His new EP explored...
The race for the coveted Christmas number 1 spot is about to begin, but if you're fed up with hearing the same old cheery merry tunes then why not have a gander at Gruff Rhys’ ‘Atheist Xmas’ EP.
The legendary Super Furry Animals frontman and recent winner of the Welsh Music Prize is releasing his take on a Christmas soundtrack on December 19th. I sat down with the man himself to have a quick chat on all things festive...
Hello there Gruff... Well you’re just about to release your very own Christmas record, what inspired you to write this EP?
I got asked by Douglas Hunt to write a song for a film. The film is called ‘Long Distance Information’ the film happens on Christmas Day you see… so it needed a Christmas song for the film, you know… so I wrote some songs to see which one worked best… and on the third I thought you know… a Christmas EP.
There are some pretty dark but catchy lyrics on the tracks…'Light entertainment leads us to slashed wrists at Christmas...'
Well you know it’s something that can be a difficult time of year…and there is a lot of emphasis on company and family… and for people who are without money or without family it can be a difficult time of year I suppose.
You cover some quite controversial lyrical topics… do you worry about receiving any backlash for this?
There not based on anything controversial-wise - they are just based on songs about people I know and things that have happened round Christmas to people I know and... They're songs.
Gruff Rhys - Slashed Wrists This Christmas
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There is a Facebook campaign to get your track ‘Whale Trail’ to Christmas number 1. Are you interested in the hype surrounding the number 1 at Christmas?
It doesn’t matter for me it’s not real… but I mean records get pushed by huge coverage and I'm not involved in massive coverage…I just want to release music… I'm not involved in it at all.
How will you be spending the holidays, any plans?
Yeah, yeah yeah am going to play some gigs for this record…I am playing Cardiff, Bristol and London on the 19th. Well the first Christmas record I can remember is a record called ‘Christmas Not The Turkey’ by a Welsh vegetarian gentleman so that kind of influences my version of Christmas.
I can’t let you go without congratulating you on your recent win of the Welsh Music Prize for your album ‘Hotel Shampoo’. What does it mean to you to receive such an award?
Ah I'm very appreciative… you know I'm chuffed!
In the run up to Christmas you are also re-releasing ‘Hotel Shampoo’, with an additional seven tracks. What else can fans expect from the new tunes?
Umm well I'm re- releasing the EP with ‘Atheist Xmas’ as part of the album and I am sticking ‘Whale Trail’ in there and new tracks… there is going to be 20 songs and… yeah there is some extra songs on there.
Can we expect any new material from the Super Furry Animals in the New Year?
Yeah they're all working on stuff at the moment…
And in regards to a new album as a band?
We're all going to be too busy I think… there is plenty going on… we're all in no hurry for a new record.
- - -
Gruff Rhys has scheduled in-store performances for ‘Atheist Xmas’ on December 19th at the following venues:
Cardiff- Spiller Records-12pm
Bristol-Rise-3pm
London- Rough Trade East-8pm
Interview by Dorothy Lawrence
The legendary Super Furry Animals frontman and recent winner of the Welsh Music Prize is releasing his take on a Christmas soundtrack on December 19th. I sat down with the man himself to have a quick chat on all things festive...
Hello there Gruff... Well you’re just about to release your very own Christmas record, what inspired you to write this EP?
I got asked by Douglas Hunt to write a song for a film. The film is called ‘Long Distance Information’ the film happens on Christmas Day you see… so it needed a Christmas song for the film, you know… so I wrote some songs to see which one worked best… and on the third I thought you know… a Christmas EP.
There are some pretty dark but catchy lyrics on the tracks…'Light entertainment leads us to slashed wrists at Christmas...'
Well you know it’s something that can be a difficult time of year…and there is a lot of emphasis on company and family… and for people who are without money or without family it can be a difficult time of year I suppose.
You cover some quite controversial lyrical topics… do you worry about receiving any backlash for this?
There not based on anything controversial-wise - they are just based on songs about people I know and things that have happened round Christmas to people I know and... They're songs.
Gruff Rhys - Slashed Wrists This Christmas
- - -
There is a Facebook campaign to get your track ‘Whale Trail’ to Christmas number 1. Are you interested in the hype surrounding the number 1 at Christmas?
It doesn’t matter for me it’s not real… but I mean records get pushed by huge coverage and I'm not involved in massive coverage…I just want to release music… I'm not involved in it at all.
How will you be spending the holidays, any plans?
Yeah, yeah yeah am going to play some gigs for this record…I am playing Cardiff, Bristol and London on the 19th. Well the first Christmas record I can remember is a record called ‘Christmas Not The Turkey’ by a Welsh vegetarian gentleman so that kind of influences my version of Christmas.
I can’t let you go without congratulating you on your recent win of the Welsh Music Prize for your album ‘Hotel Shampoo’. What does it mean to you to receive such an award?
Ah I'm very appreciative… you know I'm chuffed!
In the run up to Christmas you are also re-releasing ‘Hotel Shampoo’, with an additional seven tracks. What else can fans expect from the new tunes?
Umm well I'm re- releasing the EP with ‘Atheist Xmas’ as part of the album and I am sticking ‘Whale Trail’ in there and new tracks… there is going to be 20 songs and… yeah there is some extra songs on there.
Can we expect any new material from the Super Furry Animals in the New Year?
Yeah they're all working on stuff at the moment…
And in regards to a new album as a band?
We're all going to be too busy I think… there is plenty going on… we're all in no hurry for a new record.
- - -
Gruff Rhys has scheduled in-store performances for ‘Atheist Xmas’ on December 19th at the following venues:
Cardiff- Spiller Records-12pm
Bristol-Rise-3pm
London- Rough Trade East-8pm
Interview by Dorothy Lawrence
