Fenech-Soler

Earlier this year we had the pleasure of meeting, shooting and interviewing Fenech-Soler for our February/March issue just as after they released their single Lies.  We catch up with lead singer, Ben Duffy for a Q+A ahead of their debut album release.

How does it feel finally releasing the album?
It feels great. We finished producing the album a few months ago so it has been a nice process working on the visual aspect with the artwork and photos. We have been working closely with designer Kate Moross which has been inspiring. Very excited to reveal all in a few days.

What were the inspirations behind the music?
I suppose coming from a small village really gave us the time and space to develop as a band properly so we had an outward view of what was going on musically. We are not really from any particular scene. Over the period that we were making the record we shifted what we were listing to and in turn that influenced us to write in different styles across the album. There’s always been a core love for electronic music and that runs throughout the album but tracks like Battlefields, LA Love and Golden Sun took strong influences from Soul, RnB and Hip-Hop sounds.

How long was the album-making process?
A lot of last year was spent writing towards this album while also sticking to quite a heavy live schedule. We really kept up both sides at the same time. We were releasing singles and working hard promoting them but also in between writing heavily. Around October time we moved into Andy’s studio down the road and started turning them from demos into finished productions.

You’ve been performing quite a lot already – what have been your highlights so far?
The time we spent in America was incredible and over quite a short period we got to see a real cross section from New York to Austin to LA and San Francisco. We supported Groove Armada on some of their US tour so that was an instant highlight. Great Escape in Brighton stands out as well actually as it kicked off our festival run this summer and included some great shows for us.

Have there been any gigs that went disastrously wrong?
 We played a daytime show for Kissy SellOut on Brick Lane that was a bit of a disaster. Technically challenging to say the least but as it turns out was the show we did before we got signed! Odd.

Have you attracted any unusual fans?
Nope.. not yet. We’ve had some very nice fan mail which has been a first! In Bristol there is a guy called Jeff with a very big hair-do, who stands right at the front of gigs getting into to it. He is famous in the city as a regular gig goer and music fanatic. Apparently if he turns up to your shows then your band is worth checking out. He’s a legend and I’m sure if any other bands or Bristolians are reading this they will know who I’m talking about!

How did you find working with Groove Armada?
It was a great experience and to feature alongside other artist on the Black Light album was very humbling. We didn’t know if Paper Romance was going to be on the album let alone the first single so filming the music video and the consequent shows we did with them after added to the experience.

What other acts would you like to work with?
I still listen to the Miike Snow record a lot and producers Bloodshy & Avant are up there on my list. I think they have written some classic pop records and at the same time Miike Snow has offered one of the most interesting and engaging acts both visually and musically in the last few years. We played with them in Sheffield and they just happened to be nice people as well!

You and Ross [Fenech-Soler’s main guitar man] are brothers – could there be any Gallagher style rivalry from within the band?
Haha.. We argue every now and again but across the board we get on so no major bust ups. I’m sure Ross would say he is more like Noel but that’s rubbish. I am.

Are you still living in King’s Cliffe?  What’s the best part of being from there?
At the moment we are but plans are in motion to all move south I think. Maybe we can finally have places of our own and feel like we’re in the real world, like we’re doing something with our lives! Kings Cliffe has been great though so I’m sure we will discuss recording our next record here. We’ll be touring for a very long time so where we live is all a bit up in the air right now.




[Originally published on wonderlandmagazine.com/blog, September 2010.]