Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh rock band, from Bridgend. Formed 2001, they have released four studio albums, five EPs, fifteen singles, one DVD, and one compilation album.
History
Formation and EPs (2001-2003)
During the start of the New Year they parted ways with second guitarist Kerry Roberts (Kris Coombs-Roberts's brother) and found a suitable replacement in Darran Smith (ex-Tripcage). The band recorded four tracks at Mighty Atom Studios for a proposed self financed EP with another Welsh band From This Moment On. Upon hearing the tracks, Mighty Atom Records approached the band and offered a two album deal, resulting in their debut EP, Between Order and Model (2002). Before the EP's release, Andi Morris (bass) quit, with Phillips and Evans also leaving. The band then recruited Gareth Davies (later Ellis-Davies) on bass and Ryan Richards on drums. Matt Davies became the band's only primary vocalist, with Gareth Davies performing backing melodies and Richards taking over Evans' screaming role.
In 2003, Funeral for a Friend recorded their second EP, Four Ways to Scream Your Name, produced and mixed by Colin Richardson.
In mid-2003, the band secured their first Kerrang! award, winning the award for "Best UK Newcomer", beating The Darkness, who won in all other nominated categories. Funeral for a Friend's win was largely attributed to their fervent fan base, as the awards winner was decided by public vote online at the official Kerrang! Web site.
In August 2003, Funeral for a Friend opened the Concrete Jungle stage at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.
Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation (2003-2005)
Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation saw three top-twenty singles including "Juneau" (#19), "She Drove Me to Daytime Television" (#20) and "Escape Artists Never Die" (#19).
Funeral for a Friend toured feverishly to promote Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, including a series of European dates in which they opened for their idols, Iron Maiden. This was met with a mixed reception, as their style and fan base bore little resemblance to the heavy metal background of Iron Maiden. In 2004, the band headlined the second stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals.
Hours (2005-2006)
In August of the same year, the band won a Kerrang! Award for "Best British Band".
Funeral for a Friend performed several low-profile shows in Wales, including Bangor University and Bridgend Recreation Centre, prior to the release of Hours. This contrasted against their subsequent shows, which included playing alongside bands such as Atreyu, Saosin, Hawthorne Heights and Thrice on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour. The band also performed on the main stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, having to leave the Warped Tour early to do so. The band also played on the main stage of the Taste of Chaos tour in the US in 2006, alongside bands such as Story of the Year, Deftones and Thrice.
Funeral For a Friend closed the promotional jaunt for Hours in the Summer of 2006, with a series of UK shows rescheduled from February. Most of the original dates had been canceled because Matt Davies had suffered from a bout of laryngitis. Several other shows were scheduled in the UK to complement these rescheduled dates, and the tour culminated in a slot below headliners Guns N' Roses at the Download Festival at Donington Racetrack.
The rest of 2006 was spent writing and recording the band's third album, Tales Don't Tell Themselves released in May 2007.
Tales Don't Tell Themselves (2007)
On 19 March 2007, Into Oblivion (Reunion), the first single from the album, premiered on the Zane Lowe Show on Radio One. It was given a 7 May physical release, and the video can be seen and the song heard on their MySpace. It reached number 39 in its first week of release on downloads and reached number 16 in the Official UK chart on 13 May 2007.
A selection of intimate shows to promote the album were played on 12, 13 and 14 April 2007 in intimate coastal venues in the south of England. Only 200 tickets were available for each show and these had to be applied for via an e-mail sent to members of the FFAF mailing list. Names were then picked out of a hat and the selected people were offered the opportunity to buy a pair of tickets to the gig, exclusive t-shirts were given to anyone paying using paypal mobile.
On 8 May 2007 the band released Tales Don't Tell Themselves in its entirety for fans to preview via their MySpace page. This album is the first on which Matt plays guitar.
On 10 May 2007 the band played another intimate gig for Kerrang! 105.2 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall Bar, in which they played "Walk Away" for the very first time. This is one of the tracks which Matt plays guitar on live, alongside "Raise The Sail" and "The Sweetest Wave", which were debuted on the full tour in May 2007.
The album was their highest charting yet, reaching Number 3 in the UK Album Charts though to date it is also their lowest selling album.
On 16 July 2007 Walk Away, was released as the second single from Tales Don't Tell Themselves and reached number 40 in the UK singles charts.
It was announced in a newsletters that "The Great Wide Open" would be the next single and would be released as an EP. The EP, The Great Wide Open was released on 15 October 2007 through Atlantic Records, negating the release of the single itself.
Memory and Humanity (2008-2009)
On 11 May 2008, it was announced via a MySpace bulletin that the band would be shooting a video for the first single from the album, "Waterfront Dance Club", on 17 May. "Waterfront Dance Club" was played exclusively for the first time on Radio 1's Rock Show on 2 June 2008, where it was also announced that the single would be released as a double A-side with the track "Beneath the Burning Tree". Both singles were also released as a limited edition 7" on the same date.
