Call Upon The Author

Fightstar (Omar at 2nd Left)

Despite the enthusiasm of the audience, the energy of the support acts and the overall rawness of the night so far, everybody backstage is strangely calm. Perhaps it has come with years of constant touring but there was still something quite eerie about stepping from a hallway with boisterous yells bombarding the walls, into a room where the most activity going on was someone shifting to get comfortable as they watched the gig downstairs on screen.

Eventually, nearing Fightstar’s dressing room, a flurry of activity shattered the silence as people saw to last minute preparations before the climax of the gig.

Alex, lead guitarist and vocals, was loitering in the hallway, talking on the phone. Dan, bassist, was sitting on the sofa entertaining a group of people. Charlie could be found sitting at a table sorting out last minute details. And Omar was sat with a dictaphone inches from his face, answering questions with an unwavering enthusiasm.

How has the New Year been for you so far?
New Year’s been good. Lots of stuff has been happening for me personally. We’ve got a rerelease coming up with DVD footage from a recent acoustic show. Give the fans a little bit extra because we’re going to g take a little break for a little while. So yeah, exciting year.

Out of all the songs you’ve created, which is your favourite one?
My personal favourite is probably Sleep Well Tonight, that’ definitely up there.

Any reason why?
No. I think when we wrote it, it was like one of those songs that just happened by itself, it didn’t really take much effort to finish once we had Charlie’s guitar ideas and the drum ideas. That’s what good songs do; they just take over themselves and finish themselves as well.

Where has been your favourite venue to play?
On this tour? Not sure. Favourite venue on this tour would be… I can’t think, maybe Scotland. It was a little bit of a grubby venue but Studio 24 is actually quite a good stage and a really good vibe but that, again, that’s the Scot’s.

Is it one of those really intimate venues?
Yeah it was really hot and sweaty and everyone was right of you, you know?

A couple of years ago you broke your wrist, does it ever effect your performance during shows?
No, not since it healed up, fortunately for me. I mean it was pretty bad at the time; I had to have an operation to put it all back together. There are a few metal rods in there, but it’s all fine now. It’s good, if anything since then it gave me another boost and a real determination to get back on form. I’ve been playing better than I’ve ever played before.

While you were off Charlie had to fill in on the drums. Did you mind him doing that, or did you sometimes wish that it was you there?
No, not at all. He did us proud. I was really happy that we didn’t get someone else in, that he did it because it kept it in the family. I’d much prefer him doing it than some random dude who we’d probably have to pay, and it wouldn’t have the same passion because it wasn’t our music anymore. But it was very much me and Charlie working in tandem and making the parts. Fortunately me and Charlie have very similar techniques and styles in drumming so it kind of worked well.

I heard that you did it together; Charlie did one part while you did the other.
Oh yeah, for Damocles. I did the pedal and the snare part, with my arm up here (mimes playing the instrument with one arm in a sling) and then he did the cymbal work on top for the main riff.

You’re off to Brussels for your next gig on the 19th. What do you usually do when you find that you have time off?
Time off, what in between shows? Not much, usually travelling. So tomorrow will be travelling all the way to Brussels. But it’s cool, I like travelling, I don’t mind it.

Do you ever get tired of it after a while, on a long tour?
Oh yeah. It does get tiring. It gets frustrating that you can’t ever just stay in one place and take in what that place is about. As soon as you get a feel for it you seem to be on the road again, going somewhere else.

Is there another album in the near future for Fightstar?
Yeah, yeah definitely. We’re probably going to start getting together and thinking about the next album about Christmas time. Maybe early next year. Maybe have something out in the summer.

Having achieved such an ambitious album with Be Human do you know what direction Fightstar are going to take now?
No, I think that’s partly the reason why we’re taking a break. We’ve done it solidly now for over six years and I think we want to let our creative juices recuperate and come back with something that is not going to be an effort to do because it can get hard when you’ve put so much into it. We’ve put a lot into the last album and it might feel we’ll be jumping the gun a little bit. We need to rest and gather steam.

Charlie once said, when talking about your single The English Way that people are ashamed of being English. I’m not, and I’m assuming that none of you are, but why do you think people are?
I don’t know. I think there are a lot of issues in England and I think some people can feel ashamed. I think it’s the whole thing of people are scared to be patriotic because a lot of things have made patriotism in this country a negative thing, like the BNP, football hooliganism and stuff like that…

And Gordon Brown.
(laughs) Yeah and Gordon Brown. But I think there’s a whole other side of being proud of where you’re from and your country that I think people have lost touch with, and that’s what we were talking about in that song. We were like ‘there is a way to be British and proud of it, a country of gentlemen.

As one of Britain’s biggest rock bands, and quite a hardworking one, how do you feel about bands that get their big break without working too hard for it?
It’s horses for courses. There’s always a reason behind them breaking it. Sometimes it might just be one song that suddenly throws you into super stardom. But you can’t really be negative. Everything happens for a reason, I personally think so. If they’re getting massive because of one radio play or something like that, then all credit to them, they must have an amazing song.

But what if it was a cover song that made them famous?
Well unfortunately that’s the sort of duality of the music industry at the moment. You’re going to end up with the pop idols and stuff like that, which I personally don’t agree with. That’s a major reason why I unplugged my T.V box about just over two years ago. I don’t watch T.V anymore. It’s just the saturated market of music that’s fed to people. What I personally think it’s doing is stopping people from exploring how they used to and finding music. They’re being force fed and they’ve taken all the means of exploring music away from you. All the small record stores, you go hang out, get to know the dude behind the counter. He would know what you’re in to and bring you new records because he was experienced and knew people’s tastes and likes and dislikes. That whole person ability with music, I think, has gone a bit. It’s a new age, you can’t really dis it, it’s just going to go in a different direction and we’re going to be the old people and all these kids are going to have a new direction and they’re going to think that’s the way. It’s just the way of the world.

What did you find different about making both versions of Be Human independently compared to when you were with a record label?
I don’t know. It was a difficult album to make, but we tried to make it as grand as possible and we had no boundaries because we had no label. We would pretty much do as we felt. It worked out quite well.

Which did you prefer, being independent or being with a label?
I think independently. There are two sides to it really. When you’re working with a record company there’s a certain level of security that you feel you have. Which I think can probably be bad for the music. When you know that everything is on your shoulders the quality control goes up tenfold. You end up really scrutinising everything you do and that’s what we did with the last album. Every tiny little thing was picked apart and put back together to make sure it was solid.

It’s been over six years since Fightstar formed; do you regret any decisions made?
No, not really. I mean we’re still here. If we made a decision and I wasn’t talking to you now then I’d probably regret that. We’re still here, we’re still playing as big a shows as we’ve ever played in London or around the country, so we’re just happy. We’re happy to be where we are.

Has the time gone by quickly?
Yeah, extremely quickly. Time does fly, though. I mean especially when you’re doing something that you love, and you’re with people that you love and respect. After working with people for six years there’s a certain camaraderie and brotherhood that’s formed. There are a lot of laughs, and those laughs make time fly.

Well, they’re all the questions I have, good luck with the gig tonight, and it was nice to meet you.
Thank you.

After fifteen minutes in the hustle and bustle of their dressing room, it came time to leave the exceedingly friendly and cheery Omar and venture back into the oddly contrasting stillness of the corridors. The stage area was still full of boisterous yells, still full of a throng of people waiting for one of Britain’s biggest rock bands to grace the stage, and when they did, the roars were enough to deafen.