THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS

It would be safe to say that The Psychedelic Furs put their stamp on the 80’s just as much as Punky Brewster, a-ha and Garbage Pail Kids but now, well over 25 years into their musical career, The Furs are still creating new material and are playing to dedicated crowds…which is more than can be said for Soleil Moon Frye.

After deciding to go their separate ways in the early 90’s, the band finally reformed in 2000 and have been playing shows ever since, introducing their brand of Post-Punk to a new generation of fans. “We’ve already made it so now we’re really just doing our thing and it’s great”. Enthuses bassist Tim Butler. After troubled beginnings to climbing to the top of the charts, it seems that the band has finally come full circle by simply playing music they love.

After forming in London around 1977, the band struggled to find footing in the ever-growing punk scene. Mixing liberal doses of Punk, Pop and Psychedelica, the group finally released their debut in 1980 after being championed by DJ John Peel and David Bowie. “We were looking for something that would make us stand out from the rest of the stuff that was out there and a big part of that was in our name. At the time Psychedelic Rock wasn’t very popular and even thought it wasn’t our sound, calling ourselves The Psychedelic Furs was meant to set us apart.” Clarifies Butler. “Our sound wasn’t really part of the Punk ethos. We weren’t a band that played on a three-cord philosophy. We came up with melodies through jamming and the music constantly evolved.”

It would appear that The Furs were influenced by The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol. The 1979 single We Love You was inspired by a quote Warhol made concerning African Americans. Taken completely out of context by the media and audiences alike, the band were labeled as racists and the song gained little airplay. Years later, when the band shifted from London to New York, they ended up gaining Warhol as a fan. “We met him at Jerry Halls birthday party at The Ritz in 1984. He was really sweet and used to come to our shows quite a bit.”

Chart success came in the form of Love My Way and Pretty In Pink, which later inspired the John Hughes film of the same name. “The film really opened us up to a larger audience and we got to rerecord the song for the soundtrack. It was a lot of fun but it also put a lot of pressure on us as a band.” He recalls. “Things became more about our hair and the fashion rather than about the music and I guess we felt like we weren’t being true to ourselves. It wasn’t about the music anymore and if you listen to Midnight To Midnight I think you can hear that.” Front man Richard Butler (and Tim’s brother) was quoted as saying the album was “hollow, vapid and weak”.

“We had grown tired of the whole touring, rehearsing and recording process.” He says in relation to the bands break up in the early 90’s. “We really felt that we needed a break from it all and one another. Richard went off and started Love Spit Love and I wrote for and played on their first album. The Furs ended up getting back together because I guess we felt we still had something to say, both lyrically and musically and we’ve been on the road pretty regularly ever since.”

The last few years has seen The Psychedelic Furs play to ever- growing crowds.
“Not too long ago we played in front of 50,000 people at the KROQ Inland Invasion festival with The Cure and Duran Duran in Southern California, which was amazing.”
Along with festivals and their own tours, The Furs have teamed up with no other than Detroit’s Electric Six (whose exceptionally catchy song Gay Bar drove me insane for about a month) for a number of shows in the US. How did this come about?

“We’d heard their record and loved it. There are so many genres being toyed with and it really reminded us of the stuff we were doing when we first started as a band. It’s a shame that they were labeled as a novelty act because of Gay Bar because it’s really an amazing record. I happened to mention to our manager that it would be great to do a show with them and we got a reply saying they’d be really into it. They’re a great bunch of people and if you haven’t heard their album you should get your hands on a copy.”

You’re in the studio at the moment. How’s it coming along?
“It’s been great so far. We have room to experiment with stuff and go at our own pace. We’re trying to play with our sound a lot more and we have the freedom now to do that. There’s no pressure to churn out a string of hits. The beauty of being able to take your time in the studio means that if you have an idea or hear something that creates a spark then you have time to incorporate it which isn’t always the case.”


June sees the band heading to Australian shores for the first time in quite awhile.
“I think the last time we were there was in 1982.” He laughs. “I’m sure things have changed quite a bit.” Do you like to head out after your shows and hit the town?
”No. I usually go back to the hotel, put on my slippers and have a hot chocolate. We try to relax as much as possible when we’re touring. In The States we tour by bus so we end up watching a lot of DVD’s. The band favourite is at the moment is ACDC – Back In Black. Can never get enough of seeing Thunderstruck live.”