Features & Interviews
Hey Jude
THE hair, the simian
swagger, the cocksure
attitude and even his first
name. Oh, and hes from
Manchester, too. Yes,
theres something very
familiar about Liam Fray, frontman
with The Courteeners.
Ever since the band made waves
during the 2006 In The City festival in
the aforementioned north-west
metropolis, comparisons between The
Courteeners and their spiritual
godfathers, Oasis, have abounded.
As the old adage goes, however, you
shouldnt judge a book by its cover C
theres plenty more to the band and
their charismatic singer than a few
similarities to Mr Nicole Appleton.
The Courteeners are destined to
follow in Manchesters history of great
acts, from The Hollies through to the
Gallagher brothers, via Buzzcocks,
The Smiths, New Order, Happy
Mondays, The Stone Roses and many,
many more.
Each of those seminal groups, while
drawing on different influences, had
strong, insightful lyrics at their core,
whether it was the frightening verse of
The Smiths maverick wordsmith
Morrissey or the unlikely poetry of the
Mondays Shaun Ryder, musical
Mancunians have always had plenty to
say and interesting ways of saying it.
Chief Courteener Fray is certainly no
different.
Each of the songs on the bands
forthcoming debut, St Jude, is packed
with concise, colourful depictions of
life in the city. What Took You So
Long?, for example, the single which
sold just over 10,000 copies in January,
lambasts anti-social internet messageboard
culture, while Not Nineteen
Forever, The Courteeners current
single, concentrates on the guilt that
inevitably arrives after spending a bit
too long in the pub.
Yeah, you know when youve had a
particularly heavy weekend and, come
Monday, you realise youve neglected
the people who are important, says
Liam. And then you realise what you
should have been doing instead C
taking your missus to the cinema, or
out for a meal. But you dont care
because youve been out for four days.
It hit me one day, and I realised I
shouldnt be going out so much and
that I should calm down a bit. And the
soul-searching is always a waste of
time because you just go out again the
weekend after anyway, says the 22-
year-old.
Not Nineteen Forever, explains
Liam, was inspired by Anthony
Burgesss controversial book, A
Clockwork Orange.
In the American version, the last
chapter was left out for years, and it
was the most important part, he says.
Its where the central character, Alex,
looks around at all the bad stuff hes
done and realises he should chill his
boots a little bit and go to bed a bit
earlier. That was chapter 21, which
was particularly poignant for me as I
was 21 when I wrote most the song.
Cavorting has a few things to say
about the girls Liam sees following
bands around, or waiting at dressing
room doors in the hope of a meeting
their favourite musicians.
I was working in a shop in
Manchester and I actually wrote that
song on the back of one of the shops
business cards. Its about those leechlike
girls you see chasing lads in
bands. Part of it was probably jealousy
because I wasnt in a band at the time
and I wasnt getting chased.
So now Liam is in a band, has he
been taking advantage of the extra
female attention?
Absolutely no comment, comes
the typically droll response, followed
by a hearty laugh.
Another song on the album,
Fallowfield Hillbilly, was written after
an argument on a bus with an
eyeliner-wearing student.
Hed obviously got his student loan
and just fallen over in Music Zone or
somewhere, picked up a Joy Division
album and then decided he could give
me a lesson on the history of British
music. I just had to address it in the
song, but Im not against students at
all.
Despite his observations and
admitting to being a very selfish
songwriter, Liams keen not to use
the phrase social commentary when
describing his lyrics.
That would make it sound like
thats what Im striving to do, but Im
just writing about what I see. Weve
also been misconstrued as just a lad
band, who write songs about going out
and drinking. Were clearly not.
St Jude was recorded in London last
year, with Stephen Street on
production duties.
As the man who recorded with The
Smiths and Blur among others, you
might think The Courteeners were
nervous before going into the studio,
but any apprehension lasted about 30
minutes.
We were a little nervous, but then
we remembered we were there on our
own merit and just got on with it,
explains Liam.
We were going in hungover some
days and were really worried about
whether Stephen would be bothered,
but then he told us hed had
Babyshambles in the month before us,
so we must have looked like right
fairies compared to that lot.
Nerves arent something Liam
seems to suffer from. Late last year,
with only a couple of limited edition
singles under his belt, he was invited
by Jo Whiley to perform at her charity
gig, the Little Noise Sessions.
On the night, three of the four bands
making up the line-up had been
announced, with one spot left for some
very special guests. These VIPs
turned out to be U2s Bono and The
Edge, and they took to the stage first,
effectively becoming Liams support
band for the night.
That was completely surreal, but it
was good for me too, because it was so
stupid there was absolutely no
pressure. I mean, what were people
expecting, for me to be better than U2?
I was really relaxed and it was easy
to play. Well, my guitar was out of
tune and then it wouldnt work
properly and U2 had just played three
of the biggest songs of the last 30
years before me, but yeah, it was
easy!
ö The Courteeners debut album, St
Jude, is out now.
5:40pm Thursday 10th April 2008
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