Komodo Rock | Komodo Rock Talks With Die So Fluid

Komodo Rock Talks With Die So Fluid

Friday, 15 February 2008

Some bands won't quit. Some bands won't take no for an answer. Some bands just fly in the face of adversity. Die So Fluid are one such band, who for the past three years, with their new album 'Not Everyone Gets A Happy Ending' mostly finished and ready for release, were confronted with the fact that it may never see the light of day.

Thankfully that's not the case, and the band are gearing up for a hectic years worth of touring, which began with 15 dates on the road as main support to My Ruin in the UK.

Things are looking on the up for the band now, with the album set to hit record shop shelves, with critical acclaim in the media, including here on Komodo Rock, and with bassist and vocalist Grog modelling for the legendary Pandora Peroxide, Die So Fluid are ready to step things up to the next level.

Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott sat down with the band before the final night of their tour with My Ruin at the Islington Academy in London to find out more about the album, their plans for the future, and the struggles they've had to get the album released.

Mike Elliott: You guys have an album coming out in February, which is now, soon.

Grog: Yes at the end

ME: Not every body get a happy ending.

G: Yes that’s right.

ME: When did you actually come up with a name for it? Because its taken three years to come out?

G: Yes well that was one of the final songs that we actually wrote for the album, with the same title. So that’s why we chose and used that title, the title of the album.

It just seemed to sum up the whole, kind of, you know, thinking behind most of the tracks anyway, and the kind of theme that binds it all together.

What were you going to say?

Mr Drew: Nothing you’ve said it all man. There was an element of… we picked that title because at the time, I think we thought maybe we won’t actually get this record out.

But the main thing with that song is there is a whole attitude of saying, oh things will always get better, you know. And they don’t always so… [laughs]

ME: Your cheering me up.

MD: Don’t worry things will get better… [laughs]

G: Well it’s all about the struggle you see.

MD: Yeah.

ME: So its taken three years to come out, what have been the issues there? Is it just finding people to put it out?

MD: First of all it was money, there was funding the recording, ‘cause we where taking money from royalties on the previous album, and that would come in, in dribs and drabs, and then trying to find other bits.

The recording process and mastering went on over about two years. We were just doing a bit at a time as we could afford it. But really its just the turmoil of the music industry, initial we were thinking, ok now we would like to go with a label rather than doing it ourselves.

And then seeing that all the labels collapse, and realised that’s not a good idea.

G: That’s the worst idea you could ever have.

MD: Then figuring out, well what can you do to put a record out? And it just changes by the week at the moment, so we finally figured, we got a like a matrix of licensing and distribution deals worldwide and it took a long time to put that together.

G: And we still own the copyright to the album.

ME: Which is the way forward. Keep your music, keep it for you, and then licence it out to where it has to go. Your doing all that your selves then, so presumably that’s a lot of work for you?

MD: Well we hooked up with a guy, we’ve got a manager now and he’s doing that with relish. He’s got the same punk attitude, where fuck the record companies, and he’s quite happy to do all this stuff you know around them, find ways of going round them and not going near them.

ME: This would be George Jackson?

G: Yes The infamous…

ME: He’s on my list.

MD: What the hit list?

ME: I have many lists, would you like them to be a hit list?

MD: Oh wow not at the moment!

ME: You've said that he got on board and it was just like fuck every one.

MD: Yeah

ME: So that seemed like a driving force behind things.

MD: Well he had the same attitude that we had at that time. But he’s old school in a way, you know he was like a big old tour manager in the early 70’s so he’s seen the hay-days of rock music, and he had this really fresh attitude any way and after seeing it all, and he’s well aware that it can’t be the same as it was then, and you cant live in the past. So that was really good. And he’s got a really brilliant mind, I just wish he would wash occasionally.

ME: We wish that of most people though.

MD: Yeah That's the one habit he still hasn’t got out of. He got off the tour bus 20 years ago, but he’s still there.

ME: So you have these myriad ideas about licences, how are you looking to grow, are you using a lot of online resources these days as well?

MD: Sort of but what we really want to do is more old school, and that’s to tour as much as well can and just be playing.

G: Touring is really the way forward as far as revenue is concerned.

MD: Yeah.

G: And also I want every one to get of their arses, everyone is becoming so lazy, some people have been coming to gigs and they just watch you as if they’re watching TV like a zombie, which isn’t how it used to be. They need to wake up and appreciate live gigs again.

MD: The one thing that is to carry on to allow us to earn money is to play live. So one way or another we’ve got to do a lot of that.

ME: Its kind of weird if you go back 20 years that’s what bands did, especially in the UK, UK touring is gone. Toward the end of the 80’s you’d have Iron Maiden playing 30 date UK tours, when really they where at the height of their fame. Where as now they will play three nights somewhere and that’s it.

G: And the tickets are a million pounds!

ME: What Happened?

G: I know, well I think it needs to go back full circle for the music to become important again.

MD: Well it has become important again, the thing about online promotion is that it does level the playing field, you can have some complete losers who just made a demo, looking - because they know how to programme flash - as good as a band that’s like you know really good. And the only way to really sort of find out you know whether something’s really good is to go and see them.

I think that’s what people are going to come round to, you know I’ve come round to that you know I’ve been duped into thinking “Ahh this bands excellent I’ll go and check out there gig, look how many friends they’ve got, they must be massive”. You go down there with five other people and their shit. [laughs]

ME: But at least you went down there to find out.

