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Super Furry Animals have been Wales' ambassadors for experimental psychedelic-techno fusions since the early 1990s. They have performed onstage in Yeti outfits, toured in a blue military tank, and frontman Gruff Rhys wrote a whole album about items he stole from his hotel rooms. It's been six years since Super Furry Animals came to the U.S., but will hit Portland this week to play Crystal Ballroom's Sabertooth Micro Fest, a celebration of psychedelic music. WW caught up with Rhys to talk about psychedelic culture and hearing his own song while on hold.
Willamette Week: You haven't been to the U.S. as a band for six years. What made you want to come back not an a new album?
Gruff Rhys: Last year was the re-release of one of our records called Mwng, which came out in 2000 originally, so it coincided with the 21st year of the band. I suppose it's our combined 20th and 21st birthday and we're just doing some touring around; it's a celebration and we've all been recording lots of solo records recently. There's no big plan to record a new Super Furry album. In that sense, it's a very selfish tour, just celebrating our birthday and indulging. It's been very enjoyable, just getting to play without the kind of without feeling any pressure to come back with a new a new statement and everything.
That's interesting that it's selfish for you. I feel like most of the time it's the fans pressuring the band to come back and play again even if the band may have moved so. It's cool to hear that it's something you want to do.
It's really nice. We all live within a mile of each other. Being in a touring band in a sense, it's a very romantic notion and I suppose the most dramatic statement would be to fall out and split up the band and not talk to each other, you know? And with us, I think we just enjoy each other's company and enjoy playing and we're not particularly dramatic in that sense.
Your lyrics are so full of visual imagery. What is your favorite image from any of your lyrics?
There's a song we have called "Inaugural Trams" and it's about designing a cityscape based on the face of someone you love, so it'd be like my favorite sound is a whole description based on someone's face. And you know the main kind of avenue to these windows into the eyes would be some kind of crescent-shaped object or something. I think that's my favorite.
It seems like there are a few different versions of Super Furry Animals. Which version do you like the best?
We're like sonic magpies. We like to try out different ideas and instruments and the band shapeshifts quite a lot on record. The songs I listen back most to tend to be the ones that muck up the rock band formula the most. I suppose the ones with the most synthesizers and vocal harmonizers and the ones we've experimented beyond. We're like some kind of neurotic pop band, and within that kind of lateral we experiment. My favorite songs are the ones we've experimented with the most and I like a lot of the Welsh language tracks. I suppose we don't really sing songs we have don't have anything to work off. They all play a part.
Was there ever a time you thought the music you were making was too experimental or people wouldn't respond well?
No, I think we're quite a conventional band, you know? In a sense, I love it when, the more experimentation, the better. But you know, having said that, I've got a very musical sweet tooth so I enjoy uplifting melodious music. We enjoy bringing joy.
You seem more experimental almost in performative aspects than in the melodies of the music.
Yeah, we vary quite a lot. I used to play 20-minute songs live, and sonically, we can get quite extreme. Overwhelming, they call us—visually and sonically. We're not the world's biggest extroverts, so we use film and sub-bass to make up for that. And costumes.
What do you think of the state of psychedelic music today? Is anyone doing truly original stuff?
It's difficult to define psychedelia and I think this age is the most susceptible because there's a multitude of influences that the world gives us. We are able to access all the sounds of the world in a way we couldn't in the past. So I hear a lot of kind of pop music on the radio that sounds completely psychedelic. It defies any kind of location, often and I think that's so interesting.
So do you think psychedelia is more accessible today?
I think our culture in general is probably more psychedelic and multidimensional than any previous age. Culture is pretty psychedelic in general.
How do you think psychedelia has changed since the 1960s psychedelia?
I suppose what's problematic about the term psychedelia is that it was rooted in the 1960s, whereas maybe the acid house in the 1980s maybe isn't defined as psychedelic. The most powerful psychedelic artifacts today maybe don't use the 1960s as a template and it's just the result of experimentation. If you look at an act like Takeshi Murata, I mean [his artwork is] intensely psychedelic, but it has no reference to the 1960s whatsoever. It seems part of the digital age, but it's also deeply psychedelic.
