- Thu, 2009-05-21 15:31
Formed in Dublin in 2006, Fight Like Apes released their debut album Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion in September 2008. With a potent cocktail of shouts, riffs and synth pop spiked with an old school streak of rock, Fight Like Apes are no strangers to the live circuit, with a hefty collection of road miles under their belts, consisting of clubs and festivals alike. I Like Music caught up with Maykay and Pockets (so named because of his tendency to pocket cigarette lighters) at the Camden Crawl 2009 for a chat about playing gigs, dropping out of college and touring with the Von Bondies.
"I Like Music because… it gives me an excuse to not have to be in the real world. Ever.” Maykay, Fight Like Apes
"I Like Music because… I get to be Peter Pan all the time and never grow up.” Pockets, Fight Like Apes
ILM: How was your set at the Camden Crawl last night?
Maykay: I had no idea how amazing the festival was! The crowd was crazy last night, borderline rave. They were absolutely insane. Not sure if they could hear anything, but what the hell!
Pockets: I think it's an excuse for Londoners not to be Londoners. They really let go last night! Haha!
ILM: What do you look forward to the most about playing live?
Maykay: We just love it. This is why we spent most of last year doing gig after gig after gig...
Pockets: We wrote a bunch of songs a couple of years ago and we've just been playing them live. I mean, we could stop to write but we're just going to keep gigging. Gigs in Ireland are always great, it's always nice to go home. The gig at Oxygen last year was great too. We really love festivals.
ILM: What is it about festivals that you prefer?
Maykay: We hate sound checks, so it's good to just turn up and get on with it! The weather has such an affect on people as well, they turn up and everyone is in such a good mood. There's no attitude either. I mean, if you have a hectic touring schedule and you're hanging round with three people for months on end then the only release you have is meeting other bands. Attitude problems do make us laugh.
Pockets: When you go on tour with bands that are really nice and you can just all chill out and talk about music. That's when it's amazing.
Maykay: The Von Bondies took us on tour last February, Jason the singer had heard us on myspace. We met him last night, he came on stage for one of our songs. I mean, that says a lot!
Pockets: It shows how humble a man can be. To be on tour can be so frustrating or so boring when you're playing with different bands every night and you don't get to get to know them. The Von Bondies were the first band that we really got to know.
ILM: How would you describe the Fight Like Apes process of making music?
Maykay: The same as anybody really, we work best when we're not working under pressure. We met when we were at college, which was f**king boring, and we had this wild idea that maybe we could be a rock band. So we sat infront of our mums like We're going to leave a really good college course to join a rock band, how do you feel about that? you know?
Pockets: By the way, final year is not for me....
Maykay: Hahaha! But darling, you're so close! Hahah! I mean, the way it works is that we sit down and just get together a load of ideas and see what happens. Usually we have a few beers as well. Er... I should come up with a better story....um....we inject each other with heroin and then snort coke off strippers and the next thing you know...poof...some songs!
Pockets: Champagne, women.....
ILM: Haha! How very rock n roll! What music are you into at the moment?
Pockets: Brazilian Girls. Really like them.
Maykay: Brakes new album, I've been listening to it loads!
Pockets: Oh, and Baddies. Incredible band.
