Funeral for a Friend

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Funeral for a Friend
Origin Bridgend
Genre(s) Post-hardcore[1]
Melodic hardcore[2]
Label(s) Ferret
Atlantic
Join Us
Associated acts January Thirst
The Secret Show
Makeshift Truth
Website ffafmusic.com
Members
Kris Coombs-Roberts
Gareth Davies
Ryan Richards
Darran Smith
Matt Davies
Former members
Matthew Evans
Andi Morris
Johnny Phillips
Oliver Craze
For the Elton John song, see Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.

Funeral for a Friend (commonly abbreviated to FFAF) is a Welsh post-hardcore band that was previously signed to Ferret Music and later Atlantic Records before leaving the label in 2008. The group will release its as-yet-untitled fourth album on its own label, Join Us.

Contents

[edit] Formation and EPs (2001-2003)

FFAF's roots can be found in the band January Thirst. When Michael Davies (Now of Makeshift Truth), one of January Thirst's original vocalists, quit in December 2001, Matthew Evans (vocals) and Johnny Phillips (drums) invited Matt Davies to try out for the vacated singer position. Soon afterwards the band reformed as Funeral for a Friend, named after a song by Planes Mistaken for Stars, but, due to Matt being the only member who is a fan of PMFS the band as a whole credit the Elton John song as the basis for their name. The band's original bassist quit due to his long-time ambition to become a music teacher at a comprehensive school in South Wales and Oliver Craze, a guitarist, also left to join Michael in Makeshift Truth.

During the start of the New Year they parted ways with second guitarist Kerry Roberts (Kris Coombs-Roberts's brother) and found a suitable replacement in Darran Smith (ex-Tripcage). The band recorded four tracks at Mighty Atom Studios for a proposed self financed EP with another Welsh band From This Moment On. Upon hearing the tracks, Mighty Atom Records approached the band and offered a two album deal, resulting in their debut EP, Between Order & Model (2002).

In 2003, Funeral for a Friend recorded their second EP, Four Ways to Scream Your Name, produced and mixed by Colin Richardson. Both EPs are currently out of print and highly sought after by fans of the band (as of 2006, the band's first EP can be found in HMV stores in the UK).

In mid-2003, the band secured their first Kerrang! award, winning the award for "Best UK Newcomer," beating The Darkness, who won in all other nominated categories. Funeral for a Friend's win was largely attributed to their fervent fan base, as the awards winner was decided by public vote online at the official Kerrang! Web site.

[edit] Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation (2003-2005)

On October 20, 2003, after recording for the duration of the summer, Funeral for a Friend's full-length debut album was released. Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, produced and mixed by Colin Richardson, was released to critical acclaim in the UK. The album did not see a concurrent release in the US (eventually released there on July 13, 2004); instead, a seven-track "mini-album," entitled Seven Ways to Scream Your Name, was released, and featured songs from the band's Between Order & Model and Four Ways to Scream Your Name EPs.

Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation saw three top-twenty singles including "Juneau" (#19), "She Drove Me to Daytime Television" (#20) and "Escape Artists Never Die" (#19).

Funeral for a Friend toured feverishly to promote Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, including a series of European dates in which they opened for their idols, Iron Maiden. This was met with a mixed reception, however, as their style and fan base bore little resemblance to the heavy metal background of Iron Maiden. In 2004, the band headlined the second stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

[edit] Hours (2005-2006)

On June 14, 2005, the band released their second album Hours through Atlantic Records. The album was produced by Terry Date and was recorded in two studios owned by the grunge band Pearl Jam. The album featured unusual methods of recording, for example Matt Davies' vocals were recorded whilst in a moving car and on a crowded Seattle, WA street, for the song 'Drive'.

In August of the same year, the band won a Kerrang! Award for "Best British Band".

Funeral for a Friend performed several low-profile shows in Wales, including Bangor University and Bridgend Recreation Centre, prior to the release of Hours. This contrasted against their subsequent shows, which included playing alongside bands such as Atreyu, Saosin, Hawthorne Heights and Thrice on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour. The band also performed on the main stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, having to leave the Warped Tour early to do so. The band also played on the main stage of the Taste of Chaos tour in the US in 2006, alongside bands such as Story of the Year, the Deftones and Thrice.

Funeral For a Friend closed the promotional jaunt for Hours in the Summer of 2006, with a series of UK shows rescheduled from February. Most of the original dates had been canceled due to the fact that Matt Davies had suffered from a bout of laryngitis. Several other shows were scheduled in the UK to complement these rescheduled dates, and the tour culminated in a slot below headliners Guns N' Roses at the Download Festival at Donington Racetrack.

The rest of 2006 was spent writing and recording the band's third album, Tales Don't Tell Themselves released in May 2007.

[edit] Tales Don't Tell Themselves (2007)

Funeral for a Friend mentioned the writing of this album during their UK shows in summer 2006 and they started writing and recording at the end of the tour. The album was released on 14th May 2007 in the UK, having been leaked to the internet on 10th May 2007. The band have released video diary updates of the recording on their MySpace page, of which there have been 7 to date.

On March 19th, "Into Oblivion (Reunion)", the first single from the Tales Don't Tell Themselves album, was premiered on the Zane Lowe Show on Radio One. It was given a May 7th physical release, and the video can be seen and the song heard on their MySpace. It reached number 39 in its' first week of release on downloads and reached number 16 in the Official UK chart on 13th May 2007.