MD: That’s a negative story but I’ve also found loads of brilliant music online as well. At the end of the day it’s not until you actually see it that you know whether its good or not.

ME: We’ve been sat here talking about how much things have changed, and obviously the internet revolutionised everything and the way music is being looked at by people now, with downloading and all that kind of thing. Is that something that’s effected, or will effect you do you think?

G: Well that’s another reason why were saying that touring is the way forward because it’s rife. So you know, you can’t completely rely on a record bringing you in a living. Because there’s no control over it at the moment, you have to kind of accept from the word go, that that’s probably going to happen.
So the live thing is really important in that as well.

MD: I think a lot of people are starting to view the record as a loss leader, to promote other things that the band can sell, tickets and merchandise and so on. But I think in terms of selling records, its only really real music fans who will want to buy the CD. And other people even if they like the band they might just… There’s definitely a generation now who have this perception that you don’t have to pay for music, and it's not criminal.

G: People come up to us at gigs and I go “Do you want to buy an album?” And they go “nah its ok I’m going to rip it off my mate”. And they tell you! They don’t even know how it works.

ME: People used to say “Oh I got a tape copy of my mate”

MD: Yeah but they wouldn’t go and tell the person who’s made the record.

G: Oh I don’t know.

MD: It happens a lot, so there is a perception of “Oh what’s wrong with that” you know? I’ve had to explain to people, you know, we’ve recently did a download single, and a girl said “why don’t you make the song available for free on your myspace; free download?” And I wrote back to her and said well “actually I’ve got to pay rent on my coffin this month do you mind paying 79p to itunes?” And she was like “no I’ve just done that, that’s brilliant thanks.”

Its like they don’t even think about it you know. That’s the unfortunate thing, I think it’s probably gone too far now to change the perception back, that music’s valuable and you should pay for it. You know other wise it cant get made.

G: I sort of like the idea in a way of being able to check out a track, so that then you might buy the album. Because that was pretty much how I used to operate when I was taping back in the day.

ME: I guess the other advantage you used to have back then was you where actually hearing stuff played on the radio as well. Its not the same now.

G: Yeah… radio’s gone weird and it scares me. [laughs]

ME: There was a brief time when music stations where starting up on satellite TV and they where really cool and you used to get really interesting stuff, and it ended up being the same again.

G: Yeah everything gets dumbed down after a while.

ME: You’re a classically trained pianist I here?

G: Yes

ME: Has that influenced you in the band at all and how you do things?

G: Not particularly, but I think when you have any sort of classical music training it gives you a kind of language you understand and can communicate ideas, but then not if the other people don’t understand it so… [laughs]

ME: Are you saying they’re stupid? [Laughs]

G: No, no, but they might not understand musical notation, music theory and all that kind of malarkey.

ME: Have you asked them?

G: You know how to do drum stuff don’t you, notation?

Al Fletcher: Yeah… I can write music…

G: I suppose yeah it’s a language you can use. I don’t know really, I don’t think I particularly use it, because when I started playing bass I picked that up just by ear. It’s a strange thing I kind of see the two things as quite separate, I’m sure one influences the other subconsciously.

ME: Your also modelling for Pandora Peroxide I hear?

G: Yes

ME: How did that come about?

G: Well Ray Zell got given copy of a promo of the album and he loves it, so he just asked to find a model for Pandora’s bitch T shirts.

ME: Kind of exciting really.

G: Yeah it's great!

ME: Pandoras kind of legendary really.

G: Well I’m a Pandra fan, she’s cool and apparently she is going to be modelling a Bitch So Fluid T shirt in one of the story lines soon. So guess she’s a Die So Fluid fan too!

ME: As every one should be!

G: Yeah…

MD: It would be helpful…

ME: So any way this is the last night of the UK tour.

G: Yeah I'm really sad I don’t want it to end because it’s been a really good tour, and it has felt a bit more like what we were talking about earlier. A bit more old school kind of proper tour.

ME: Its been a bit longer

G: Fifteen dates with no days off really full on. And just there’s been a real sort of camaraderie.

MD: I think it takes you two weeks to sort of get into the swing, and then you don’t want to stop, and now it will stop after tonight. Well for a couple of weeks and then we’ll go off again.

G: I won’t know what to do with myself, stay at home, where’s the sound check?

ME: So you say your going back on the road in a couple of weeks?

MD: Yeah. Where going to do another short tour in Finland.

G: Ah, but before that we have our album launch party. On the 18th of February. [Ed. This has now been moved to February 21st due the Marquee Club closing down.]

MD: Oh yeah we’ll play a short set at that.

G: We’ll do a short set of just new stuff at that, and its going to be Cabaret themed crazy freak show at the marquee. [Ed. Now the Borderline] So that’ll be fun and then where off to Finland.

ME: Last thing then, the video you did for existential baby. Do you want to tell us a little more about that?

AF: Well Paul Harries did it who’s as you know Kerrang’s main man at the snaps. He pulled in some very good people to crew it, they where just very creative and it just looks pretty classy I reckon.

MD: Well we just thought it would be good to work with him, because he’s always done really good photographs for us and we though If he could just carry on the way he sees us, the way he photographs if he can do that in the video, then that would look cool.

G: Yeah and actually he was partly responsible for my whole new cat suit, which you may have noticed in the video. But I kind of like it, I’m becoming a nicely created superhero woman in it.
And he says that he is solely responsible for that whole idea but I’m not quite sure. The thing is I’ve tried to wear them on tour and I’ve split two of them so far, and I’ve just got another one, so I will be wearing that tonight.