THIS FINAL month of 2019 is a time of looking back and looking forward, a period of trepidation, but also one of determined optimism, for And So I Watch You From Afar as they celebrate a milestone, and await the impending fall-out from Brexit.
Antrim math-rock/post-rock quartet ASIWYFA - Rory Friers and Niall Kennedy (guitars ), Johnny Adger (bass ), and Chris Wee (drums ) - are marking the 10th anniversary of the release of their eponymous debut album, with a tour including their by now annual end of year pilgrimage to the Róisín Dubh.
Despite that debut being the foundation from which their career has since flourished, it was occasion that, Rory Friers admits, "almost passed us by without our noticing". As Rory tells me during our Thursday morning conversation: “We’re not really a very nostalgic bunch of people. We don’t hark back. What’s coming up, what’s ahead of us, is more exciting, but our management said it would be nice to do for the fans. As soon as we started playing the tracks, especially the ones we haven’t played for a while, we realised we should mark this, we should have a wee party."
"Revisiting the whole album, there have been fleeting memories of putting it together. It wasn’t like what we have done since, where we have a writing period. The first album was just songs we had from jamming, or had released on EPs, there is a little story to them all for me. ‘Tip Of The Hat, Punch In The Face’ is the one I’ve enjoyed playing most. It’s a ridiculous title, but it feels fresh and exciting. It has a cool ending that goes on and on. It was also the one track from the album we recorded 100 per cent live in the studio. We wanted to have this specific feel to it, with all the instruments into the one room and record it in a one-take performance."
ASIWYFA's many shows in Galway have always been high drama, thrilling experiences, with the intensity of the band's music, and the high energy performance of its four musicians, being reciprocated by the enthusiasm and commitment of the audience. A barnstorming show is again to be expected, but Rory feels a somewhat different dynamic may also come into play this time around.
“There is something about playing an album from start to finish that makes for a more unusual show," he says. "Normally at a gig you’ll throw in a song people are not expecting, and there’s an excitement about what’s coming next, but when the audience know what the next track will be, the whole thing has a more relaxed feeling. I’ve been enjoying every minute of it, and the audience reaction has been a really lovely warm big hug."
Rory is genuinely looking forward to coming back to Galway, describing the Róisín as having "something in the air, a temperature, there’s something special there for sure". He recalls in particular, a couple of New Year’s Eve shows. "I remember seeing the tour manager disappear, having been carried off by the crowd, a pint of Guinness in his hand. I remember Mark Kennedy, who would always be standing by the side of the stage. I remember one poignant night, when he was no longer there, and Gugai came up and said a few lovely words about him. Both ends of the spectrum have been experienced at the Róisín.”
'We’ve always tried to be ballsy and not adverse to upsetting anybody, and fulfilling ourselves artistically'
ASIWYFA's 2009 debut served notice that the Antrim band were ones to watch. Since then they have released a further four albums, and through 2013's All Hail Bright Futures and 2017's The Endless Shimmering arguably have re-written the rule book on math-rock, displaying a bravery, creativity, and imagination, few, if any of their peers come close to.
“We’ve always tried not to be precious with anything," says Rory. "After we put out the first record, there was a temptation to do the same thing again, but just tweak it and make it better, and find a particular sound, but that’s not exciting or interesting as an artist long term."
"The first album is everything you like up to that point, the music, the films, the books, but it would be a shame not to find out new things and bring all that into the music you make as well. I feel there is a connecting strand between the albums, and there are things we fall back on, but for me as a songwriter, I’ve always instinctively explored new territory. We’ve always tried to be ballsy and not adverse to upsetting anybody, and fulfilling ourselves artistically.
'I’ve never been so happy to hold my Irish passport as I was after the Brexit result was announced'
That final declaration is a good summation for ASIWYFA's next release, due in February on vinyl, CD, and digital: a 45 minute piece of music with the band accompanied by a string quartet. "We're going full on prog!" Rory says, partly jesting. "It involves Sam Weil, an artist from Liverpool, and we’re going to be performing it live. It’s going to be a big, exploratory, experience. It started out as a live thing, but as we wrote and recorded the music, we felt it was strong enough that it could work as a stand-alone piece, that could be listened to on it’s own. We’re doing it in collaboration with Oxfam and all the proceeds will be going to them.”
In October the band played Paris, Cologne, Berlin, Prague, and Amsterdam. By the time they return to the Netherlands in February, the UK could well be a 'Third Country' outside both the EU and the European Economic Area. While Boris Johnson's Brexit deal means largely frictionless movement and trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic, a bureaucratic nightmare of tariffs, taxes, and customs duties await Northern Irish based bands touring the Continent - a significant worry when earnings for musicians today come mostly from selling merchandise.
'In another life I might open a restaurant. There’s plenty of time yet...'
“The uncertainty of everything is worrying, it’s hard to know what will happen," says Rory, "but I’ve never been so happy to hold my Irish passport as I was after the Brexit result was announced. It’s crazy that it could come down to, as we tour Europe, having to declare, country by country, the merchandise we bring with us to sell at the shows. We’re a small band, we’ve been doing this for 10 years, and we just about have found a balance of how customs and trade all work, and we can make a living from it, but it’s a very fine line. Brexit could make it very difficult."
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Yet, as Rory delcares, he is by nature an optimist, and is determined to approach 2020 in a positive spirit. "I'm optimistic because I’m excited about the new release," he says. "I’m excited we’re setting aside time for writing and working towards a new And So I Watch You release. I’m excited to be living in Belfast and having a good time. I am optimistic that, even though we are in the middle of the s**t, things will be settled and be OK."
Finally, a word about Rory's non-music related passion: food. “It would be the thing I would do if I wasn’t a musician," he declares. "I have early memories of my dad making these incredible Indian curries, and he’d take me through how to make them. When we go on tour, finding a good restaurant is important to me. My fiancee and I also run these supper clubs where we make Korean food and have 30 or 40 people and make a night of it. It starts out fun, then we get very stressed over it, but afterwards we feel great about having done it. In another life I might open a restaurant. There’s plenty of time yet...”
ASIWYFA play the Róisín Dubh on Monday December 30 at 8pm. Tickets are available from www.roisindubh.net; OMG@Zhivago, Shop Street; and the Róisín Dubh.
