The Trunk 4/3/2018: Interview with Matt Stevens

We've a very special feature for you today: an interview with none other than Matt Stevens of The Fierce and the Dead, the band behind Spooky Action, Magnet, Truck, and, very soon indeed, brand new album The Euphoric! We reached out and asked Matt if we could pick his brain about the upcoming project, and he was kind enough to take some time out of his busy day and let us pick...

The Trunk: Tell us a little about the creative process behind this album.

Matt Stevens: We started writing pretty much after we finished the Magnet EP so late 2015 into 2016 then we recorded from early 2017, alongside writing more stuff. We finished in Feb this year, so it’s been a long process. In between that we did loads of gigs and played in America so that made us up our game as players. We were listening to lots of Boards Of Canada and the Melvins but also Sepultura so there are some of those bits in there.  Also My Bloody Valentine, St Vincent and Slowdive. Ozrics, Pink Floyd, Can and Hawkwind.

Spacey psychedelic metal stuff and more shoegazey stuff. We experimented a lot with different guitar tunings and more esoteric guitar sounds and pedals and this is the first album I’ve played quite a bit of synth on and some piano. Kev has done an amazing job on the production, Steve really focused on the detailed guitar parts. We recorded at some awesome studios too, Livingstone in London for example.  We tried a lot of different things like using different drum kits for different parts of a song and lots more variation in guitar sounds.

TT: What would you say are the main differences between The Euphoric and your previous work?

MS: It’s heavier and more psychedelic, bit more spacey, more synths, more downtuned guitars. I think it’s still melodic, it’s still us, especially from what we were doing on Magnet. Some of the riffs are a bit more straightforward and it’s got one tune on it that is the most complex rhythmically that we’ve done. The Euphoric will be a shock to some people, we change with each record, we always have. We’ve done a lot of gigs since Spooky, lots of big festivals and we’ve realised the standard of playing required to play to thousands of people at Ramblin Man or Arctangent is a lot higher. We’re a lot tighter now and a lot more confident. This band means a lot to all of us.

Where does he get those special small guitars? (Photo by Ashley Jones.)

TT: What can you tell us about the long-awaited Parts 7 and 8? Are these the last Parts, or could we someday see a Part 9?

MS: No this is the end of the Parts, Part 8 has a call back to Part 1. It’s done. We didn’t want to string it out just cause people like it. It’s been a fun thing to do. Each of the parts reflects the album it’s on really. 

TT: "Spooky Action" refers to the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. What's the story behind "The Euphoric"?

MS: It’s about taking joy in your life, for us  about the joy of playing live shows. Maybe to be happy in these is a state of madness, with all the corruption in the world, all the hatred. I don’t know. You have to find your own joy. 

TT: What can we look forward to in the way of live shows in the months to come?

MS: 15th March, Robin 2, Bilston w/Stick Men (Tony Levin)

30th March to 1st April Hawkeaster w/Hawkwind, System 7, Ginger Wildheart and many more

18th May, London support from Mark Buckingham (Sold Out)

16th June, Sonic Rock Solstice w/ Senser, Evil Blizzard and more

27th-30th July Kozfest with Cosmic Dead, Mugstar, Nodens Ictus. and more

(More information about TFATD's live schedule can be found here.)

We’ll be doing a full UK headlining tour in two legs later in the year and in early 2019 with dates in the US and Europe to follow. We’re really enjoying playing live at the moment.

TT: You call yourselves The Fierce and the Dead - but which one's Fierce?

MS: Sadly none of us are very fierce and we’re all hopeful that we won’t be dead in the near future. Actually Stu is a pretty fierce drummer, one thing about The Euphoric, Stu’s drumming is superb.

TT: Last but definitely not least, when can we all get our hands on The Euphoric?

It’s out on the 18th of May with the preorder on Monday the 5th of March. (That's tomorrow! Hooray! - Ed.) There are a load of limited edition items including art by the legend that is Mark Buckingham and vinyl. We can’t wait to play it to everyone.

Oh and here’s an exclusive for you - here is the track listing:

Truck

1991

The Euphoric 

Dancing Robots

Dug Town

Cadet Opal

Verbose

48K

Part 7

Part 8

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We'd like to take the opportunity to thank Matt for his time, and for being part of one of BEM's hardest-working bands. Preorders for The Euphoric open tomorrow at this link, which will go live first thing - don't miss it!

Review Roundup

A Map in Fragments got a review this week! This one's a little different to some of the reviews we usually feature here, as Olav Martin Bjørnsen says he's not actually sure whether he likes the album - but finds himself drawn back to it nonetheless by its "melodic and intriguing" feel. We'll take that!