The Fierce & The Dead – Golden Thread released on 22nd July via Spencer Park Music

The Fierce And The Dead release Golden Thread, the 2nd single from their upcoming 4th album ‘News From The Invisible World’, once again featuring vocals from bassist Kevin Feazey, described as psychedelic metal with a shoegaze feel.

Recent Press:

“A fresh psych-fuzz freakout from one of the UK’s trickiest-to-pin-down instrumental rockers – except their first new music in four years isn’t actually instrumental, featuring vocal contributions from Kevin Feazey for the first time. (A) peak grunge- channeling chorus riff, which takes equal billing with the verse’s shoegaze-worthy washed-out chords.”

Guitar World (Essential tracks of the week)
“The work of a truly original band pushing forth and genuinely progressing”

Real Gone

“Be prepared to have that phrase – annoy and irritate your friends with it floating around your brain for days. Surely the sort of hook that makes a good single?”
At The Barrier

“Modulates between being a dark, fuzzed-out ripper and an exploratory post- rock/jazz fusion. It’s an exciting track that shows off TFATD’s mastery of post-rock songwriting and excellent mix/master engineering. Highly recommended.” Independent Clauses

Biography:

The Fierce And The Dead are releasing singles ahead of their first album in 4 years with (for the first time) vocals from bassist Kevin Feazey. Their music has been championed by Kevin Cole of KEXP, Stuart Maconie on BBC 6 Music and Steve Davis on his Interesting Alternative Show.

The Fierce And The Dead formed in London in 2010, with all 4 members originally from Rushden, Northants, they mix in elements from psychedelic rock, old metal records, post-rock, prog, broken analogue synths and shoegaze.

They released their breakthrough 3rd album ‘The Euphoric’ in 2018, via BEM records, which was Classic Rock Magazine’s Prog Album Of The Year and 8th in Prog Magazine’s critics choice. Prog magazine included them in their 100 Prog Icons and they have appeared ranked highly in the magazine’s Readers Poll for multiple years and categories, although the band never considered themselves to be deliberately prog. Pre-COVID headline shows in Manchester and London sold out months in advance. 


They have toured with Hawkwind, Big Business, Dave Lombardo, Crippled Black Phoenix, Evil Blizzard and Monkey 3 and at festivals in the USA, Europe, and the UK including Freak Valley, Prognosis, Arctangent, HRH, Kozfest, Ramblin Man and Rosfest and will support Kings X in Italy in September 2022. They have released 3 studio albums alongside 4 EPs and 3 live albums.

The Fierce And The Dead are:

Kevin Feazey Vocals/Bass/Keys

Matt Stevens Guitar/Keys

Steve Cleaton Guitar/Vocals

Stuart Marshall Drums

Order the single from bandcamp:

Music | The Fierce And The Dead (bandcamp.com)

The Fierce And The Dead – Wonderful released on 6th May via Spencer Park Music

The Fierce And The Dead release their first single in 4 years on May 6th, with (for the first time) vocals from bassist Kevin Feazey. It features sax from Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey/Spiritualized/Faust) and comes from upcoming fourth album News From The Invisible World, to be released later in 2022. The Single artwork is by Mark Buckingham (Neil Gaiman/DC Comics/Fables).

The Fierce And The Dead formed in London in 2010, with all 4 members originally from Rushden, Northants, previously an instrumental band they mix in elements from psychedelic rock, old metal records, garage rock, post-rock, prog and shoegaze.

They released their breakthrough 3rd album The Euphoric in 2018 via BEM records which was Classic Rock Magazine’s Prog Album Of The Year and 8th in Prog Magazine’s critics choice. Prog magazine included them in their 100 Prog Icons and they have appeared ranked highly in the magazine’s Readers Poll for multiple years and categories, although the band have never considered themselves to be deliberately prog. Pre-COVID headline shows in Manchester and London sold out months in advance. 


