Foals on feeling ‘lonelier, like outliers’ as one of the few bands left from their era

"It's clear that the cultural zeitgeist isn't around white dude with guitars – and that's not a bad thing"

Foals have spoken of their feelings of having survived while other bands from their era have since called it quits. Watch our exclusive video interview with the band above. 

This week saw the band return with new single ‘Exits‘ – the first taster of part one of the two new albums which are set to arrive this year, ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost‘.

They come four years after the band’s last album ‘What Went Down‘. During that time, many of the bands that broke through during the same era as them in the mid-to-late noughties (such as Wild Beasts and The Maccabees) have split up.

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Asked if they feel like the “last band in town”, drummer Jack Bevan told NME: “It’s hard to feel like that, because we actually live around the corner from The Maccabees. I’m doing a pub quiz with one of them tonight…

“It’s sad that there’s not many bands left from our generation anymore, but we’re pretty old so maybe it’s good?”

Foals, 2019

Frontman Yannis Philippakis continued: “I do feel like we’re one of the last of that era, because we are. There’s not intrinsic value to that, but the truth is that of that crop of bands that came through, there aren’t many left.

“If you want to look at it this way then it’s kind of lonelier, and in a strange sense you feel like you’re an outlier. But, it’s just the way that culture has gone as well. It’s clear that the cultural zeitgeist isn’t around white dude with guitars – and that’s not a bad thing.”

He added: “We’re on an individual creative mission. We’re interested in making music with each other and pursuing what we do. At the same time as being aware of what’s going on outside in the culture, we’re just trying to make great music.

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“We’ll probably feel it more backstage at festivals when we don’t know half the people there and we’re trying to make new friends. Like that Steve Buscemi meme where he arrives with the skateboard. But we should be proud that we are still doing it and we haven’t got sick of each other or it, or that we haven’t dried out. We still feel like we’re at our creative peak.”

Watch our full video interview with the band at the top of the page. 

Foals will release ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ on March 8.

Foals’ upcoming UK tour dates are:

Tickets are on sale from 9am on Friday January 25 and will be available here.

JUNE
11 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse
14 – Tunbridge Wells, Bedgebury Pinetum
15 – Birmingham, Digbeth Arena
18 – Glasgow, SWG3 Yard
20 – Thetford, Thetford Forest
21 – London, Alexandra Palace
26 – Bournemouth, International Centre

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