General Fiasco: Two terrible names = one good one
General Fiasco: Two terrible names = one good one
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Tuesday, 13, Oct 2009 10:34
We Are The Foolish is the contagious debut single from General Fiasco on the Infectious label, and released October 12th.
The Northern Irish will be touring throughout the autumn both headlining and as support to The Enemy, but before they hit the road, Lewis Bazley talks to lead singer Owen Strathern about kicking off their career, the inspiration for their name and the problem of filesharing.
How does it feel to be releasing your debut single?
It's really exciting. We've been working a fairly long time so it's good to see it's getting there now!
Is it a good introduction to the band?
I think so, it definitely lets people know what we're about. It's fast-paced, energetic, guitar rock, it's definitely a good example of what we do.
If people tried to compare General Fiasco to another band, who do you think they'd suggest?.
The Enemy, the Wombats, but also people like the Strokes and the Foo Fighters. There's a strange mix of indie and rock in there.
Is there a band that the three of you are all big fans of?
We all love Death Cab for Cutie but I guess we don't sound particularly like them!
You've said the band name was created by combining "two terrible names to make one good one", is that right?
Yeah, though I guess it depends if you think it's good or not! (laughs) I wanted to call the band the Marley Jedrejak Fiasco and the drummer wanted to call us General Music and then my ma, apparently, came up with the compromise. I can't remember this really happening but she claims it did!
Where did your suggestion come from?
There was someone in my class at school whose surname was Jedrejak, they were Australian and I just thought it was a really cool name! (laughs) I thought my suggestion sounded good together but it clearly doesn't.
And the band formed while you were at school, didn't it?
Well, me and Enda are brothers, so that's how we know one another!
You've known each your whole lives...
More or less! (laughs) And Stephen we just met from playing in other bands.
Since getting signed, you've done some pretty big shows, like Reading, Download and Glastonbury - as a new band, are gigs like that nerve-wracking?
Absolutely. The majority of the crowds are maybe not familiar with us so you've got to try and win them over. It's definitely difficult not knowing how the crowd are going to gauge you.
Would you be able to pick a favourite live show over the last couple of years?
Whenever we play in Scotland, it's always good and Oxegen was excellent. We did a headlining show in Belfast in February that was just carnage and we did a local festival this year which was just up this mountain where we live with like 2,000 people there, it was bananas.
Are you looking forward to the tour with the Enemy?
Definitely. Last year we played with One Night Only in similar-sized venues so you're trying to win over new fans but it's great to play a gig and know there's going to be 1,000 fresh people there. It's a great opportunity.
Are there other bands whose level you want to reach?
Of course. It would be great to emulate whoever the biggest band in the world is! (laughs) But as long as it keeps getting a bit bigger and better, we'll be really happy.
As very new artists, how do you feel about this new filesharing debate?
It's hard for labels to look at new bands and commit to them because filesharing means it's difficult to tell if the band are worth investing in. The amount of bands getting signed in the last year is ridiculous to about five years ago.
Lewis Bazley
General Fiasco's new single We Are The Foolish is out now.