Social StudentThe Fratellis are back! We caught up with Jon Fratelli a couple of hours before they performed on Main Stage at Brownstock Festival.
Max: Welcome to Brownstock.
Jon Fratelli: Hey. Thank you.
Max: How’s the current tour of festivals going?
Jon: This is the last one for us, and I think we’re slightly festivaled out. [Laugh] It’s getting colder. This is our last thing of the summer really.
Max: So having been in bands for so long, do you still get pre-stage nerves or do you just go on and do it?
Jon: No. Not nerves. Never did anyway, but you still should have a little bit of excitement about going on. Because it’s still an interesting way to spend your day. When you say, what did you do at work today? Well, we did this. So it’s totally not to be totally under appreciated, but not nerves though.
Max: So how do you prepare for gigs such as Brownstock Main Stage?
Jon: This same as you do every other one. Everybody sort of does it differently, but really these things are down to the crowd. Yourself do the same thing most nights. You try and do your best at least, and you give people the songs they might want to hear, after that it’s up to them. So you never know what you’re going to get sometimes until you walk out there. When you get a good one, there’s nothing else like it. It can make your week you know.
Max: Well the crowd was really good last night.
Jon: Well, hopefully they kept some in reserve.
Max: So what can we expect from the next album?
Jon: Well, if anybody liked or likes our band it will probably make some sense to them. It’s basically the sound of three-guys pleasing themselves.
[Laugh]
Now that can be misinterpreted.
Max: But I will quote you on that.
[Laugh]
Jon: That’s okay. Put that down actually. That’s absolutely fine. Three-guys pleasing themselves. I didn’t say pleasuring themselves.
Max: No. That would have been worse. So how has your sound developed since reforming, because you obviously went to different side projects? And how would you describe your sound now?
Jon: We can sort of change what we are really. It would be pointless for us to try, and completely reverse what it is that we are. I would rather take what it is we sort of do well and stretch it as far as possible. And get as much out of that as possible, and I don’t see that as being limited at all. It’s almost limitless what you can do with that, but really we are a three-piece rock and roll band and there’s only so much of a racket you can make with that. And we probably make a similar racket to the racket we used to make, but it obviously has to have something else about it that was interesting to us now.
Max: Over all of your gig albums what has been your best gig? If you can define one.
Jon: Best gig? It’s hard to do that. Usually the unexpected ones. The first time we went to Japan. We had no idea the way the Japanese fans behave, as in crazed. Crazed but also really polite. Politely crazed, and we had no idea. When you walk on a stage in a stadium full of people that have choreographed a dance to your music, and they all know the words and do it precise. Very precisely and perfectly, and you’re just standing there as a spectator to them. So it sticks in the memory. That’s something that you couldn’t ever recreate.
Max: So what’s the future hold for you and the Fratellis?
Jon: Well, we’ll just play as long as anybody wants to hear us. We are always just trying to see how much we can get away with, [laugh] and you’re going to get found out any day now. [Laugh] They’re going to find us out, and right now we’re getting away with it. Which I’m okay with that. Let’s just see how long we can get away with this. Until somebody notices that we’re not meant to be here.
Max: Well, that’s it. Thank you very much. Good luck with your show.
Jon: Thank you man. Appreciate it.
The Fratelli’s new album is out in October, make sure you check it out!