Lead singer Steve Overland on an eight-date UK tour to promote the band’s new album Heroes & Villains.
You’ve released three albums in three years. Why are FM becoming increasingly prolific?
It’s all due to the reaction we’ve had since reuniting [in 2007]. It’s really inspiring. I’ve already got four or five songs for the next album.
How do you select which ones to use?
Some are obvious, but we also have a panel of friends and industry contacts that give us feedback.
How do you think Heroes & Villains compares to Rockville and Rockville II?
Some people say they can hear elements of earlier FM, others that since returning we’ve developed a totally new sound. To me the only thing that matters is that the songs are consistently great.
From self-releasing everything since the reunion, why have you signed to Frontiers?
When we got back together we felt it was important to keep things in-house. But because of the momentum a better infrastructure has become vital. So far it’s gone well, they’ve done everything they said they’d do – even provided budgets for videos.
The promo for the first single, Digging Up The Dirt, is full of scantily clad young ladies.
It’s about time we did one of those. We’ve been trying to get that together since the 1980s.
What is the song’s message?
It’s about all of those shite magazines like Hello!, which print cover stories about some celebrity having cellulite. People don’t want to read about the real news any more.
Aren’t you leaving yourselves open to accusations of exploitation or, worse, being called a bunch of dirty old men?
Yeah, but that really doesn’t bother us. If it’s controversial it’s controversial. It’s a sleazy song, it needed a sleazy video.
The dates begin in Bristol on May 1.