They have been championed by Stuart Maconie on BBC 6 Music and Steve Davis on his Interesting Alternative Show and played with Hawkwind, Big Business, Dave Lombardo, Crippled Black Phoenix, Evil Blizzard and Monkey 3 and at festivals in the USA, Europe, and the UK including Freak Valley, Arctangent, HRH, Kozfest, Ramblin Man and Rosfest. They have released 3 studio albums alongside 4 EPs and 3 live albums.

Pre-save the single here:

Wonderful by The Fierce & the Dead – DistroKid

The Fierce And The Dead confirmed for RoSfest 2017 – article by Progradar

Rosfest_2017_24x36-01

The Fierce and the Dead have been announced as the opening band for Sunday at Rosfest 2017. This slot at the festival is often dubbed The Church of Prog; the truly dedicated audience filling these chairs on an early Sunday morning, receptive to good music and eager to spread the word about it, is the equivalent of a congregation in progressive rock circles.

I dubbed them ‘A soundtrack for the current generation’. Purveyors of ‘lovingly crafted noise’ and pioneers of what they call ‘Funny Music’, this cult band saw their latest, limited edition, E.P. ‘Magnet’ sell out before its release date on August 14th last year. The Fierce and the Dead are as hot as it gets in the underground, small label and independent world at the moment.

Blake Carpenter of RoSfest said,

“We can’t wait to see this band make their live US debut at ROSfest 2017, and we’re certain that our first-rate audience will give Matt Stevens, Kev Feazey, Stuart Marshall and Steve Cleaton a warm welcome.”

TFATD RoSfest

I spoke to the band about their first visit to America…

“We’re so pleased to be playing in America and to play our first show at RoSfest is very exciting. Everyone I’ve spoken to who has been has said what a great festival it is and we’re really happy be involved” says guitarist Matt Stevens.

“Events like RoSfest are willing to take chances and invest in the global scene they represent – we are beyond stoked to have been asked to play, a real honour” adds bass player Kevin Feazey.

“Getting the chance to play our material to a new audience in a new country is a really exciting opportunity for us, and we can’t wait to get over there and pick up the audience so they can join us on our sonic journey!”  continues guitar player Steve Cleaton.

“And all that remained were The Fierce And The Dead…..”

The three day festival begins on Friday, 5th May 2017

Tickets and information can be found at the RoSfest website.

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(TFATD at The ArcTangent Festival, photo credit Ed Sprake)

A Soundtrack for the Current Generation – An interview with The Fierce And The Dead

“And all that remained were The Fierce And The Dead…..”

band shot live

(All pictures used are copyright The Chaos Engineers/Ashley Jones)

Who are The Fierce And The Dead ? Purveyors of ‘lovingly crafted noise’ and pioneers of what they call ‘Funny Music’, this cult band have just seen their latest, limited edition, E.P. ‘Magnet’ sell out before its release date on August 14th.

This instrumental quartet are as hot as it gets in the underground, small label and independent world at the moment and I wanted to find out more about them. Read on my friends to find out what makes them tick, a bit of their history and what music makes them sit up and take notice.

bandshot close up

Let’s introduce the band first, we have (from left to right above) Steve Cleaton (guitar), Kev Feazey (bass), Stuart Marshall (drums) and Matt Stevens (guitar).

And now the fun begins………

Progradar – What was the evolution of the band, how did The Fierce And The Dead come to be?

Kev Feazey – We’ve all known each other since school days and eventually all ended up in London. Matt was recording his second album (I think) at my old studio and he had a track that we thought would sound good with bass and drums and decided to record it as a live improvised piece, however when I came to mix it I realised that the guitar had a very definite path through the piece. Editing it would have been like missing out a chapter from a book. Matt and myself decided this was too long for his album and it was an opportunity to put it out as a side project. It became ‘Part 1’, and the reception was such that we decided to try an album. We spent an afternoon putting together some rough outlines then went into the studio for two days. That became ‘If It Carries On Like This…..’. Once we determined there was enough meat on the bone to actually turn this into a band we started rehearsing to be able to play live and immediately realised that we needed a second guitarist. There was no debate that it should be Steve, so he came on board and we finally became a ‘proper’ band.

