HowÔÇÖs your day been so far ÔÇô have you been up to much?
IÔÇÖve just been signing off the mix for our next single, IÔÇÖve been doing some yoga!

WeÔÇÖre loving your new track Glue, whatÔÇÖs the inspiration behind the track?
I think itÔÇÖs because we were really obsessed with RihannaÔÇÖs track, Needed Me. ItÔÇÖs such a good song, we felt we didnÔÇÖt really have a song with that run-down melody, so we wrote the music quite quickly. I remember one night, when I was twenty, I was in the Blues Kitchen. I was quite drunk, ordering a drink and I saw a guy across the bar and was talking to him for five minutes. I was like oh my god, you are the one. ItÔÇÖs insane, but thatÔÇÖs kind of what the songÔÇÖs about ÔÇô that you could be connected to someone so quickly.

Your songs are so catchy, do you tend to come up with the lyrics or the melody first?
Usually, itÔÇÖs about getting the melody right and then the lyrics come at the same time. So if IÔÇÖm like doo doo doo doo doo, IÔÇÖm like ÔÇÿwhat lyrics fit into that melody?ÔÇÖ which starts inspiring the rest of the lyrics at the same time.

Have you got a release date for your upcoming single/album?
The single is next, which I have just signed off now which will be coming out about five dates into the tour, and the album is not until the beginning of next year.

What artists are you loving right now?
We love Will Joseph Cooks album, its so brilliant. The Nothing But Thieves album is great umm the new Tove Lo track, Disco Tits is like my favourite thing in the whole world. What else have we been listening to? That Sofi Tucker and the Knocks tune that is all over the Apple iPhone X advert  I dont know if youve heard it, but its so rad.

IÔÇÖm loving Dua Lipa at the moment, are you feeling it?
Yeah, I love Dua Lipa! I feel like sheÔÇÖs been around for so long and I never get bored of it. Like, New Rules video is so good.

I started listening to you guys back in 2014, when your first versions of Swim, For You and Play came out. That was when I was in college, so when I listen to those songs, it throws me way back. How would you describe your journey from then ÔÇÿtill now?
*Laughs* Well we can write better songs, our ability to produce songs is significantly better. When I listen to those songs, lyrically, theyÔÇÖre just so muddled that it annoys me I was writing things for the sake of writing it. Like, what is Play even about? I couldnÔÇÖt tell you, really.

ItÔÇÖs a good song!
Yeah itÔÇÖs catchy little tune, but it doesnÔÇÖt really have any meaning. I think the fact that our songwriting has come a long way. I would never write anything that doesnÔÇÖt mean anything or make sense now. People ask ÔÇÿwhy donÔÇÖt you do Play on tour?ÔÇÖ and I just canÔÇÖt bring myself to do it. I think about Glue and I know exactly what itÔÇÖs about and when it happened. ItÔÇÖs like a musical diary that we can keep.

Do you think your music has changed since then, melody-wise?
We always write meaningfully ÔÇô we write stuff we want to be listening to. We take a lot more time over it now. If you put Play next to Glue and listen to it one after another, the genre isnÔÇÖt too far away from each other, but the sonics and sounds are just super different. I mean, we have tweaked Swim again because I want the drums to be more pop-genre-sounding. Obviously IÔÇÖm all about pleasing the fans, but I also want to put something out that IÔÇÖm proud of.

Moving onto your album artwork covers, where do you get the inspiration for them? TheyÔÇÖre so playful and original, do you get full control over those?
So we work really tightly with an artist named Matt Maitland. HeÔÇÖs a collage artist, he did one of the recent Michael Jackson albums, Basement Jaxx and the Gelantis artworks with the bird man. HeÔÇÖs absolutely incredible, I was like I want that guy! So we just sat down with him [and talked about] the album and asked how can we bleed it into the artwork. Our album reflects growing up and not really recognising who you are, metaphorically looking into the mirror and being confused with what you see in your reflection. So then we came up with this faceless girl idea, which now runs through all of our artwork in more of a playful way.

How would you describe your relationship between the Fickle Friends band members?
WeÔÇÖre like a family. We donÔÇÖt live together ÔÇô I think that would be a bad idea considering how much time we spend together on tour; we need a break!

So youÔÇÖre about to go on tour! Unfortunately, youÔÇÖre not coming to Cardiff, but youÔÇÖre going to my hometown, Bristol. Where is your favourite place to perform?
You know what, Bristol is up there! Bristol is such a weird one, it was the first one to sell out of the tour, it was the first one to sell out on the last tour. Bristol has its own thing going on, I think its just because its such a party city. Weirdly, theres so many young people there, which is our target audience, so the shows are always so sick I cant wait for Thekla. Its a boat, init. London is always great too.

And finally, what is your favourite song to perform?
Swim. Always. I can just switch off, let it happen. WeÔÇÖve played it maybe a million times. ItÔÇÖs been out for so long so everyone knows it, and I can always hear people singing it crazy-loud. ItÔÇÖs the best feeling.

Fickle Friends are touring from 6th October 2017 until 27th November 2017. http://www.ficklefriends.co.uk/live/

Check out their latest EP ÔÇ£GlueÔÇØ here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/glue-ep/id1259904160

Thanks to Fickle FriendsÔÇÖ Natassja for speaking to Quench.

By Rachel Jefferies