Keeping It In The Family WithThe Fiery Furnaces

Tue 15th Nov, 2005 in Features

Just two albums into their career, The Fiery Furnaces have developed a cult following that knows no equal. Their new album, Rehearsing The Choir, should further their quirky reputation, as it as a story revolving around their grandmother, who also lends her vocal talents to the album. With their new album hitting stores this month, FasterLouder spoke to Eleanor Friedberger, one half of the brother/sister duo who make up the Furnaces, about their new album.

The new album is definitely a concept album, a series of songs based around a narrative, a story of a character, a character based on their grandmother. And having their grandmother along for the ride definitely made a difference. “She’s the biggest difference, obviously. I think, even moreso than Blueberry Boat, the music illustrates the stories. Its completely about our grandmother, we wanted to make something about her life, and we wanted to make a record with her. We thought her voice and my voice would work really well together, so it made sense to write about her. It’s not strictly about her, more of a character based on her. She’s on every track, not so much singing, but narrating, so it’s almost like a spoken word record for her, which she’s very good at, because she’s got that elocution style.”

Obviously, the recording process had to be a little different. “Matt (brother Matthew Friedberger, the other half of the Furnaces) did all the backing tracks, here in the studio in Michigan. Then we went to Chicago, and my grandmother and I did the vocals. The actual recording only took a couple of weeks, and then the mixing took a week, so the whole process was really quick.”

Fiery Furnaces now have three albums under their belts in three years, a prolific workrate for any band to achieve. But according to Eleanor, it was never planned to do one album every year. “We didn’t really have a plan, we just both definitely want to release as much as possible. If it was up to Matt, we’d probably do four albums a year, he’s into that whole ‘60s-’70s thing, where you had to release as much as possible to maintain attention.” And it’s something that Eleanor definitely wants to continue. “It works great for us. A band at our level, because we’re not some huge international success, whenever we release an album, we don’t have to tour. We’re not touring the world three times over every time we release an album. So we actually get to spend more time in the studio, because we’re a smaller band.”

Being in a band can create an interesting dynamic between its members, but for bands containing family members, it can be even more stressful. But according to Eleanor, it actually makes it easier for them. “Oh, no, it’s not perfect. We fight all the time. But we’re quick to forget about it. Because we grew up together, we can be quick to say something nasty. But we’re even quicker to forget about it, and just get on with it.” Growing up, however, the two had little in common. “The only thing we had in common was music and sports. We played a lot of sports as kids, we were always around each other, so we always played together, and listened to the same kind of music, but that was it. Then Matt moved away, and a little later I moved away, and we were in different cities, till about five years ago when we both moved to New York. We were in the same city, so it made sense to do something, and that was how the Furnaces got started.”

The band have cemented their cult status with an exceptional live show. The show is usually played straight through with no breaks between songs, and little to no talking. Additionally, there is no guarantee that a song will sound anything like it does on the album, as the Furnaces enjoy playing with their songs, making them sound different. And Friedberger says its one of the most important elements of their band. “Yeah, its something that Matt and I both really care about. Whenever we go to see other bands, we’re hoping to see something different, when you go to see a band, you pay money to see something special, you don’t really want to see a band play just the same as it is on the album. Plus it gives us a chance to play around with the songs, see what works and what doesn’t. It makes it fun for us, and hopefully more fun for the crowd as well.”

And does she ever think “Fuck it, I just wanna play a normal show, with song intros, and breaks, and sounding the same as our albums” ?

“No, that’s boring. On this last tour, we played a little differently, tried to play a more rock and roll show, and that was fun, because it was different. I don’t like to talk between songs. I don’t like bands that talk between songs, or bands that spend a lot of time running guitars between songs. Id rather just go for it, and have a noisy, loud, rock show.”

At their only show in Brisbane to date, they played the Troubador, probably Brisbane’s smallest venue, and I asked Eleanor if they chose the smaller venue deliberately. “No, not really, because it was our first show in Brisbane, we thought we’d play it safe. It’s definitely fun to play to a lot of people, to just open up in front of a huge crowd and have some fun.” Having said that, do they prefer playing festivals, or smaller club shows? “Oh, still definitely the smaller shows. Playing festivals is always kinda weird, because you’re rushed around, and everything happens in a hurry, and nothing sounds the way it should. Even so, it’s still great to play in front of a huge crowd.”

Eleanor is speaking from a studio in Benton Harbor, Michigan. When I ask why she is back in the studio, so soon after releasing their latest album, Eleanor explains they have begun work on a new album. “Yeah, we finished a tour, and we weren’t really doing anything else, so we decided to go back in again.” Apparently, though, this isn’t their next album. “Yeah we have another album coming out early next year, called Bitter Tea. It’s a bit more traditional, our attempt at a pop record. It’s just songs, instead of one long memory, like Rehearsing My Choir is. Bitter Tea will be poppier, songs you can sing along to, music you can play at parties, that sort of stuff.

And the future for the Furnaces? Any chance of another Australian tour? “There’s no definite plans, but we’re hoping to come back in the summer (Australian winter), once the new album has come out. Right now, we’re in the studio again, so we’re just sort of waiting, seeing if anything comes of it.”  With any luck, it’ll be another Furnaces masterpiece.