Steve Cleaton – Matt was in the midst of the beginning of his solo career, amassing a good deal of material that he felt might also sound good as part of a band set up. The first recollection I ever had of the name ‘The Fierce and the Dead’ was in a conversation with Matt in the bar side of the Oakley Arms (now a pet shop) on a Saturday night, after about 7 pints, in about 2005. Matt was demo-ing stuff with Kevin and a couple of other mates. He said that he’d heard I’d moved to London, and asked if I would be interested in possibly joining in the band at some later point. I obliged and said I would be delighted to participate. That was the last I heard of it though, until one Friday evening about 6 years later. That Friday evening I was jamming in Bethnal Green and, in the room next door, were Matt, Kev and Stuart having a run through of some material that was later to become the majority of the album ‘If It Carries On Like this……’. About a year later I got a call from one of the other three (I think it was Kev) asking if I’d like to join in a live incarnation of FATD. I was delighted to be given a chance to join in. It has been immense fun so far!!

Progradar – One thing that I have always been curious about, where did the name come from?

KF – Matt had thought it up quite a while before the band, but where it actually originated I don’t know. Matt’s fevered imagination I should guess.

Matt Stevens – I’ve had it for ages. It’s actually part of a longer phrase but I’m not going to tell you what that is. (I think you already may have Matt……)

SC – I think you’d have to ask Matt or Kev that.

Progradar – What came first, the band or the solo career?

KF – Stuart, Steve, Matt and myself had all been playing in bands with each other in different configurations over the years so I guess you could say the band evolved in a way. But Matt had been building up his solo thing for quite a few years before TFATD started.

SC – Matt’s solo career came before this band. But in fairness, the other three have played together in various guises for years before all this. I had also been watching them play together since I was old enough to get away with going to the aforementioned pub and getting served.

MS – The solo career came first out of necessity ’cause everyone else was off doing stuff, I just built things up online myself and did about a 100 gigs with just me and a guitar and a loop pedal. It became quite popular, so there was a bit of an audience for the band when we started.

Progradar – What were your main influences when you first started and who, if anyone, influences you now?

KF – As we all grew up together we share a lot of influences which is great. As kids (and now for that matter) we listened to stuff like Tortoise, Melvins, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Black Flag, DJ Shadow, Mudhoney, Warp Records and loads of old school thrash metal so that was all relevant when we started. Nothing much has changed in terms of influences. We could fill a book with bands, new(ish) acts like Thundercat and Fuzz have definitely had an impact on us. 

SC – Personally, I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that are all fairly musical in their own right. My Mum is a choral singer, my Dad played in bands in the 60s and my brother could pretty much do any style of music, I can’t actually remember not being surrounded by music. I used to play all my folks records as a very young boy. They’re stuff like Chicago Transit Authority , Crosby Stills, Nash and Young and all that. By my teens I was full on Soundgarden and Smashing Pumpkins all the way. Then I was a delicate young twenties Radioheadist, lately the other lads in the band have introduced me to stuff like the Mahavishnu Orchestra. I’m also a big fan of the band Tool and Guapo. There’s always loads of stuff around, you just have to have the time and the inclination to go and find it!! If only I had more time! Bloody time. I blame time for most things. It probably doesn’t even exist anyway. Bloody time…

MS – Mahavishnu (Orchestra), Husker Du, Carcass, KLF, Radiohead, all sorts. At the moment I like Vessels and Annihilation Time very much.

Progradar – What are the main differences between your solo career and being in a band and, do you enjoy doing one over the other?

MS – They’re different, I guess, at the moment I prefer to collaborate. I’m taking some time off from my solo stuff ’cause I want to focus on the band for the next couple of years, I’m really enjoying it and I think we have a really good album in us.

