Biffy Clyro are spending their second visit to Australia happily playing a string of gigs for fans that greeted them last year. With a swag of new songs ready to be recorded, bassist James Johnston chats with yourGigs about everything from growing up in Scotland, being in a band with your brother and what it's like to be a former hip-hop enthusiast.
yourGigs (yG): How has your Australian tour been going?
James Johnston (JJ): lt's been great, we've been having a wild time. The crowds are really enthusiastic.
yG: Do you have a lot of history in Australia?
JJ: We came over about this time last year - the first time. We really wanted to take the opportunity to come over here with both hands, and hopefully it won't be that long again before we make it over to play next time.
yG: Your latest album Puzzle was released in 2007. That's some time ago now, but you have more recently released your single 'Mountains', which has taken off in Europe. Does this signal more recording for you?
JJ: We're about to go in to make a new record and I think there's a good chance that 'Mountains' will end up on that. Puzzle [has] been out for a long time and we wanted to put something out that would keep people interested.
yG: Where do you go to record?
JJ: We do our initial recording in Scotland but when it comes down to it we like to get as far away from home as possible. [Laughs.] We recorded Puzzle in Vancouver, which is a beautiful place; we were in a town you could only get to by ferry. It was great being shut off and somewhere you could really just concentrate on the music. Next time we're going to Los Angeles, again far away from home.
yG: How would you describe your sound?
JJ: I'd say we're pretty solidly just rock. That's the way we've always thought of ourselves. That's not to say that we don't take influence from other places but definitely our foundations are in rock and I'd say that's where we are today as well.
yG: How did Biffy Clyro form?
JJ: Myself and Ben [Johnston, drummer] are twins and we went to school with Simon [Neil, vocalist/guitarist]. [We] were friends from about seven years old ... We'd just fallen into a love of music and would make a lot of noise in the garage - we were in a town where not a lot happened ... so it was our form of exercise. When we were 14 we never thought we'd get a chance to travel so we consider ourselves very lucky.
yG: Is it hard playing in a band with your brother?
JJ: The simple answer is there's nothing I've known any different, we've really all been in this band for 10 years. There are times where we have tiffs ... well we're not lovers [Laughs.] So I guess we fall out now and then but we still really enjoy it and we make up quickly.
yG: Where did the name come from?
JJ: [Laughs.] We were just young schoolboys, we didn't know any better. We just wanted a name that would confuse people and I think we succeeded in that; in fact I think that's been one of our proudest achievements to date. We get a lot of people saying, "Which one's Biffy?"[Laughs.]
yG: What's the music scene like in Scotland? How was it for you starting out there?
JJ: Glasgow is particularly good. Scotland has produced a lot of great music. There's a lot of mainstream stuff coming out of here like Snow Patrol and bands like that but then you've got bands like Mogwai who are fantastic.
yG: What was the point that your touring began gaining momentum?
JJ: Ever since we started really, I mean we've always been lucky enough to have fans so right back from the start we had friends coming to our shows and from there a few people would buy an album we'd put out and it grew and grew.
yG: What sort of stuff do you listen to?
JJ: Personally I've listened to a lot of stuff like Elliot Smith and Bjork, but I embarrassingly went through a hip hop stage. [Laughs.]
yG: So we won't be seeing a Biffy Clyro hip-hop album anytime in the future then?
JJ: Well not at this stage! But you never know. [Laughs.]
yG: What's next for you guys after you leave town?
JJ: Well we'll be heading to tour Germany and then it's off to record in LA. We're really looking forward to it all; can't wait to get the new stuff out for everyone to hear.
Carrie Dennes
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