Fontaines D.C.: KCRW Live from HQ

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Plus, Chatten sits down with Morning Becomes Eclectic co-host Novena Carmel to talk stage catharsis, songwriting, solidarity, and listening to a lot of ASAP Ferg. Full performance above, interview below, noise and intensity all around.  

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

KCRW: When you take the stage as part of Fontaines D.C., what is the feeling you’re seeking within yourself?

Grian Chatten: It's a little bit of a trance… that's usually the sign of [a performance] having gone well. I definitely feel like after a show I have to come to again [I go into] a little bit of a blackout. It's become so core and instrumental in my life to have shows [be] a venue in which I can put my feelings. It's kind of a kind of cliche thing to say, but I'm basically saying it's cathartic.

Are there any rituals that the whole band engages in before you go on stage?

We listen to a lot of ASAP Ferg.

Something that’s really admirable about the band as a whole is the way your sound has steadily evolved over the course of your three albums. Is there anything you can point to contributing to this approach?

We’ll get into [a collective] fit of excitement over a particular sort of sound. And then it's like dusting off an old fossil or something like that, it becomes clearer, the more we do it. I think it's just a way of communicating with each other at the end of the day. It's about figuring out what lies beneath, and [through this] you feel listened to and understood.

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You write so well about specific and personal experiences, in ways that become universally relatable. Is that something you factor into the writing process, how it might relate to other people? 

You [can] become dimly and vaguely aware of an emotion within yourself. Then over time, it gains a kind of articulation of its own. That's the way that I like to write — really quickly and when I’m involved [in the process] it feels like it's just happening. But in terms of writing in a universal [way], it wouldn't be at the forefront of my mind … But I think that if [something’s] true, then it resonates.

Repeating phrases also seems to be crucial to your writing, is there anything specifically that does for you?

I love the idea of a simple thing that we see or hear everyday taking on an air of importance and becoming aware of the relationship you have with it. It's so clearly [a] projection to say one thing over and over again. And then [you can] hear it differently. I think it's fascinating, but I do [also] think that my dalliance with repetition is coming to an end. I think I’m done with it.

Do you ever feel connected to this overall shift in the world of people being critical about the places they come from, or even the places where they eventually settle?

Of course, [I live] in London which is an intensely cosmopolitan [and] metropolitan city. You're aware of all these things all the time. And I think [that] as a communal species, we’ve undergone so many changes recently that are unifying in themselves, like COVID. 

A lot of people are online [now] so the excuses for not being up to date are all kind of falling by the wayside. I think. There's a polarizing feeling, though. When you allow it to affect you, it does feel like two armies facing each other — ready to go, and it gets a bit scary.

So when you lay all of these ideas out, especially through a songwriting lens, do you feel cynical or hopeful?

I have both feelings. I generally begin writing the song feeling cynical and end it feeling hopeful. That's kind of my process.

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Credits:
KCRW Music Director: Anne Litt
Interviewer: Novena Carmel
Director, Editor, Color: Angie Scarpa
Directors of Photography: Dalton Blanco, Vice Cooler
Camera Operators: Dalton Blanco, Vice Cooler, Angie Scarpa
Recording / Mix Engineer: John Meek
Assistant Engineer: Hope Brush
Executive Producer: Ariana Morgenstern
Producers: Anna Chang and Liv Surnow
Digital Producer: Marion Hodges
Digital Editorial Manager: Andrea Domanick
Lighting Design: Jason Groman
Art Director: Evan Solano