London post-punk/new-wave outfit The Psychedelic Furs are gearing up to play Newcastle’s o2 Academy so Charlie Richardson caught up with them to speak about their inspiration, how things have changed over the years and more.
How are things going with yourself and the band?
Things are going great! Our new album is being mixed as we speak. We reformed in 2000 and we’ve been talking about doing an album since then but we didn’t want to do it under pressure – we wanted to be sure that it stood up to our previous work. So it’s a long process and we finally got it together hopefully to put it out early next year. We did the basic production with Richard Fortus who has played with the ‘Furs before and played with Love Split Love, and now he plays for Guns N’ Roses, so we recorded it with him and it’s being mixed by Tim Palmer.
Where do you get inspiration?
We are influenced by current music and what’s in films and stuff and that makes an impression on how you approach the songwriting. It’s not like you’re ripping something off but you are always influenced by what’s around you. I actually have been listening to a lot of James because we just did 24 shows in the US with them and I was blown away. I still listen to early Roxy Music, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys and a whole variety of artists – I don’t pigeonhole myself.
How have things changed over the years?
When we took the long hiatus in the ‘90s we were tired of touring and the pressure of being on a big record label, recording an album, touring it and having a few months off before starting to write again. Now we’re back together, it’s exciting again to play – and for me, it’s the best sounding version of the ‘Furs. Even the slower ballad-type songs have more edge to them. It’s great from our point of view because if we get excited it transfers to the audience and transfers back to us.
How do you feel about being part of the Stranger Things soundtrack?
We were surprised and really flattered that the producers of Stranger Things thought enough of us to include the band in that soundtrack. I figure that the people who chose the songs are old fans of the band maybe when they were going to college or university in the ‘80s.
And finally, what’s next?
Once the album is released of course we’ll tour sometime next year but we are already talking about the next album…probably to make up for that huge break we took. We took a break of 7 years and now it’s almost 30 years since we had an album out. We’ve got lots of making up to do.
The Psychedelic Furs head to the o2 Academy in Newcastle on Wednesday 9th October. Tickets, priced at £32.80 in advance, are available from ticketmaster.co.uk.
