool.”
Tom: “I’d love to have written ‘Paperback Writer’ and the E.T. theme tune.”
What’s the most-played song on your MP3 player?
Dougie: “Harry’s is definitely that creepy Supertramp song - he used to run around the kitchen singing it.”
Danny: “Probably our stuff - we keep getting new mixes of the new album.”
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Dougie: “Kevin Bacon.”
Tom: “Philip Seymour Hoffman.”
Danny: “Will Smith.”
Harry? Much discussion ensues but Harry turns down the option of Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller. RealMusic Blog gets bored of waiting for an answer and so leaves the fellas to sort it out among themselves. Bye McFly!
All: “Bye!” |