SC – My solo career began and ended with pretending to be Han Solo in the playground at infants school. It was short-lived, I didn’t like the thought of being frozen in that carbonite stuff, or whatever it was from the film. I prefer playing in the band to being 5 and being Han Solo, though to be honest, the majority of the other aspects of being 5 are probably preferable to modern life.

cover

Progradar – Can you give us a quick introduction to the tracks on the album, where the ideas came from and what the titles mean etc.? and, where did the album title come from?

KF – Explain the titles? It’s no fun explaining everything. I prefer leaving them for people to make up their own definitions.
Magnet In Your Face: We never intended to write a sub 2 minute track, but it just made sense. We tried adding sections or new parts but it all felt forced. The riff Matt brought in was really strong so didn’t really need much more.
Palm Trees: This took quite a while to get right and went through several versions. We can’t help having quite a pop sensibility underneath it all and I think this track in particular shows that. Matt came in with the main riff and bass line and we all worked on it together to build it up without losing that melodic throughline and beat. We want people to dance to our music at the end of the day!
Flint: This is one of the first tracks we wrote as a band and we’re still playing it live. I always felt that we didn’t start playing it in the right way until a year or so after we had recorded it for the first album. It’s been a live favourite of ours and keeps making the cut even in short sets so I felt we needed to bring it ‘up to date’ and record a better representation of how we play the track now.
Part 6: The ‘Parts’ are our chance to experiment a bit more and a challenge to keep them all relevant to each other. They do all work if you listen through 1-6. This part is a call back to the electronic section of Part 1.
Rehearsal Recordings: One of the biggest struggles when recording is to get the energy of performances across and we’ve become really proud of the organised chaos that our live shows have become. We thought it would be fun to put these live tracks on the e.p. to give a taste of that.

MS – Magnet In Your Face is about people who follow others around.

Progradar – You say that this EP is ‘more joyous and intense’, is this a natural progression of the band’s sound and will we see more on the new album?

KF – Yes definitely. One thing we’ve identified from watching our favourite bands live is when there is a sense of joy in the room. We want the music to give people a feeling of energy, but with enough substance to withstand repeated listening.

MS  It’s all about the happiness and the connection between the band and the audience.

SC – I certainly hope that we see more of ‘joyous and intense’ on the next release. Of course, we’ll have to see what happens when we work on ideas at band practice. Sometimes the mood that we are in as a collective group dictates what we sound like, I think that’s true of any band.

Progradar – The CD has sold spectacularly well, did this surprise you or is it indicative of the large fan base you have, particularly large for a cult band?

KF – We’ve been very lucky. We have some amazing fans who seem to get what we are doing and are prepared to go with us (so far). But I can honestly say that we hadn’t realised how many people had gotten into us in the gap between Spooky Action and this E.P. It really has taken us by surprise in a very good way.

SC – It surprised me, I am very pleased. We have worked pretty hard to build up a fan base though, and a lot of that is attributable to Matt working hard on the solo side of things too.

MS  – In context it’s amazing, considering the sort of music we play.

Progradar – Does the relative success of a CD like this show that there is still a future for the medium in the music industry or will streaming a la Apple Music, Spotify etc. soon take over?

KF – The music industry has become a subsidiary of the tech industries. The ‘gatekeepers’ are the people creating the listening devices or programs. I’m reluctant to even guess what is going to happen, look what has changed in just the last five years! Mp3s seem to be on the way out as wi-fi becomes stronger and more prevalent. It’ll be interesting to see. I think people don’t realise that great music takes a lot of time and effort. Working two jobs and then trying to fit in one rehearsal a week does not make for a good creative mind set.

MS – It shows that the hardcore audience still like physical product but the mainstream probably ‘aint bothered.

Progradar – What is the story behind the ‘lyrics’ on ‘Palm Trees’?

KF  That would be telling….

