A few words from Billy...........

Freddy & I were on tour in Germany and Belgium in May/June of 2016. When not playing shows, Freddy was driving and Billy was in the passenger seat. And occasionally Matty or Simon were in the back, making conversation or sandwiches. Freddy & I had met previously playing at FEST in Gainesville, Florida and Book Yer Ane Fest in Dundee, Scotland but this was our first string of dates together, and we became fast friends. The days were long, and the nights were longer. But that’s another story.

One day, we were hurtling down the motorway on the way to the next show, talking to each other as quickly as humanly possible, when somehow we got onto the subject of funerals. Freddy said the phrase ‘funeral food,’ and then said it would be a good name for a band. I agreed, and told him in no uncertain terms, that if he didn’t use it, I was going to use it. This is the trouble with hanging out with other creative people all the time. You’re often fighting for ideas. I went so far as to write it down in the notebook I always carry with me.

Then, an idea hit me. ‘Why don’t we each write a song called that this week, and then perform them at the show in Berlin on Saturday?’ I asked Freddy. He looked at me with that dangerous spark he often has in his eye. ‘Deal!’ he shouted, and smacked the steering wheel, almost causing us to fly off the side of the highway into a field.

The next afternoon, we had a short drive to the next show in Kiel. We considered hitting our second water park of the tour (it’s a hard life eh?), before we decided that as it was such a beautiful day, we should find a nice quiet park, head to opposite ends of it with our guitars, and write our songs. So, that is what we did.

Forty minutes later, we’d each written a song, me sitting on a bench, where I watched children play and an old man walk a dog, and a woman eat her lunch on a break from her job, and Freddy sitting cross-legged in the shade under a beautiful tree. We reconvened and played the songs to each other, and we both agreed that it was a pretty special moment.

This release is a recording of those songs, un-tampered with, and un-edited, for better or for worse. This is a statement of a time, and a set of honest, from-the-heart songs. I hope you enjoy them. Thank you for listening.


Billy Liar.
Edinburgh, November 2016.