They’ve just completed a tour with the Ting Tings, been named as one of Levi’s Ones to Watch and play foot stomping, throat burning tunes. Fight Like Apes are on the move – upwards to be precise. Dave Drummond caught up with them to discuss festival food and how to calm down angry celebrities.
How did the tour with The Tings Tings go, and how are the crowds taking to your music?
Neil: We’ve just finished that tour and it was amazing! They were the perfect picture of gentlemanliness and gentlewomanability, so no complaints. Each gig was like playing Top of the Pops with an age group from 14 all the way to 60. Very strange crowd but easy to persuade!
You’ve just completed a busy summer on the festival circuit including Glastonbury and Reading, you must have some impressive stories?
The food at T in the Park was the beeeees kneeeees. Serious genetically modified Yorkshire pudding and a Cumberland sausage as curly as Mrs Doubtfire’s hair. Mmmmmmmmmm. As for stories, a lot of those should stay secret.
Taking in your hectic summer, your continuously busy touring schedule, and being hotly tipped by the music press, it seems you never stop moving. What’s next for Fight Like Apes?
An Irish tour – which we’re currently in the middle of – and then the Levi’s tour. Then just back and forth between Ireland and UK into the album release at the end of January. Can you get ferry miles?
You worked with producer John Goodmanson on your debut album “Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Gold Medallion”. When is it out and what was the recording process like?
It’s released in the UK at the end of January, and the single “Jake Summers” is out now. As for Seattle, the recording was made very easy by a hugely interesting man. We knew for the most part what we were going to do before going into those studios. We have demos of EVERYTHING!!
I’ve been told the album’s title comes from an episode of Mr T’s career defining animation series from the eighties. What happens if he gets touchy about copyright issues and comes round to sort you out? Do you think you could take him in a fight, or at least calm him down?
There are four of us. There’s one of him, but two of us are useless. I don’t know. We’ll see. We could smile politely and offer him a milkshake? Or a handshake? Or a potted plant? He might like that.
Fight Like Apes release “Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Gold Medallion” in January 2009. The single Jake Summers is out now!
www.myspace.com/fightlikeapesmusic
Words by Dave Drummond, December 2008
