ART*HEAD Interview: The Fiery Furnaces

Last Thursday night, high off the Miami Heat’s game 4 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, I had a fantastic idea: I should attempt to interview the Fiery Furnaces after their concert at the Henry Fonda Theatre the following night. I’ve been a gigantic fan of the Furnaces for a couple years now. I think the FF’s (Matt and Eleanor Friedberger) are making the most innovative, outrageous, and spectacular music out there today (I also find Eleanor very fetching) and artist interviews are exactly what this (already amazing) website needs. Now, I have a lot of ideas like this, but most of them I never follow through on. This one I did, and this is what happened:

While waiting for the bus to work the next morning, I stopped into Radio Shack and bought a hand-held cassette tape recorder. That night, I stashed the recorder in my junk drawer as I entered the concert. The security guards would’ve no doubt frowned upon the recorder had they discovered it, because when they found my camera in my pocket, they claimed I would have to take it back to the car. But I instead proceeded to the will call window for my ticket and then dashed inside the venue before those bastards could notice.

The Furnaces played a great show, which I attempted to record by placing the tape recorder on the flat of the stage barricade. A security guard caught wind of the operation about three songs in, but nicely did not take the recorder, and just ordered me to stop. Later, when I reviewed the tape, I was surprised at how good the audio quality was. Not that it’s ready for commercial release, but I think any avid Furnaces fan could take a listen to the tape and get a little Sunday afternoon enjoyment.


For this tour, the Furnaces have laid down their signature piano and synthesizers and arranged all their songs to be played on the standard rock instruments: guitar, bass and drums. This worked well for the material off their latest record, Bitter Tea, which seemed to be the most intricately prepared parts of the set and sounded more dynamic and spectacular than the songs from the Furnaces previous records. While the Bitter Tea songs maintained the schizophrenic sonic shifts of their recorded versions, earlier songs were recast as slashing punk numbers, which tended to mute the technicolor joy of material from Blueberry Boat and Gallowsbird’s Bark. But the band still managed to carve out some intense, precise rhythms in these songs that made the new incarnations worthwhile and fun. The band seems to be challenging itself to reimagine the sonic melee of its recordings with only a stark (by their standards) palette of instruments. They could undoubtedly play a more pleasing show if they mixed in synthesizer and piano among the rock instruments to recreate the feel of their records, but taking the easy way out is not what turns the Fiery Furnaces on.


After the show, I went outside behind the venue and waited, along with two Asian girls, for about 45 minutes before the band came out. When Eleanor finally emerged, a friendly security guard told her that there were some fans waiting, and she walked over.

ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER: I didn’t know anyone was waiting or I would have come out sooner. Thanks for buying that shirt.

[NOTE:I was wearing a FF shirt at the time. Not that I think it’s awesome to buy a band’s shirt at their show and immediately put it on, but their was no room in my pocket.]

Me: It’s a great shirt. Did you design it?

EF: Yeah, that’s my messy handwriting.

BD: Could I ask you a couple questions for ART*HEAD magazine?

EF: Ok, but it has to be really quick, cause these guys are waiting for me.


BD: Do you write music while you’re on tour?

EF: No. Not generally.

BD: What do you do during the long drives?

EF: Listen to music, it’s hard to read cause everybody’s [makes hand gesture to indicate lots of talk], that’s why headphones are good. I watch DVD’s on the computer.

BD: What movies have you watched lately?

EF: I watched a movie today, this really short documentary called Okie Noodling. It was done by this guy we met, he actually did that Flaming Lips documentary that came out last year. But it’s about these guys in Oklahoma who go fishing, but all they use is their hands to catch fish. So they reach into these holes and try to pull out these huge fish. That’s the last movie I watched.

BD: I put the song "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" on a mix for this girl I like, and she enjoyed it. Before that she didn’t think Franz Ferdinand was a good band. [NOTE: She probably still doesn’t.]

EF: Oh. That’s nice.


BD: Matt’s releasing two solo records this summer. Do you think you’ll incorporate any of that material into Fiery Furnaces shows?

EF: I don’t know, we haven’t really talked about it. Maybe. I’d say as of now, No, but it’s a possibility.

BD: Your music is really cinematic, would you ever be interested in adapting one of your albums into a film?

EF: Well, we probably wouldn’t have the means to do it ourselves, but it’d be great if somebody else did. I guess that’s why it’s good that we’re in Hollywood.

BD: I always imagine a film version of Blueberry Boat, a mix of live action, animation, and some puppetry. It could start out with you guys as kids, and you stumble upon this field with all these blueberries. And you eat them, and it sort of sends you down this rabbit hole of all the stories from the album.

EF: Maybe you could make it.

BD: I’d like to someday.


EF: Well. I should go. Thanks for waiting out here.

BD: Thanks for talking to me.

[She walks away.]

BD: That was awesome.

[A couple minutes later, Matt Friedberger walks over]

BD: Great show.

MATT FRIEDBERGER: Thank you. When we come back in the fall, it’s going to sound totally different. Some acoustic guitar, we’re going to have somebody playing hand drums, Jason [bassist in the current lineup] is going to play guitar. There won’t be any synthesizers. A new sound.

BD: I love the sounds on your records.

MF: Thanks. Me too. That’s what I pay the most attention to.


BD: I heard the next record is going to have an Afrobeat influence?

MF: No. The next tour’s gonna sound like that, but not the record.

BD: Do you know what the next record is going to sound like?

MF: It’s going to be a rock record. 70’s rock sounds. Stuff that’s really going to flatter Eleanor’s voice. Not that it’s in need of flattery.

BD: Wow. I just bought this tape recorder this morning.

MF: Oh yeah? That’s a good one. Radio Shack. I’ve got one like that that’s a Sony.

BD: I was trying to record your show, but a security guard stopped me.

MF: He stopped you? He shouldn’t have done that.

[Eleanor walks back over.]

MF: I’ve gotta go now. We’re going to visit our cousin who lives a few blocks down this way. We haven’t seen him since he got married about four years ago.

[And Matt and Eleanor Friedberger walked down the street into the night, probably to have some kind of fantastic adventure involving candy-makers, lost dogs, and an evil snowman that won't melt.]

Your friend, Beck DeRobertis