The album's title was confirmed as Memory and Humanity by Rock Sound magazine on 30 June 2008, and that its release would take place in October 2008.
On 2 July 2008, the band announced the UK tour of Memory and Humanity, commencing 14 October 2008.
9 August 2008 saw the debut of the video for the single "Kicking and Screaming" on MySpace. Later that month on the 27th, it was announced that the band had licensed their new record to Victory Records for the U.S. and Canadian releases. The album was released via the label on October 28, 2008. It was also released via Roadrunner Records in the rest of the world, apart from the UK, where it was released through the band's own label, Join Us. The release was followed by a tour in Britain, Ireland and northern Europe, supported by Canadian metalcore act Cancer Bats.
On 4 September 2008, it was announced via a MySpace blog post that Gareth Davies had left the band, to be replaced by Gavin Burrough (Hondo Maclean, Ghostlines, The Future). "As some of you may know, Gareth has been living in America for the past couple of years, and recently got married. Ultimately, the strain of travelling between continents has taken its toll and Gareth made the decision that it would be in the best interests of himself, his family and Funeral to leave the band. We totally respect and understand his choice, wish him all the best in his future and we thank him for being part of our lives for the past 6 years." The first interview to surface with Burrough in the band appeared on the Rocklouder webzine in the week of the Memory and Humanity release.
In the 24 January 2009 issue of Kerrang! magazine, it was stated that the band were currently filming the video for the third single off the album, Rules and Games. The single was released on 23 March 2009. They will also be going on tour with We Are the Ocean supporting to coincide with its release.
Your History Is Mine (2009)
On 24 June 2009 it was revealed in Kerrang! magazine that the band were to release a greatest hits album, entitled Your History Is Mine: 2002-2009, on 28 September 2009. The compilation is to also contain four brand new tracks, which will be the first new material released by the band since the arrival of Burrough.
On 21 July 2009, Funeral For A Friend debuted one of the four new songs from the greatest hits album titled Your History Is Mine: 2002-2009. The song was called "Wrench" and premiered on Radio One's Rock Show with Dan Carter. Zane Lowe credited them as "one of the best British bands for the last decade" upon the release of Your History Is Mine.
The Young and Defenceless and Welcome Home Armageddon (2009-present)
On 23 April 2010, Funeral for a Friend announced on Facebook that guitarist Darran Smith would be leaving the band, but not before playing his final shows. He wrote a farewell message on the band's website.
On 26 April 2010, Funeral for a Friend wrote on their forum about their lineup change, paying homage to the departure of their friend Darran Smith, but also announcing the new member. Gavin Burrough changed instrument from bass to guitar, taking over Darran's place as guitarist, and the new bassist of Funeral for a Friend will be Richard Boucher (Hondo Maclean, Hurricane-Joe, Ghostlines). The band noted: "He's SO good on bass that we let someone with blonde hair join our band. That ought to be an indication of how great he is." The band stated that they are excited for the new material being made and can't wait to show the fans what the have: "The creative well, is well and truly overflowing. Exciting times. Stay tuned, and be ready."
On 3 May 2010 the band announced that they will be releasing a special new EP to fans who "pledged" through website pledgemusic.com, the "pledge" options include the EP, a signed EP and even an acoustic performance by the band at a fan's residence. On 1 July 2010 the band revealed that the EP will titled The Young and Defenceless and also revealed the cover art. It was also announced via Kerrang! that the newly recorded EP would be released on 1 September 2010; however, in actuality, the downloadable version was released on 6 September 2010 with the physical copies being planned on being released sometime in the third week of October. On the 9th of November, Funeral For a Friend released a music video for the track Serpents in Solitude.
Towards the end of October 2010 they finished a session of recording for a new album for which a name and date were yet to be announced. On the 2nd of November, they played two new songs, confirmed to be on this album (which was announced as due for release in March 2011), called "Man Alive" and "Front Row Seats to the End of the World". Another song title was confirmed as "Spinning Over the Island".
During a performance in December, Davies stated that the album will be titled Welcome Home Armageddon. On the 10th of January 2011, the band released the official video for the album's leading single "Front Row Seats to the End of the World." On the 17th of January, they released the album's artwork and track list On the 24th of January, it was announced that the album was to be released by Good Fight Music, a move that would reconnect the band with the original label team that released Seven Ways to Scream Your Name and Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation. On February 9th, the band release the video for their newest single,"Sixteen."
Musical style and influence
Funeral for a Friend have been described to play within the genres of post-hardcore, screamo, and emo. They have mentioned Deftones, Iron Maiden and The Get Up Kids as their primary influences.
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