You’re about to head out on a huge UK tour – are you excited?
Yeah, we can’t wait. It’s one of the best things about being in a band. We’ve got a new album that we’re all very proud of, so we just can’t wait to get out there and play it live.
What’s the best thing about playing live?
It’s just mad to see people reacting to songs you wrote with your friends. Between that and living on a tour bus with everyone… It all becomes a bit like a little bubble.
You played a few tour dates last year – how did the songs from the new album fit in with the older songs?
We loved it, actually. We feel like this is the most consistent record we’ve done since our first album – the setlists were mainly made up of songs from the new album (Boy Cried Wolf) and the first album, so it was really nice to see the songs working so well together stylistically. We actually booked this tour because we enjoyed the last one so much – we didn’t want it to end!
What’s the hardest part of touring?
Being away from family, definitely – it’s the only difficult bit. I’ve got three kids, and it’s always hard to leave them. They come to shows if we’re near London, and they come to a lot of festivals, but it’s never nice to be away from them.
You’re releasing your new single Fall Like Rain in March – could you describe it in a few sentences?
It’s one of our favourite songs from the new album… It shows a different side to the record, really. It goes on a real journey, and there’s a really epic prog piano solo at the end. It’s always nice to hear one of those on a single! They’re a rarity in this modern age, but we’re bringing them back.
Can you pick your favourite-ever The Feeling gig?
Hmmm… Can I pick two? Playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury definitely stands out for me, and I really enjoyed headlining the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London for the first time. It was sold out, and a year before that we were playing in bars to nobody… It was pretty special.
You guys spend a lot of time together on the road, but which member of the band has the most annoying habit?
We’ve been working together for about seventeen or eighteen years now, so we’re all pretty used to eachother… Nobody really has any annoying habits! The one who struggles the most on tour is Kev, the guitarist; he gets insomnia, and when we were on tour in America a few years ago he didn’t sleep for four days. Needless to say, he went totally mental. It’s quite cruel, really, but it was quite funny.
If you could be in any other band in the world, which would you choose?
The Beatles, I suppose. Out of all the modern bands, though, I do really like Vampire Weekend. When their new album came out I was a little bit like ‘bloody hell, well done!’.
Out of all the songs you guys have ever done, which was the easiest to write?
There have been a few, but it’s probably Love It When You Call. I was living with Dan at the time, and I was just sitting in the lounge playing around with the chords to the song. He was sitting in the kitchen, and he ran into the lounge saying ‘what is that?!’ – he then sat down at the piano, and we wrote the whole thing in about three and a half minutes. We were just having a laugh! We actually thought that it was quite silly at the time, but then we turned it into a song by the whole band and it eventually became kind of a ‘feel-good hit’ for us.
Do you know that a song’s going to be a bit special as you’re writing it?
You often know, and we definitely did with Love It When You Call. I had that feeling with Sewn, too – Dan played it to me for the first time and I instantly loved it. I just thought it had something special to it.
What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to the band?
Well, we’ve played in some odd places. One of the earliest gigs I did with Dan was at the Daewoo car showroom in Camden – we were playing in the corner while people were looking mildly annoyed with us as they were looking at cars! It was pretty surreal.
Can you describe yourself in three words?
Hungry, happy, and… Sleepy!
