As mission statements go, the title of the first EP from …And So I Watch You From Afar leaves little room for doubting the band’s intentions. This Is Our Machine And Nothing Can Stop It, the thing is called, and the pounding, unforgiving nature of the four tracks included show that this crowd mean to walk it like they talk it.
Rest assured: what the instrumental Portadown four-piece lack in vocals, they more than make up for, both in atmospherics, and in their knack for picking nifty song-titles. Take, ‘I Capture Castles’ and ‘The Voiceless’; take, in fact, the ambiguous and arresting name of the band itself – these are people determined to prove that you don’t need lyrics to be lyrical.
“I think that because we don’t have to write a whole page of lyrics, we can just pick the best line that anyone of us thinks of,” says guitarist Rory Friers. “We take great pride in our titles. We’ve come up with them before we’ve even written the song a lot of times. And that leads you in certain directions. Like as soon as you call a song ‘This Is Our Machine And Nothing Can Stop It’, you kind of have to live up to it, you know? You’ve to step up.”
A similar process occurred with another track on the EP – Holylands 4AM. For those unfamiliar with the University Area of South Belfast, it’s a title that would perhaps carry different connotations to anyone who lives in the place. The dark, verging-on-demented tremor of the song provides an accurate and truthful depiction of the pervading atmosphere of that part of town.
“I’d like to think so,” says Rory. “I love the way people who don’t know the Holy Lands think that it sounds like a lovely, dreamy kind of area, but as anyone from Belfast knows, it can be a total nightmare. That was one of those songs where the title came first. A friend of ours was talking about a crazy situation he’d found himself in, and the only point of comparison he had was that it was like the Holy Lands at 4am. We all knew right away what he meant, and a wee light went off in my head. So, the song does try to evoke a certain place at a certain time.”
Friers takes delight in stressing the “militant” approach his band take to their work, and considering they have only existed as a going concern for around a year, progress has been mighty impressive. Their first EP was launched with a rapturously received Belfast show, Kerrang have championed them, and in a recent Hit The North, Geoff Topley from Foamboy credited the group with reviving his interest in song-writing.
“It’s been a bit mad,” Friers admits. “But we’ve also worked very hard. Since we moved to Belfast we’ve had a militaristic attitude towards putting a plan in motion. We definitely know what’s happening until October and have a good idea up to February of next year. And so far, so good. We got asked to headline BelFest and we’d only lived here for a month. We put our CDs in HMV and they’ve sold more than any other unsigned band, and our EP launch was a complete sell-out. But we don’t intend resting on our laurels. There’s much more work to be done.”
As if to prove this, the band have embarked on their most ambitious project yet. They have invited a number of local frontmen (Cahir from Fighting With Wire, Jonny from LaFaro, Geoff Topley, and Neal from Driving By Night) to contribute to an EP of new songs, entitled Tonight The City Burns. Due for release in October, the record will be launched at a gala evening when all of the above will join ASIWYFA onstage.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” says Ruari. “I think it’s going to be a great thing for Belfast music. Just a great record and a great night. They’re all really talented, good people to be working with. I can’t wait to hear the contributions they make to the songs. We’ve written music that we think will lend itself to the odd chorus here and there.”
And the gig? Will it be Auntie Annies’ own mini Last Waltz?
“It could well be. Although we’ll be inviting Geoff onstage and not Bob Dylan.”