In an exclusive interview with Absolute Radio’s Pete Mitchell, Fyfe Dangerfield of The Guillemots has revealed a desire to see more of the obscure in the music industry…in the form of a dancing tiger. Following the band’s gig at Hard Rock Cafe Manchester, the front man said that it would be nice to ‘walk down the street and see a tiger dancing’; a metaphor Dangerfield used to illustrate his wish to see more individual and creative music.
His comments followed discussions with Pete over the band’s planned quadruple album release this year. The Guillemots’ decision to take on such a challenge followed a ‘clean break’ with their label and management, stemming from a desire to part with ‘the traditional way that maybe record companies work.’ Such a break means that the band has been able to travel to Norway to create albums in a process that Dangerfield believes is ‘melodic and joyous and romantic.’
Whilst Dangerfield conceded that ‘nothing would make me happier than writing a song that people sing all over the world,’ staying true to his desire to ‘make music that isn’t there that you want to be there’ means that he doesn’t see making music for the charts as something that is ‘relevant’ to the band.
It appears that the band’s gig in Manchester’s Hard Rock Cafe has come as a welcome break from their ambitious multi-album project, something which is ‘exciting’ but ‘very tiring’. And it’s not just the albums that are keeping them busy; the event at Hard Rock Cafe served as a prelude to July’s Hard Rock Calling, where The Guillemots will get to play alongside the ‘fantastic’ Paul Simon.
While this year will prove to be a very busy one for The Guillemots, Dangerfield thinks they will be able to ‘look back on this year and...feel great.’ And those albums will get completed, even ‘if we have breakdowns.’
