FEET talk their “playful” wave-inspired single ‘Changing My Mind Again’ and album two
FEET have returned with their first new music of the year. Check out the “playful” new wave-inspired ‘Changing My Mind Again’ below alongside an interview with vocalist George Haverson.
For the urgent ‘Changing My Mind Again’, Haverson revealed that he was inspired by the likes of Elvis Costello, Devo and The Modern Lovers.
“You can be playful and it not be pretentious,” he told NME. “Those bands say some stupid things, but in a clever way which I always find interesting. The music changes every 20-seconds as well, but it all makes sense.”
He continued: “I didn’t want ‘Changing My Mind Again’ to harken back to an older generation though. I don’t want some old geezer saying it reminds them of what they used to listen to. It still needed to feel current and exciting.”
Haverson said he wrote ‘Changing My Mind Again’ about “a lot of indecision” with some of the lyrics being really personal.
“I don’t think it needs to a real, meditative exploration inside myself though,” he said. “The words are easy. Once you’ve got a melody, the rest is pancakes.”
He went on: “There’s always a level of uncertainty that hangs on my decisions I’ve found, particularly now in my mid 20’s. With age comes consequences which I wanted to explore with ‘Changing My Mind Again’.”
According to Haverson, ‘Changing My Mind Again’ was an “experiment” in the studio.
“We could already play it live together and it felt good then, so it was just about discovering the recorded version,” he explained. “We’re not trying to make things too grandiose, we’re not Queen.”
‘Changing My Mind Again’ follows on from FEET’s 2021 standalone single ‘Can’t Get In’. “We just want to keep putting songs out now,” Haverson told NME. “There’s no reason why we can’t either, it should be like a factory really.”
Currently FEET are sitting on seven other songs in various stages of completion, with an eye on a second album.
“We’re hunkering down and filling the bunker with songs,” he revealed. “The new stuff is more melodic, more adventurous and we’re constantly making things hard for ourselves. I’ve got to actually do my job and sing. It’s sounding good though. Everyone’s got this newfound confidence and it feels very positive”.
The frontman added now FEET “have a direction” for their second album, which is “what we lacked before”.
“I sent my dad some demos and he said it all sounded very mature,” he admitted. “I don’t know if that means the old stuff was immature, but it feels like we’re going in the right direction.”
FEET formed when they were studying at Coventry University and released a string of singles while finishing off various degrees before debut album ‘What’s Inside Is More Than Ham’ was released in 2019. “We’re very fortunate. We didn’t form with an end goal in mind,” said Haverson. “We met each other, and it all worked out exceptionally well. We did just take it and run with it. Looking back on it now, there are some ridiculous things on that debut album but I did genuinely enjoy all of it, and I think it shaped the position we are in now.”
He continued: “It does get a little rough when you hit your mid-20s and people are asking what the band’s legacy is though. I think ours is approaching [with album two]. It’ll be our time to shine, or fizzle away.”
“We want to prove that there is depth to what we do, without it having to fulfil an established direction,” he added, laughing off the suggestion that he carries around a little moleskin notebook where he regularly writes essays and poetry. “I wear it as a badge of honour when people say we make fun music.”
“It’s more about broadening our little world. I want to do an acoustic song, but that doesn’t mean it’ll just be me crying. There’s a way to do it. Look at ‘Telephone Line’ by ELO. It tugs on the heartstrings, it’s beautiful but it’s as fun as anything.”
Haverson said that FEET’s newfound confidence comes from the fact there’s “a lot more opportunity” for a guitar band now.
“As luck would have it, there have been some really great bands that have done really well recently,” he said. “Wet Leg winning two Grammy Awards is nuts. Sports Team have blown up and obviously there are acts like Fontaines D.C. and Dry Cleaning. Those bands are relighting the torch and it creates this atmosphere where people are excited for guitar music again. We want to tap into that.
“With this new album, I want to prove that we’re worth the attention we could get as well. I’d like the music to justify any and all success, because we don’t have much else. We’re not all models and we don’t have famous parents. It has to come from the music.”
Haverson said this resurgence of guitar music “could be nostalgia, or it could just be that there’s enough people making good music that the momentum is there.”
Thanks to breakthrough tracks like ‘English Weather’, FEET have often drawn comparison to Britpop bands. “Pulp and Blur are obviously amazing bands, but we were always more inspired by The Kinks. We’re not a Britpop band,” said Haverson.
“With the new material, we’re trying to stop those easy comparisons. As a guitar band, there’s so many other groups to be compared to but with [‘Can’t Get In’ and ‘Changing My Mind Again’], it feels like we’re finally getting close to the FEET sound, rather than being a Britpop ripoff.”
“Fuck an Oasis reunion, I don’t care. I want to hear new music,” he added.
Alongside the release of ‘Changing My Mind Again’, FEET are kicking off 2023 with a string of support slots with Inhaler this month – grab your tickets here.
“What a way to blow off the cobwebs,” said Haverson. “They’ll be massive rooms but it’s like skydiving. You’re all confident about doing it but as soon as you get in the plane, you realise how high you actually are. That’s what the first night will be like I imagine, but it’ll be loads of fun.”
FEET play:
16 – O2 Academy, Leeds,
17 – Nx Newcastle, Newcastle
18 – Uni Mountford Hall, Liverpool
20 – UEA, Norwich UEA
21 – Cardiff Uni, Cardiff
23- Rock City, Nottingham
24 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
25 – O2 Academy, Bristol
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Ali Shutler
NME
