Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: (Simon Roberts, vocals/guitar) Like most people my age, it was all about the albums your parents had on cassette that they would play in the car during long journeys so, for me, it was The Beatles, Paul Simon, Blondie, Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits and Roxy Music. From that melodic starting point I got into the guitar as a teen, through the instant rebellion of heavy metal – Metallica, Guns N Roses, Pantera, Megadeth, Sepultura, Faith No More – which led me down a bit of a cul-de-sac musically until my late teens when I was introduced to alternative rock – Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, dEUS, Radiohead, Bob Mould – which expanded my horizons again. Ultimately, my songs boil down to a mix of Metallica and The Beatles. I’m a big fan of noise AND melody so that’s what really speaks to me.
Q: Can you describe the musical style of The Farewell State in three words?
A: Heartfelt, loud and melodious
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: Social media is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a useful marketing tool and a way of connecting with fans at will but feeding that hungry algorithm can be a real chore and removes the main point of making music: fun! Now the album is out there, and we’ve pushed it virtually, we still find the best and most honest way of connecting with people is by playing gigs. You can’t beat it. Fans’ feedback is great but it’s difficult to get as it’s hard to make folks listen to your music without pouring loads of money into marketing so to play our music for them at a show is an instant and direct connection without all the digital trappings.
Q: You have just released your new album, ‘Dial Everything’. Is there a story behind it?
A: It’s a long tale of mishaps and setbacks but one of eventual triumph. I started the band 14 years ago, and over a decade of line-up changes and the usual things, I wrote eight songs that have stayed with the group no matter who was in it. We first tried to record five years ago but the studio flooded. Then the next time we were ready, Covid happened so we got delayed again for a couple of years and then, when we actually started recording in 2022, I ended up in hospital and had to take a year out to recover from surgery so it was very very nice to get it finished and released in May! This collective and this collection of tunes have seen it all really and it feels really cathartic to have it out there.
Q: What is your favorite track from the album and why?
A: Changes with every listen but currently, the closing track ‘It’s Not Goodnight’ is my favourite because it’s a huge epic finish to the album and features the whole band firing on all cylinders. From Alex (Horne, guitarist) with his amazing lead lines, through Stuart (Bonner, drums) with his Beatles-esque beats to James (Palfreyman, bassist) with his underpinning grooves. It just all comes together and it’s the vocal performance that I’m most proud of. We started the music before I was hospitalised, and I finished the vocals after my recovery, so it really encapsulates that road to redemption and the perseverance required to get a project like this over the line.
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the album, “Dial Everything”?
A: Well, writing it took some time as the songs started to come together 14 years ago when I was doing some solo material to take a break from my band at the time (The Letter). Then, as I went through different line ups of The Farewell State, there were certain tunes that I kept coming back to until about 7 years ago when we settled on this line up and had eight strong tracks to get super tight and focus on. I’ve always wanted to do an album live in the studio, so we made sure when the time came, we were ready to do that. We did some overdubs after of course – solos, vocals, the odd acoustic guitar – but overall, it’s an LP that sounds like guys playing in a room together. We recorded it with long-time friend of the band, Tom Henthorn, at Make Noise Studios in Sheffield (where I also made a solo record as JunkBond during lockdown) and it’s so pleasing to hear these tunes come to life after all this time and all the trials we had making it.
Q: What has been the most memorable concert or performance for The Farewell State so far?
A: We played one in Sheffield just after the album came out in May where everything leading up to the show went wrong – the guy who put the line up together just disappeared, as did the drumkit, half the plug sockets at the venue didn’t work – but all the bands on the bill (Wolfsmoke and Atakarma) and the sound engineer pulled together and put on a great gig. Kind of summed up our existence really: challenge in the face of adversity? Challenge accepted!
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: ‘Faces Made For Radio’ is the one that has come through it all. It started life as a lyric that was bouncing around my head with a melody but rather than getting it out by playing the guitar like usual, I tried a different approach: I ‘rapped’ it along to a drum machine. This was terrible of course – you can hear that version on Soundcloud if you really want to – but that got it out of my head and I began to piece together the music, however it really came to life with the band. The tempo slowed down and we learned to let it breathe, then Stuart came up with the backing vocals, Alex the guitar solos and James’ bass glued it all together so now it’s a live favourite and builds from laid back acoustic ballad to exploding rock epic with a sing along chorus. The song’s theme of being an outsider but going your own way and not being influenced by the powers that be is very universal but also very personal in light of everything we’ve been through.
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into the band’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: There’s always a million different ways to play a song and when you record, you’re always trying to bottle lightning with varying degrees of success, so to get eight tracks to this standard is a huge achievement and joy. The tunes usually start life fully written when I bring them to the band but what I love hearing is the approach other people have with them and how they get covered in the band’s fingerprints. That’s very much the case with the album. Everyone contributes and everyone plays their part, which shows in the final product.
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have for The Farewell State, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: Play more shows, write more songs and push what we’ve started on the album into the next phase of the band. 14 years is a long time to make an LP, so we want the next release to appear sooner and be more representative of us now. To the fans, thank you but look out because there’s plenty more to come!
