Fucked Up is coming to New York for a sold out release party for their excellent latest record, Glass Boys, at the Bowery Ballroom. I had a talk with the band about coming back from a breather, the success of David Comes to Life and their side projects. Take a look.
PUNCHLAND: You guys are coming back from a recent hiatus and a critical and fan acclaim. Did you have to take a step back and regroup? What was the reason for it?
Fucked Up: We didn’t take a hiatus; we just stopped playing shows for like a split second. We’ve been on tour basically since 2007 and occasionally people need a break or to vent. But after every kind of cycle you like to step away and just chill, and then come back at writing. We wrote all this new stuff 2 years ago and have been making it into a record since then
P: David Comes to Life is magnificent, by the way. Is there a lot of pressure given that you had amazing reviews on your previous effort? Does that affect your creative process?
FU: Nah, we’ve always got OK reviews and it doesn’t really affect you. You read a nice review and then it’s three years later by the time you have to make new music, so it’s not on your mind. We just want to make a record that’s interesting to us.
P: I know you guys like to keep busy. A few years ago you were all involved in different projects and I’m assuming, since the new record is about to pop out, that you haven’t stopped. Tell us what you have been up to.
FU: Yah everyone has a bit of their own thing going, which is nice. It gives people an outlet and a way to not have to only rely on one thing for money/creativity. I haven’t really been up to much, me and Josh and Jonah from the band do Long Winter, that keeps us pretty busy all winter.
P: Mike, can you tell us a bit more about what’s going on at One Big Silence? You have a crazy good roster right there.
FU: Ya, that’s a real side thing; it’s kind of on the back burner right now, although we did just have a new ELSA 12″ recorded which sounds great.
P: Any plans of bringing Long Winter to New York? We had a really long miserable winter!
FU: At some point we want to have them run in different cities. We’re throwing one in Ottawa next year. There is a series in NY that some friends throw called LATE BLOOMERS; that has a connection to Long Winter that everyone should check out. The next one is May 15 at the Westway.
P: You are about to release Glass Boys, the follow-up to epic David Comes to Life on June 3 via Matador in the U.S and Arts & Crafts in Canada. Can you give us more details about it?
FU: It’s a fun record I think; more loose than our last few things. We’re stoked on it. Its got 4 drum tracks and lots of melody.
P: You are playing a record release sold out show at The Bowery Ballroom with Big Ups and In School. That’s gotta be really exciting to come to New York City, a place with so many emblematic punk bands, and see that you are part of it in your own way, no?
FU: Ya, NY has always been a second home a bit. We played there a shit ton when we were just starting out, got to play CBs, etc. Have played so many venues there and cool shows. It’s always fun. Bowery will be cool, we’ll be back in the fall as well.