SC – We felt the overwhelming urge to shout ‘Palm Trees!!’

MS – Don’t tell ’em Pike!!!

Progradar – (Said very ‘tongue in cheek’) Will this be the precursor to more lyrics appearing on The Fierce and the Dead releases in the future?

KF – My answer to the next question ties in with this….

SC – Our mantra is ‘anything is possible’.

MS – We’ll see….

Progradar – When you first started out did you make a definitive decision to be all instrumental?

KF – No, it was never discussed. We grew up listening to a lot of instrumental material so it’s never been a big deal whether something has a vocal or not. I genuinely never think of ourselves as an instrumental band, if it was appropriate then we’d definitely use vocals.

SC – I think that was the intention initially, but again, I wasn’t there from the very beginning, so I suppose you’d have to ask the other 3.

MS – No one calls Aphex Twin instrumental dance. Vocals are just another timbre.

Progradar – Does this make it easier or harder to write your material?

KF – I tend to write from the music up with most tracks I’ve been involved in so it’s never been a problem. Vocals are another instrument to be used or not. I understand that people sometimes need that voice to be able to anchor their selves and we try to make sure that we’re not being intentionally obtuse.

SC – I wouldn’t say it’s harder or easier. I think it’s just different. Lyrics are often the focus of pieces of music, so without lyrics we have to create another way of giving the tunes direction. In the words of the great Maynard Kennan, ‘It’s the music that drives the emotion, the words just give it direction. If that wasn’t the case, people would be selling out spoken word tour all over the world, like they do with bands’. I must add though, I do absolutely love lyrics in most other instances!

MS – I think it forces you to make the music more interesting. 

Progradar – You as a band are a close knit unit, do you write as one or individually?

KF – We tend to write all together in the rehearsal room. One of us will bring in a riff, some chords or sometimes just a concept and we’ll all get stuck into it.

SC – It’s a bit of a mix, usually though, Matt will arrive at practice with an idea, Kev goes to work on arranging the idea, and then Stuart and I drop in around that raw form of an idea and we go from there. That’s not always the case, but invariably that’s the way we work.

MS – I’ll bring in a bit, by the time it’s finished it sounds completely different. I like it ’cause I never would have made these sounds on my own, it’s very collaborative.

Band shot wide

Progradar – Your music has a very distinctive sound, do you work towards this when mixing and producing and is it a drawn out process?

KF – Luckily we’re not virtuosos so we can’t make anything sound like anything other than us. We do a lot more preproduction now than we used to, we’ve come full circle and started sounding like what we originally intended. When you get out into the world as a band you become exposed to so many new ideas and we’ve become much more comfortable with filtering those sounds into something we can all get behind.

SC – : I think that, as is the case with any band really, we all have our own playing style and technique. But Kev does all of our production and engineering, and I think he knows so much about how other people make records, that he can take and leave what he wants from other peoples styles and combine those elements with his own practices to produce the end result.

MS – Mostly I’m just trying to re-create the guitar sounds Celtic Frost and Bob Mould had without anyone noticing. 

Progradar – How long was the recording process for ‘Magnet’ from start to finish?

KF – We actually had two goes at recording. The first recordings felt rushed and did not have some of the arrangements that are now in place. Even though it cost us time and money it was decided that we had to do the material justice and start again. So, almost a year if you include that, but, in reality, about six months.

SC – To be honest, I don’t know the answer to that question. We tend to practice stuff up a great deal before we get down to the actual recording. Most of if was banged out in a couple of takes, but I don’t know how long the mixing took.

MS – Kev did a great job on this EP, we spent more time on it.

Progradar – The band’s live performances are extremely high energy and explosive with a raw feel, you have been described as one of the best live bands around today, do you enjoy doing the live shows and do you prefer that to recording in the studio?

