Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Punk-styled rockers The Futureheads could be described as enduring their own winter of discontent after being dropped by their label just over 12 months ago.

But the news that Warner's imprint 679 didn't want to release any more of the Sunderland band's records was just the impetus they needed to fire themselves back up.

Embracing the internet, the band launched their own label and started penning new material before jetting to sun-baked Spain to record their third album with respected producer Youth at the controls.

After taking great strides, The Futureheads unveiled their new more optimistic sound to their fan in Norwich with a gig at The Waterfront on Monday, 28 January, 2008.

Singer and guitarist Barry Hyde told Zoe Applegate why the band are so happy to be going it alone, how their period of disillusionment has passed and why they enjoy playing to a Norwich crowd.

The biggest news in The Futureheads camp is you've split from your label and started your own, so why did you choose to do that?

It wasn't necessarily our choice. [He laughs] When you sign a record deal with a label, you're obligated to stay with them until either your contract runs out or they decide that they don't want to release your music any more.

We got dropped by Warner after our second album and it was something that we were all really pleased about because we discovered that Warner didn't really know what to do with us.

Our first album did quite well and we had some success on that and then when we delivered the album to Warner - the second album - they were, 'Well, there aren't any singles on here'.

The Futureheads on the NME 2005 tour in Norwich

We were like, 'We know, but it's a good album'. They were like, ' No, we need more singles'.

And we were like, 'Well, we're not going to write any more singles'. 'Ok then!'

So they didn't do that much promotion for our second album and we knew there was a possibility that they would not have the money to pay for our next option, so as always it boils down to money with the major label world.

It sounds like it was a relief for you and The Futureheads, but for many bands the biggest thing for them is to try and get signed by a major label.

A band who want to sign to a major label need to ask themselves why they want to sign to a major label. It is the done thing - go out and get yourself a deal with Sony or Warner.

Get a nice big advance and then people think as soon as they get that advance that they've made it, but my advice would be don't sign to a major label.

It doesn't seem that necessary now, because of the internet you can promote your own music with some help from various people. of course, but you don't have to sign your life away to a major label.

How lucky as a band do you feel to be working in this era - the era of the internet?

It's great. Since the day that we found out that we were no longer with Warner, our attitudes and optimism have completely come back to us.

Major labels are like a nest and within that nest there are lots of different types of personalities: some people are into music, some people are into business, but generally speaking they're quite cynical about it all.

Take a young band and start hanging out with a load of cynical people and it's going to start rubbing off on them. You need to feel positive about it, otherwise your music is going to become jaded.

It feels great for us to be one of the first bands in our position to set up a label.

We've had more positive feedback from our new album on our own label than we did for our last album on a major label.

That to me proves that you don't necessarily need to have the might of a major label because it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to get better reviews or more radio play.

You've worked with Youth - who's also produced for The Verve and Primal Scream - and you've said that his optimism had an effect on your style.

Absolutely. Youth is a fantastic producer. I find that producers have very different methods of working, but Youth's main goal from a session is to get the musicians in the right frame of mind - the frame of mind to be creative.

Some producers, their art relies on technology, expensive microphones and technical ability, whereas Youth is almost like a priest! [He laughs]

Barry has good memories of gigs in the city

He makes you remember what music is about and he has an amazing way of tapping into an essence of a song.

Working in Spain last summer must have helped as well?

Totally. We’re very honest musicians, we're very natural, we're not pretentious with our music. We went to the south of Spain, it was baking hot, it was a desert, the food was amazing - it was a bit of a celebration and that certainly worked its way into the record.

You can tell that this music was made in a warm climate by people who were feeling good. Whereas our second album was made in the North Yorkshire Dales in the middle of winter, and it was so cold we couldn't even go outside.

That album is due for release in May. Has it got a title yet?

It does indeed. It's going to be called This Is Not The World. There's a song on the album called that. Thinking of names for albums tends to be either very easy or very, very difficult.

If you name your album after something completely unconnected, there's a chance that people will question that. But the song, This Is Not The World, is to me quite an important song.

It's one of the first songs we wrote after we split from Warner. That happening is possibly the most important thing that has ever happened to this band. We'd still be signed to Warner and we wouldn't have made this album.

I wasn't even willing to write any more songs for Warner to be honest with you. I was just going to do a Lou Reed Metal Machine music and deliver them an album of white noise and say, 'Release that. See if you can do any better with this!'.

Were you so disillusioned with working with a record company that any of you thought about jacking in music entirely?

I think there was a small period when we were very unsure of where it was all going. As soon as we got the general feeling from the second album and how it was being received by the label, I wanted out.

My worst worry was that they weren't going to drop us and that they were going to keep us on and we were going to have to make another album for them.

We were very disillusioned because they completely give [sic] up and we put so much effort into that album and were really, really happy with it and still are very proud of it.

It's not what you'd call a pop album but so what - we're not just going to churn out loads of pop music. We're musicians who have quite eclectic tastes.

Warner kind of said to us, 'We trust you, just go out and make an album. We don't want to hear any demos'. So we went off and did exactly that and then they turned around to us and said, 'Well, this isn't poppy enough'.

Stocks and shares have nothing to do with music, yet it does affect activities of major labels.

You're about to head off on tour. In 2007 your diary was so blank it spurred you on to start recording, so how does it feel to be starting 2008 heading off on tour?

It feels fantastic. As you said, we didn't do a whole lot of gigs last year, but we couldn't have wrote and recorded an album in the middle of touring.

We knew that things were uncertain with Warner, so we made a conscious decision not to do any shows in the UK. We did a bunch of shows elsewhere, but not a great deal and I do think on the road is where we belong.

We had to have that break in order to make the album that we have which will allow us to do a whole year or two years of touring.

You've been to Norwich a number of times before. Can you remember how any of those shows have gone?

Brilliant. Norwich gigs have always been amazing. Our first gig in Norwich I do believe was on the NME tour. I love that campus in general - there's a lovely lake.

Last time I was there I played five-a-side football. The audiences have always been really warm.

They stand out to me, the Norwich crowds, because you get a real impression that they know quite a lot about music, which can't be said for every crowd.

You can tell by somebody's face in the crowd if they've heard x amount of records and been to a lot of gigs and it makes them behave in a certain way that's a joy to play for.

The Kabeedies outside Maida Vale

In Norwich, you're being supported by The Kabeedies who we've just taken to Maida Vale - how important is it to you to give bands a step up on the ladder?

It's very important because the support bands of today are the headlining bands of tomorrow.

A lot of headlining bands can be a little bit snotty towards support bands, but it's not the way to be.

It's not good karma because when your support band is bigger than you in six months' time, you want them to be polite towards you and not slag you off! [He laughs]