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London Music Guide

Fun Lovin Criminals Interview

With record company splits and drummer reshuffles, the last few years haven't been the smoothest ride for the Fun Lovin Criminals. Armed with a new label and a new drummer, the boys are setting foot on new ground. LondonNet's Helenka Bednar speaks to Huey, to find out what's in store for the FLC.

Your next UK gig is Thetford Park - what's in store for FLC fans?
It's in the forest and it's one of those gigs we like doing 'cos it's not the usual kind of thing. It should be fun - a nice little evening with the Fun Lovin Criminals.

Is it anything to do with conserving trees, or is it just a musical thing?
It's a musical thing, but you know I'm like a humanist and I think it's cool that people are looking out for the trees - y'know someone's gotta hug them.

You're over on Santuary records now aren't you - are you guys a lot happier?
Yes. Yes we are. A lot of stuff happens when you're with a big label. It's not necessarily what you want to happen.

And you've got a bit more freedom now presumably?
We always had freedom, but we were just bumping heads every few seconds with these people. With Sanctuary they understand where we're coming from and they appreciate what we do and that's cool.

Signed anybody up to Difontaine yet?
Yeah we're looking around. I mean y'know we want to find something extra special.

You've got fingers in quite a few pies with Difontaine haven't you? Anything new on the horizon?
DDifontaine allows the FLC to make the kinda of music we want to make. Which is the idea. Voodoo's still in Dublin and we opened up a couple more bars. We've got The Dice Bar, and now we have a place called Carnival which opened up.

And do you guys hang out there much?
Oh yeah whenever we can! Free drinks!

Who drinks who under the table in the band?
Fisty doesn't drink that much - he comes out once in a while with us...Frankie's a pretty good drinker, but he's English so it kinda makes sense.

And yourself - you have Irish roots don't you?
Yeah I can handle my liquor. I don't go crazy with Tequila anymore like I used to, but I'm cool with it.

Did Mark come on board before you started work on Welcome To Poppy's?
He was on towards the end of the recording when we started getting him involved.

Did he have anything to do with writing material for the album?
No - but on the new record there's going to be a lot of stuff.

You've written music for film in the past. Are you working on any material at the moment?
Yeah there's a couple in the pipeline that look kinda cool that we might be going for. I don't want to jinx it, but there's this one thing which is kind of big if we get it.

Do you find it trickier doing that kind of work compared to working on a straight album?
It's different - you're flexing different muscles, but it's still cool. We like doing it. We've always made music for movies that didn't even exist if you know what I mean.

Are you still an Eastenders fan?
Yeah I'm still trying to get hooked up. You know, maybe they'll put me in the Vic. I think that'd be cool. Not playing in the square, just hanging out in the bar. I'm a little behind - I'll have to catch the omnibus when I can.

Favourite London music venue?
I always like the Brixton Academy.

Favourite London sound?
I like when it rains. I'm not used to an awful lot of rain where I come from, so it would have to be that.

Rain or no rain, FLC will be playing at Thetford Park August 1st 2004.

Helenka Bednar