Do you think that psychedelia can be separated from the use of psychedelic drugs or do the two motivate each other?
I know plenty of people who have no connection to psychedelic drugs who make deeply psychedelic records, so it seems possible for that to exist. I suppose the work made by people who pioneered that whole culture, I suppose that it has affected culture in general. A psychedelic experience is shared by the experimentation shared by making music or art. I mean, you know if someone is laughing fit it's contagious, and god knows why people started laughing in the first place.
So much of your work is based on other artists, like Stainless Style, your concept album about John Delorean. Are there any artists or pieces of art that are inspiring you to create music?
Takeshi Murata, the video artist. Pete Fowler, who's done the artwork for most of the bands sleeves. He's some kind of visionary I believe and we are always influenced by his art.
Can we expect any more solo albums from you?
Yeah, but I think the band is working on new records continuously nonetheless and we'll do some Super Furry things I'm sure.We had an intense period of about 14 years where we put out nine albums and where we were effectively living together for 15 years. Our whole lives developed around the band and there was nothing else, and we're not in that space at the moment. Sometimes we'd spend six months in the studio every day and we will record things, but not in the same way. Fatigue is inevitable and I think it's good to recognize it. We've had quite a long break and it's been extremely heartwarming playing shows again and we'll do some recording this year, but not an album. But we'll try to think of a few ways of existing as a group of friends.
I'm embarrassed to admit that the first Super Furry Animals song I heard was "Hello Sunshine" on the show The OC.
That's a good thing! It's amazing when [our music] defies logic and fits into a context you never thought it would. I remember phoning to make a complain and while on hold, one of our songs was playing back at me on the phone. That was pretty weird. It was "Juxtaposed with U" which is a song about peace and people getting along. It obviously had the opposite effect on me.
SEE IT: Super Furry Animals play Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., as part of Sabertooth Micro Fest, with Earth and King Black Acid, on Friday, Feb. 5. 8 pm. $30 advance, $35 day of show. All ages.
Other Sabertooth Festival Shows
Feb. 6: Red Fang, Yob, Witch Mountain, World's Finest, Eternal Tapestry
[PSYCHEDELICSTONERROCKMICROFEST] Day 2 of the Crystal Ballroom's Sabertooth micro-music festival is about as good a showcase of heavy Oregon metal as one could ask for. Portland's Witch Mountain, with new vocalist Kayla Dixon, bring a nuanced take to the softer form of doom that has been slowly brewing in the Pacific Northwest and Bay Area since the mid-2000s. Eugene's Yob remain the best doom act in the country, while headliners Red Fang are sure to whip the party into a frenzy with its galloping, beers-and-bros approach to swamp metal. While you're there, don't miss brewer Drew Phillip's Blasphemous Brew Fest at the Lola's Room annex, featuring weirdo brews from Crystal, Upright and other craft luminaries, beginning at 5 pm. WALKER MACMURDO. 6:30 pm. $30 advance, $35 day of show, All ages.
Feb. 7: Built to Spill, Mikal Cronin Duo, Heron Oblivion, Brett Netson & Snakes
[NORTHWEST GUITAR HERO] Indie-rock lifer Built to Spill is comfort food for anyone who grew up in the '90s listening to alternative music. The Boise-based band, led by flannel-clad singer-guitar maestro Doug Martsch, is kind of like the Pacific Northwest's own version of Crazy Horse, with an expansive and sometimes jammy sound built on Martsch's angel-soft voice and windswept guitar solos. Built to Spill have been headlining shows at the Crystal Ballroom for nearly 20 years now, but this isn't just pure nostalgia—last year's Untethered Moon, the group's first record in six years, is also the best thing they've made since the Bush administration. Sure, we all want to hear "Carry the Zero," but new songs like "Living Zoo" deserve a spot on your next your Spotify playlist, too. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER. 6:30 pm. $30 advance, $35 day of show. All ages.
Willamette Week