KF – We’re very proud of our live shows now, the material is of a standard that we don’t need to over play. The recording process is completely different. I always aim to get a similar energy but they are two separate entities to me. I think we all enjoy the live experience more than recording though. Recording is great fun and is where most of the material is truly born, but with live you get adrenaline and that’s always good fun.

SC – I think we all enjoy all of it! We are all deeply in love with music on every level. That may sound a bit ‘Woodstock’, peace and love man’, but it’s the truth.

MS – I love playing, that’s what it’s all about. 

Progradar – What’s next on the horizon for The Fierce and the Dead, I understand that next year will see a new album, any snippets on that?

KF – We’ve started writing but we are very committed to making something we all want to listen to first and foremost. Everything in our career to date has been about moving forward and we want to keep that artistic momentum.

SC – A moon landing. An album sometime next year is also in the pipeline. Some of said album has been written already.

MS – I have the rough direction and some of the music. I know where it’s going but I don’t know where the end is. 

Progradar – Name three albums everyone should have in their collection.

KF – Stevie Wonder – ‘Innervisions’, Dead Kennedys – ‘Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables’, Mahavishnu Orchestra – ‘Inner Mounting Flame’.

SC – ‘Lateralus’ by Tool, ‘In Rainbows’ by Radiohead, ‘Queens of the Stone Age’ by Queens of the Stone Age.

MS – Vessels – ‘Dilate’, Celtic Frost – ‘Into The Pandemonium’, Sugar – ‘Copper Blue’. 

Progradar – Matt, will you and Kev ever persuade Stuart and Steve to grow beards as good as yours?

KF – They can’t…..

SC – I am not into beards. I can do stubble, any longer than that and I start to get irritable with my own beard. It has been tried. I am not the only person to become irritated by my face, I hasten to add.

MS – I’m shaving mine off….

Progradar – Finally,  anything you wish to add?

KF – Let’s start a cult. Who’s in?

SC – Wouldn’t it be great if all of the people of the world could just get along for once, and realise that we live in a delicately balanced system where everything relies on everything else? Just a thought.

Fierce banner

So, there you have it, a thorough and extensive verbal workout with The Fierce And The Dead I hope you enjoyed the read and it has given an insight into one of the most exciting bands around at the moment.

You can order a digital copy and the ‘White’ CD version of ‘Magnet’ here:

The Fierce And The Dead – Magnet

Checkout the band’s website here:

www.fierceandthedead.com

dark band

The Fierce and the Dead release promo video for ‘Magnet in Your Head’ (includes pre-order details for ‘Magnet’ E.P.)

To whet your appetite for the forthcoming new E.P. ‘Magnet’, here’s a live version of the first track from the E.P. – ‘Magnet in Your Face’ recorded during rehearsals at The New Empowering Church. Filmed by Ashley Jones for The Chaos Engineers.

‘Magnet’ is the cult North London instrumentalists The Fierce And The Dead’s first new material in two years and is released this August via Bad Elephant Music. The critically acclaimed band’s new EP features 6 songs including 3 new tracks, a re-recording of the song Flint from the band’s first album and 2 songs recorded live in rehearsal (one of these is a bonus on the CD). The EP is released on the 14th of August, the week before TFATD play the Arctangent festival alongside acts including Dillinger Escape Plan, 65daysofstatic and Deerhoof.

“I think this EP represents a different sound for us, it’s important to keep moving forward. It more joyous and intense with bigger riffs and more of an electronic feel.” says Dead guitarist Matt Stevens. Bassist & Producer Kevin Feazey continues “We’re doing what we want to do. Full circle. Back to sounding like the bands we grew up with, from Nuclear Assault to Boards of Canada. Every record we’ve put out has had it’s own character and story, with different sounds and a different reality for each”.

The band are currently in the process of recording their third studio album for release next year and are playing a few select live dates and festivals. Drummer Stuart Marshall describes the new material as “f****** terrifying”.

You can listen to the first song from the EP and pre-order it from the BEM sales page:

Pre-order Magnet here