Fun Lovin' Criminals interview

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Virtual Festivals: Huey, how you doing?

Huey: Ah, ya know, can't complain. No one listens anyway!

VF: You're playing a Music In The Forest gig in Thetford on 1 August to help raise money for the Forestry Commission. How did you get into that?

Huey: In the States we call it the fresh air fund. It's similar to what we do, which is taking inner city kids out to Staten Island, a beautiful place, to give them a taste of the goodness out there and to see the grass and the trees. We played Sherwood Forest recently, which was an amazing setting and just a bit different to all the usual run-of-the-mill festivals.

VF: So are you a bit bored of playing the 'usual' festivals?

Huey: No, no, there are a lot of great festivals in the UK , we love them. But we didn't want to play any while we haven't really got any new material to play for our fans. Our booking guy said we could either play with the likes Placebo and all the other regular jokers, or we could play a couple of these unique and intimate gigs for the Forestry Commission.

VF: So are you doing it out of the goodnes of your heart for the good of the trees?

Huey: Well, I don't know about that. It's like any other gig because we still have to pay people and there are all kind of hidden costs, but it's good to play for something with a good ethic behind it.

VF: What have been your favourite festivals?

Huey: We've played all kinds in the past, from the Bulldog Bash to Big Gay Out, and they've all got their place, man. Glastonbury 's the big one though and we had an amazing one in '99. I got to meet my hero Al Green so that was very cool. He's the man.

VF: You're recording a new album, the follow-up to 'Welcome To Poppy's'. How's it sounding?

Huey: We're still in the midst of recording so it's hard to say. We know who we are now and what we're doing. This is our fifth record and on this one we're trying to get a little more rocky when there's the need for some edgy hard rock and a little more soulful when we want to mellow it out. We've got about five songs wrapped up. The best thing about this album is working with our new drummer, Frank The Rhythm Master, who's from Leicester . He's our first real drummer, as the other guys were more guys who just played drums with us. Frank, though, is like our third band member and we're all working together on the songs working out harmonies and arrangements between us.