The Fratellis

Mon 16th Feb, 2009 in Features

Barry Fratelli sounds likes he’s stumbled off a crime scene. His Glaswegian accent is slurred and hesitant, at times indecipherable over the poor telephone connection. All in all, a side effect from watching the Quentin Tarantino-directed episode of CSI, Barry assures me.

As the bassist of Big O headliners The Fratellis, Barry (real last name Wallace) has a few crimes of his own to plead guilty to. The first? Despite their extended break since touring their sophomore album Here We Stand, don’t expect new material on the upcoming tour. “The live show’s pretty much the same as when we played Australia last [European] summer. I mean, the live shows are getting better though. We’re a much tighter band these days. I mean we have Will on piano and I do a bit of guitar now as well. The live shows have always been about energy.”

The second crime of skipping university, however, is expected. Yet as Barry divulges into details of his university-less past, you find strange details about his tertiary studies. “I’d enrol myself into these college courses and stay there just long enough to get the grants and the loans and then quit. That was pretty much my college career. But as a band, we play a lot of these colleges and universities in the UK. And yeah, they’re always these fucking amazing gigs. So I’m looking forward to the ones in Australia.”

As it turns out, Barry still has very clear, fond memories of his last trip to Australia, mere months ago for Splendour in the Grass. “We certainly wasn’t expecting – well, I certainly wasn’t expecting – the reaction that we got when we played at Splendour. We had a pretty good position on the bill and all of us knew we were doing well. As far as I know, Australia had kind of been waiting on us to come out since we first released Costello Music and we just never got around to it. Just not enough hours in the day. The gig at Byron Bay was one of the best gigs of last year.”

The release of Costello Music, aside from creating the anticipation of an Australian tour, exploded the Scottish three three-piece into near-superstars overnight. The use of Flathead in iPod commercials worldwide marked the pinnacle of their rise. Looking back at the remnants of the hype, Barry appears reflective. “The one thing about it was that it kicked off so fast that by the time we got used to dealing with the certain aspects of it, something else would change. The second you got your head around one thing, something else would happen.

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted just how well Costello Music was going to do. From us to the record label to anybody so you just had to ride the wave and hope it was taking you somewhere. At the end of the day, we’re a rock band, anyway. But it’s definitely made us a lot heavier.”

However, three letters do stir ill feelings in Barry: NME. In the British magazine’s eyes, The Fratellis rapidly went from “best band in the world” status to “rubbish”. It’s enough to cause distress in a young, naïve band. “It’s infuriating. We had the advantage of not being 18- or 19-years-old when they were telling us we’re shit, y’know? And I can see how damaging it can be for a young band. They get these bands, and they put the expectations up so high. I sometimes think it’s a death sentence to get glorified by these papers. Pretty much when they realise that you’re not going to play their game, they come against ya. And they start getting nastier and nastier.

“That’s what they started doing to us. But I think it pissed them off when we could still sell out tours and sell millions of albums without them saying we were good enough to do it. I’m very proud of the fact that we can sell almost two million records without gracing the cover of a shitty magazine.”

And will there be another album to further irritate the editors of music magazines? Lead singer Jon Fratelli has hinted there may be two releases in 2009. “There might be one,” Barry says. “But yeah, there definitely won’t be two. I think he was feeling a little overzealous that day. I’d be nice to put out as much music as possible. But unfortunately the way music’s put out these days, you just don’t get the opportunity.”

The Fratellis headline the Big O university tour very soon alongside The Music. They’ll be stopping at the following venues.

Thursday 26 February – Queensbridge (over two levels), Melbourne
Friday 27 February – University of Sydney, Manning House
Saturday 28 February – University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus Amphitheatre, Brisbane
Tuesday 3 March – Australian National University Bar and Refectory, Canberra
Thursday 5 March – University of Wollongong, The Great Hall & Uni Bar
Friday 6 March – Newcastle Uni, Bar On The Hill & Outdoor Surrounds