A selection of intimate shows to promote the album were played on 12th, 13th and 14th of April in intimate coastal venues in the south of England. Only 200 tickets were available for each show and these had to be applied for via an e-mail sent to members of the FFAF mailing list. Names were then picked out of a hat and the selected people were offered the opportunity to buy a pair of tickets to the gig, exclusive t-shirts were given to anyone paying using paypal mobile.

They also toured this year at the 2007 Warped Tour in America, from June 28th until August 3rd, 2007.

On May 8th, 2007 the band released Tales Don't Tell Themselves in its entirety for fans to preview via their MySpace page. This album is the first on which Matt plays guitar.

On May 10th, 2007 the band played another intimate gig for Kerrang! 105.2 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall Bar, in which they played "Walk Away" for the very first time. This is one of the tracks which Matt plays guitar on live, alongside "Raise The Sail" and "The Sweetest Wave", which were debuted on the full tour in May 2007.

The album was their highest charting yet, reaching Number 3 in the UK Album Charts though to date it is also their lowest selling album.

On July 16th, Walk Away, was released as the second single from "Tales Don't Tell Themselves" and reached number 40 in the UK singles charts.

It was announced in one of their latest newsletters that "The Great Wide Open" would be the next single and would hit stores on October 1st 2007, and the single would be released as an EP. The EP, The Great Wide Open was released on the 15th October 2007 through Atlantic Records, negating the release of the single itself.

The band toured the UK again in December 2007. Kids in Glass Houses were the main support act for the tour, with the opening act City Sleeps. The Blackout also be supported, but only at Cardiff International Arena, alongside The New 1920s. City Sleeps were unavailable to play the Cardiff show.

[edit] Fourth Album (2008-)

On January 26, 2008, drummer Ryan Richards made an announcement on the band's forum, stating that FFAF were to spend the first few months of the year recording, with a view to releasing a four or five track EP in March/April of this year. After writing more material than originally planned, the band decided to scrap plans for the EP and release a full-length album instead, expected out in September. Ryan also announced that the new album would contain harsh/screaming vocals, riffs and would be closer to Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation than any of their other albums, although would still be significantly different and more technical, citing that they want to move forward, and never back to any old style.

On May 11, 2008, it was announced via MySpace bulletin that they would be shooting the video for "Waterfront Dance Club" on May 17th, 2008. Waterfront Dance Club was played exclusively for the first time on Radio 1's rock show[3] on June 2, 2008 where it was also announced that the single will be a double A side with the track "Beneath the Burning Tree". The track "Waterfront Dance Club", will be available as a free download from July 14, 2008. Both singles will also be released as a limited edition 7" on the same date.[4] "Waterfront Danceclub" and "Beneath the Burning Tree" were uploaded onto the band's MySpace page, followed by the Waterfront Danceclub music video shorty after.

[edit] Discography

Main article: Funeral for a Friend discography

[edit] Studio Albums

Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation

Hours

Tales Don't Tell Themselves

[edit] Videography

  • 10:45 Amsterdam Conversations
  • This Years Most Open Heartbreak
  • Juneau
  • She Drove Me to Daytime Television
  • Bullet Theory
  • Escape Artists Never Die
  • You Want Romance?
  • Juneau (Acoustic)
  • Streetcar
  • Monsters
  • History
  • Roses for the Dead
  • Into Oblivion (Reunion)
  • Walk Away
  • The Great Wide Open
  • Waterfront Danceclub

[edit] Trivia

 This section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • "Streetcar" appeared in EA's Madden NFL 2006, "Rookie of the Year" was featured in Criterion's Burnout 3 and in WrestleMania 21 The Game, and "All The Rage" was featured in Burnout Revenge.
  • The song Streetcar begins with the sound of someone dialing a phone. Some members of the official forum (ffaf.co.uk/forum) used the dial tones to figure out the number, which turned out to be the lead singer, Matt Davies' phone number, and he was forced to change it.[citation needed]
  • Hours (2005-2006) featured unusual methods of recording, for example Matt Davies' vocals were recorded whilst in a moving car and on a crowded Seattle, WA street, for the song 'Drive'.
  • Fightstar, a fellow band from the United Kingdom, has recorded a cover of "She Drove Me to Daytime Television" which they released on their single Hazy Eyes.
  • Funeral for a Friend is the first band to be on the cover of Kerrang magazine before actually releasing an album.
  • Prior to the formation of January Thirst, both original vocalist Michael Davies, and original drummer Johnny Phillips, were in the band Mongrel, who would go on to become the post-hardcore act Hondo Maclean. Additionally, current drummer Ryan Richards was also a member of Hondo Maclean prior to joining the band.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.musicomh.com/albums/funeral-for-a-friend-3_0507.htm
  2. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/funeralforafriend/albums/album/7380871/review/7504114/hours
  3. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/rockshow/
  4. ^ http://www.dailydischord.com/single.php?id=3535
v • d • e
Funeral for a Friend
Kris Coombs-Roberts · Matthew Davies-Kreye · Gareth Davies · Ryan Richards · Darran Smith
Oliver Craze · Matthew Evans · Andi Morris · Nick Mulligan · Gary O'Toole · Johnny Phillips · Kerry Roberts
Studio albums
Extended plays
Splits
'Bullet Theory/My Dying Day (with Moments in Grace)
Live albums
Videos
Singles
"Juneau" · "She Drove Me to Daytime Television/Bullet Theory" · "Escape Artists Never Die" · "Streetcar" · "Monsters" · "History" · "Roses for the Dead" · "Into Oblivion (Reunion)" · "Walk Away" · "Waterfront Dance Club/Beneath the Burning Tree"
Related