The Futureheads
R ock ’n’ roll is filled with legends, and it’s those stories of impossibly crazy, talented and beautiful musicians that separate us regular people from the rock gods. While some stars are the real deal, others aren’t quite so authentic. We’re not naming any names, but whether it’s putting on an American accent when you’re from Devon or pretending you were discovered in a karaoke session, bands often fib to come off a bit cooler, so that you’ll want to buy their records and they can survive as musicians – which is fair enough. But etc. wants to know: what’s wrong with just being yourself?
That’s why we loved talking to guitarist Ross Millard of the Futureheads, a band who proves you can grow up in a regular town, lead a regular life and still become a famous musician. Throughout their rise to fame over the past six years, the band have kept their feet firmly planted to their Sunderland roots and you can hear it in their music.
‘When you’re creating something to represent yourself, you have to be honest about it,’ explains Ross. ‘We’re from quite an unusual place as far as rock history is concerned – the north-east of England doesn’t have a great tradition of musicians and we’ve got quite an unusual accent. Playing off that was a good way to establish a bit of an identity.’
Old beginnings
The Futureheads began with two friends who loved music. While doing A-levels, Ross and bassist Jaff talked about starting a band, but couldn’t find anyone else in their college who was interested. So when they heard about a programme called the Sunderland City Detached Youth Project, they rushed down to the city centre with the hopes of meeting some new people. The project’s aim was to get young people out of trouble and into playing music, but it was also attracting young musicians like Ross and Jaff who wanted to meet other likeminded people. And it worked: this is where they met the other members of the Futureheads, guitarist Barry and drummer Dave.
In the beginning, they didn’t have much equipment (like amps), and most of their practices involved sitting in a room with one acoustic guitar between them. ‘There’d be three of us sitting around, doing nothing,’ says Ross of those early days, ‘so we decided to get everyone involved.’ Instead of just one person singing the songs, they all took part and sang in different harmonies – and this was the birth of their signature call-and-response vocal sound.
New beginnings
The band’s much-awaited third album, This is Not the World, will be in stores this May – a big deal, considering it’s the first album to come out on the Futureheads’ own record label, Nul Records. Having your own record label means that you get to make all the decisions, and figuring out where to record the album wasn’t hard. ‘We recorded it in the Sunderland Youth Project studio,’ says Ross. ‘It was a really spontaneous and exciting thing.’
Now that they’re in control of their own destiny, the band have big plans on the home front. ‘We want to do a lot more in rural Scotland and rural Ireland, and focus on the UK in a less cynical way,’ says Ross. ‘You keep getting tour schedules and it’s always the same places. That makes sense in a big country like the States, but in the UK, it’s our home territory. We should be able to get out there and do places like the Orkneys and Shetlands, because there are kids out there who want to see shows too, you know.’
etc. asks why they never moved to London. ‘We spend so much time there that it’s nice to escape up North where you can just get on with your projects,’ says Ross. The band is still living in Sunderland and Newcastle, and when they’re not on the road, they practise in Sunderland every day. And the Sunderland City Detached Youth Project continues to bring together young musicians, which rightly puts North-east England on the musical map.
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