Afar is born
Officially the North’s noisiest export, AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR exceeded all expectations in 2009 by breaking out of their instrumental niche and scoring themselves a Choice Prize nomination and a headline date at the historic Ulster Hall. Catch up with the Knockanstockan and Indiependence-bound post-rockers on a very special day in the history of ASIWYFA.
Celina Murphy, 29 Jul 2010
Rory Friers is at home in Belfast, "chillin' with the boys". Which, I'm guessing, is an everyday occurrence in the close-knit world of And So I Watch You From Afar. The four rockers have received word that they've been handpicked to tour with one of the biggest bands in the world, Them Crooked Vultures. Which I'm guessing is not an everyday occurrence.
"Jesus, I know, can you believe it?" booms guitarist Friers.
Frankly, I can't. Not to cast doubt on the rambunctious Belfastians' rock credentials but it's undeniably a huge step-up for the band, who after all, have only been together four years.
"We were finishing a rehearsal," Friers tells me, "and we had simultaneous phone calls from our manager, our tour manager and our booking agent. Then Chris started running about the garden and we thought ‘What's happened?' Then it was like, ‘Yeah, so we're playing with Them Crooked Vultures!"
Them Crooked Vultures is the mammoth rock baby of Led Zep's John Paul Jones, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and fellow acronym enthusiast Josh Homme of QOTSA.
"It's scary, it's like – they're the three dudes right there!" Friers beams. "When we first heard about the project it almost didn't even matter what the music was like – just the thought of three people of that stature all just rocking out! The first two records I ever bought were Led Zeppelin II and Nirvana's Bleach – and then you've got Josh Homme from Queens Of The Stone Age? When we finish each night we want to do the, ‘Stick around for the next band, they're really good!' routine."
So, how did this marvellous match come about? "
We were kind of put under their noses," Friers says, "and they all had a listen and invited us to play. We're trying to not fantasise too much about it. We just Google imaged all the venues and then swiftly went upstairs and put on a new pair of underwear!"
They may have their sights set on Vienna and Amsterdam right now. However, Friers stresses the band are fully psyched up for their Irish appearances at Blessington's Knockanstockan Festival and Cork's Indie-pendence.
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