After 30 years together rockers Biffy Clyro say being in a band is like a marriage and, although they’ve had their spats and breaks, divorce is never on the cards. In fact new album Futique is a celebration of their friendship, which might make certain members blush.
THE secret to a happy marriage is mutual trust and commitment, and it’s no different for rockers Biffy Clyro.
The Scottish trio went on hiatus in 2022 to try new things, but divorce was out of the question, even though they were unsure new LP Futique would be made. Reflecting on 30 years together bassist James Johnston told the Daily Star: “I would compare it to marriage. When you have blazing rows and you feel like you never want to see each other again, but that’s not the way it goes.
“You get over that and you kind of come back together stronger than you were, conflict is a part of any relationship. It’s really important to talk and meet in the middle. We’ve lived quite an extreme life, I think the beauty is how you get through it and how you work together and it makes your love a lot stronger.”
The reason for the break was to try new things.
Drummer Ben Johnston explained: “(Singer) Simon (Neil) had an itch to go make some noise rock. Really angular, ugly music. That was quite important for him to get out of his system. It really was just time for a little reset. I think it’s done us really well. We’ve come back fighting fit and ready to go.”
The new album Futique questions the band’s future, concluding they could never really split up. “We know nothing different,” said Ben. “We’ve done this since school. It’s the first kind of serious job we’ve ever had.”
Songs that might seem to be about romantic love are actually a celebration of friendship on Futique. Did Ben and James blush when they heard Simon’s lyrics?
“I guess so,” giggled Ben. “At first you’re like, ‘oh, he’s singing about something close to home here’, but it’s just honesty and about the slight breakdown of communication between the band. These things are going to happen after this long together; it’s longer than most marriages we’ve been making this work.”
Futique is phrase created by Simon which he calls “an exploration of ideas, objects or relationships” unaware it could be “for the last time”.
“I just thought it was a wonderful idea,” said Ben. “And then I instantly started thinking of my futique moments that I’ve had in the past things that I didn’t know were going to be my last time doing something. I can’t believe it’s not a word already.”
The new music is epic going off in so many mind-boggling tangents.
“The good news as we can almost play it live,” quipped Ben ahead of a busy six months of touring. “We worked with an amazing producer called John Gilmore, who was the first we’ve worked with knowledge of our music. He let Biffy be Biffy. We’re never shy of tipping all of our ideas in.”
Biffy’s arena tour kicks off in January.
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