Dawn Of The Fred

Fred: classically quirky Cork popsters, yes? Well, maybe not. For a start, they're technically only three-fifths Corkonian. For seconds, the groovy videos and witty promo clips belie serious songwriting chops. And thirdly, for their new album Leaving My Empire, the quintet decamped to Montreal to record in Hotel2Tango with producer Howard Bilerman, whose CV includes Godspeed You Black Emperor, Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade. Accordingly, it's an elaborately arranged and sometimes melancholic record that encompasses Motown pop, neo-classical and post-rock, with shades of arts lab alumni like Roxy and Bowie on the album's centrepiece 'Fear & Remedies'.

As you join us in the Library Bar in Dublin, drummer Justin O'Mahony and guitarist Jamie Hanrahan are discussing those winter sessions in Hotel2Tango, which we've always imagined as a sort of post-apocalyptic survivalist bunker in the Canadian wasteland.
“It's in a very hip neighborhood in Montreal,” Justin explains. “The actual building was a kind of disused factory or something.”
“It's run by two of the guys from Godspeed and the producer Howard,” adds Jamie. “They were saying that when they moved in there in the early ‘90s it was above a garage, and Godspeed's record came out and they made the cover of the NME in the UK, and suddenly where they were in this really rundown area in Montreal became a mecca for musicians, even from up the east coast of the States.
“And they all migrated there, and basically the place became a hipster-gentrified town and they had to leave the studio because they were priced out of the neighbourhood because property prices went threefold, basically because they started it! But eventually they got this bigger place just across the street, which is where we were, on the edge of town. But it's a great room to play and record in, the live room is a big open space with a wooden floor and a Persian rug.
Jamie: “We had vague ideas of what it was like, and it is quite industrial outside, but when you go in it's this huge space filled with Hammond and Fender Rhodes organs from the last 50 years and old Ludwig kits. Howard said, 'Have a run around there and play everything and see what you like.' He lined up fifteen amps, three of which I'd heard of, all these crazy old makes from yesteryear.”
Fred singer Joe O'Leary has this to say. “I genuinely was so looking forward to heading to Hotel2Tango that I stopped myself from building it up too much in case I'd turn it into the studio equivalent of a Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I didn't even look at photos of it. But it wouldn't have mattered in the end 'cos it just was a class spot, from the arcade game machine – most important for clearing the head – to the 2inch tape machine to Howard himself and Graham his perfect assistant. It was a pleasure going in every morning and staying 'til after midnight and the vibe always being positive. They do great soup too!”
And how was Mr Bilerman to work with? “Howard basically brings all his skills and experiences to the table and lets you mess around with them and use them to achieve what you want. Sometimes that's just letting you off on a tangent so you work out for yourself that you had a crap idea. Most times he saves you from that trip! Basically he's been recording for over two decades and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to any project.”
Justin: "He was kind of suggested to us by our management and Canadian label. They do these CanCon points in Canada, where if any of the musicians or producer or anyone involved in the record is Canadian, they get extra points. They have a certain quota of Canadian music they need to play. Not that it was the sole reason, but the label said, 'Hey, if you guys were to work with a Canadian it would make it easier for us to get your music on the radio over here.' And one of the guys they suggested was Howard. And as it happens, we were all massive fans of Arcade Fire and previous stuff he'd done, so it was a happy marriage."
Jamie: "What he was suggesting was to play to analogue tape, together, in a room. This was the most alien concept for us, and for ages we didn't want to do it, but eventually, whatever happened, we just decided we'd go with it. And he was really liberating, he changed our approach to music and how you write songs.
“I was the most set against it to start with, 'cos I didn't really understand, when you've all these brilliant computer tools, why would you go back to that? And his argument was, 'I'm not an analogue purist, I'm more a limitations advocate.' If you only have 24 tracks on two-inch tape to work with, you make your decisions at the start. And instead of having eight guitar parts, you choose the guitar line and you learn how to play it and that's your track. You come in and you know and understand the song, you don't piece it together afterwards. You find the life of the song. And that's what happened, it was amazing."
Leaving My Empire, the band admit, comes after a period of regroup and rethink after the band's first three albums (Can't Stop, I'm Being Timed; Making Music So You Don't Have To and Go God Go) which established Fred as one of the country's most popular live bands, and one that didn't do too badly for airplay either.
"Absolutely,” says Jamie. “We're still such a small country, we're the equivalent size of Manchester, so we wanted to try something new. With this album, every gig we're doing except for the Dublin one will be in a theatre, just to try and present the music in a way we feel most represents the album we've made. On the last album we had all these disparate ideas and ambitions, and we were very lucky in that it got us a lot of exposure and radio play, but in reality we never really saw ourselves as a radio band. It sounds so poser-y to say it, but this time we just wanted to be true to ourselves. And that really boils down to making the music you want to hear."
And for Fred, that involves a painstaking democratic process.
“It does require a bit of stubbornness sometimes to make it work,” Justin admits. “It’s like a family unit sometimes.”
So who’s the Daddy?
“We’re all siblings! But when we disagree with each other we can talk to each other as siblings would. You lose your personal diplomacy, but we can do that and carry on. There are very few equivalents in adult life where you’ve five people on an equal level, whereas in an office there’s a hierarchy, or even on a team there’s a captain.”
Jamie: “When you’ve got five people who think they’re right, but they all think different things, that can be an issue.”
Thom Yorke once said Radiohead are like the UN – and he’s America.
“Every group finds its way of working, and there’s times over the years where I’ve read interviews with members of Radiohead, and they’re quite publicly saying, ‘I’m not enjoying how this is working.’ We haven’t got to that stage where we can actually say things publicly.”
Justin: “We just badmouth each other privately.”
Joe: “At the beginning of 2010 we were all going through the usual new year upheaval, looking for answers to resolutions we hadn't even made. What differed greatly in writing the Leaving My Empire album is: we became more collaborative than before. The state of mind, believe it or not, was very positive but I'm guessing as we all reached and passed the 30-year mark in our lives, bar young Carolyn (Goodwin, keyboardist), melancholy has a habit of infiltrating even the cheeriest of dispositions. Plus one has to admit it's been a hell of a year in the world outside, and not the most positive!
“But with this album we had a new team almost, as everyone contributed much more than previously and people were more courageous and confident with their contributions. Also we got a brand new writer and creator into the band in Carolyn which proved to be another new direction to go down with some songs.”
Jamie: “The only way to stay together is just to figure it out. We’re at the stage where this is a very important step for us. We couldn’t not take it seriously. We’d gone to a different continent to make a record. You’re competing with other acts in the world who have millions behind them, and you’re trying to do something that can stand up against them.”

Leaving My Empire is out now on RCM. You can listen to ‘If Not Now When’ on hotpress.com now.