NYLON - April 2008 - (Page 135)

ROCKING HORSES Everywhere they go, Foals kick up trouble—and one hell of a good time. By Kim Taylor Bennett. Photographed by Leo Cackett The ﬁrst time I was introduced to the frontman from Foals, he smelled overwhelmingly like beer and cigarettes. The second time I met the Oxford-based ﬁvesome, they had just stolen a case of Veuve Clicquot from a private club. It was worth more than a grand, and the proprietors of the club in question were none too impressed. The third time we meet, for this interview, I ﬁnd singer Yannis Philippakis (his last name means “lover of little horses” in Greek—hence the band name) and guitarist Jimmy Smith in a basement bar in London, discussing the effects of unprescribed Ritalin, and what it’s like to throw up through your nose (painful). Foals formed from the ashes of their spiky, teenage math-rock outﬁt the Edmund Fitzgerald, when Philippakis and drummer Jack Bevan (who was recently featured in a Burberry campaign), roped in old friends Walter Gervers and Smith. At that point, Philippakis was studying at Oxford University, where he met non-musician Edwin Congreave, and convinced him to play keyboards. They became college dropouts, and barely two years later, Foals are being touted as Britain’s next big thing: They were even nominated for the Critic’s Choice Award at the Brits (the U.K.’s equivalent of the Grammys), on the strength of nothing but their ﬁrst single. The band’s sudden popularity seems quite remarkable when you spin their debut album, Antidotes. It’s a brilliant but unconventional record, with textures often unfamiliar to the ear. There are the oddly interlocking harmonies (“Olympic Airways”), blasts of brass (“Heavy Water”), and Interpol-esque epic touches (“Big Big Love (Fig. 2)”). On the ﬁrst single “Balloons,” a giddy yet searing love song, the vocals don’t kick in for over a minute. Antidotes was designed to be challenging, though: When Foals decamped to Brooklyn, choosing TV On The Radio’s David Sitek to produce, he said, “If you want to make a commercial record, don’t use me.” “We appreciate the legacy of New York,” says Philippakis. “The No Wave scene, the Swans, Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, people making art out of the terrain of the city. Hopefully you can hear it on the record the passing on of musical ideas through generations, that ancestry pushing you forward rather than feeling like a weight.” Sitek had an “open door policy” which resulted in local musicians dropping by and Afrobeat orchestra Antibalas contributing to the album. It was an experience that left the group galvanized, although their relationship with Sitek soured when the band decided to remix the record. Philippakis remains positive about the fallout. “It was a bummer, but that there was tension at the end was ﬁtting. The whole point of the record was to be contentious.” He ﬂashes a trouble-making grin. “I’m going to nipple-cripple him when I get back to Brooklyn!” When Foals play live, they face inwards in a circle, quivering as though bolts of electricity are coursing through their skinny frames. It’s a stance which seems to exclude everyone else, but the band are appalled by that suggestion, adamant that their physical positioning is merely a hangover from the chaotic house parties which spawned them. “One was in a squat in London,” remembers Smith. “People started taking down the walls with ﬁre extinguishers. I broke the only lightbulb, and then it was just camera ﬂashes and lighters.” Philippakis nods, adding, “And the last one we did was a house party in Cambridge, where Jimmy lost his tooth.” “The whole point is that the crowd have a good time and dance, and almost ignore the band,” says Philippakis. “House parties return everyone to their feral state. There’s something primal in a way that there can never be at a show with a ticket. It’s about the hierarchy between the band and audience disappearing.”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of NYLON - April 2008

NYLON - April 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Par Avion Behind the Scenes Contributors Happily Ever After Mass Appeal: Punk Mass Appeal: Retro Mass Appeal: Glam Mass Appeal: Watches Haute Stuff Mass Appeal: Denim Private Icon: Shampoo Jeans of the Month Cult Of The Price is Right East Meets West Nesting: Flower Power The Observer Factory Girl: What a Girl Wants Hall of Fame Social Studies Poetry in Motion Beauty Street Style Fashion News Mania: Bottoms Up Directory: Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bella Donna Private Icon Counter Culture 'Tis the Season Beauty News Some Kind of Bliss Rocking Horses The Story So Far Personal Effects And This Bird Can Sing Young Offenders Geek Love Eyes Wide Open The Graduate Film Strips Culture Club En Route: In Vino Veritas Three of Hearts Head Trip The Shape of Things The Great Outdoors Star Maps Shopping List Bag Check

NYLON - April 2008

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