The Futureheads Kick Off US Tour

Clash catches up with the Sunderland rockers’ frontman, Barry Hyde, at Music Hall of Williamsburg in New York…

You’ve just arrived in the US. Do you find touring here a harder slog compared to the UK, where you’re finished within a couple of weeks?

It’s as hard as you want to make it for yourself. We feel very privileged to be here and it’s been three or four years since we’ve done any considerable touring in America, so we’re absolutely buzzing.

Is New York your favourite city to play in?

I haven’t got a favourite, but I love touring in America because rock n’ roll was invented here. For me, the romance of rock n’ roll is very much still alive here. It’s the British dream to come over and play your music for the yankees.

Do you get a good reaction here?

We have in the past… You never know! We do quite well here. Again, it’s what you make of it.

You have long drives in between cities on this side of the Atlantic – do you get sick of each other when you’re on the bus?

We can do, it’s inevitable really. The chemistry in a band is essential. We’re very much in love with each other as a band. The drummer’s my brother and sometimes it’s a bit fractious, but that’s just a sibling thing. Considering what we do for a living, we all get on incredibly well.

Do you enjoy the travelling?

Yes. It’s why we started the band. I was already a musician and I thought, ‘I’ve got to get a band together that’s good enough to get away and tour’. It was all because of travel and the want to travel. When I think about all the places we’ve been, just because we decided to get together and start playing music in my mum and dad’s garage, it’s really amazing. We’re tired from a weekend of travelling between Poland, the UK and here, but we’re full of energy because we’re happy to be here.

Is that your favourite thing about being a Futurehead – the touring?

I love it all. I love recording as much as I like doing interviews and I like making videos as much as I like doing gigs. It’s never dull.

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And with that, the most effervescent man in rock dons his guitar and takes to the stage for The Futureheads’ first ever show in Brooklyn.

Whipping mercurially through their 16-track set, the frenetic foursome showcase material from latest LP 'The Chaos' (newly released Stateside) alongside old favourites like ‘Skip To The End’ and ‘Hounds Of Love’ (official: this cover never gets old), while newbies, including next single ‘I Can Do That’ and frenzied ‘The Connector’, get the New York crowd (and the band) bouncing.

With a few more American dates to warm them up before heading back to the homeland and from what we’ve seen tonight, you should definitely factor in some Futureheads action over festival season this summer.

Words by Rachael Wright