Backstage Pass Interview with...Fossil Collective

Interview with Fossil Collective

David Fendick and Jonny Hooker are an extremely talented, multi-instrumentalist duo and together they are Fossil Collective. Their beautiful music has been taking the country by storm during their 21 date UK tour. Their debut album Tell Where I Lie came out last month and is bursting with melodic, rich tracks. They've just finished their UK tour ahead of US dates supporting The Boxer Rebellion. We caught up with Jonny as they wrapped up the tour.

 

You're coming towards the end of your 21 UK dates, how's the tour been?

It's been amazing, quite a few of the shows have been sold out and the audience seem to really have connected with the album since we released it. We're tired but happy to be doing what we love, bring on the next UK tour later in the year. 

Have there been any favourite venues or places you've played that really stand out?

I think my faves on the tour so far have been:

• The Brudenell Social Club (Leeds) - favourite place to play - great people.
• Fruit (Hull) - first time we've played this venue - great arts space and a great sounding room. 
• Borderline (London) - amazing sell out crowd and we met so many cool people afterwards.

You're often described as having a multi-instrument sound, did that create a challenge when putting together the set list for the tour?

Not really, it was fun to try and figure out what we could play - the tour van is pretty full though as we've brought lots of toys with us this time! I think the only track that caused a headache was Monument - we wrote it in an unusual guitar tuning and it's a bit tricky to get on the stage sometimes - it's probably my favourite track to play at the moment though so it's all worth it. 

You say you look forward to Monument most, do your fans have a most-requested song on your set list?

Hmm it changes really, probably either Let it Go or Rivers Edge - I think because the album is still new people seem to ask for the EP tracks as they have lived with them for longer

What do you think about the fact that gigs aren't just one moment now, they're filmed on cameras and smartphones so people watch through their screens?

It's not something we can control but it is something we notice - I understand it though - if people are caught in a moment then they like to capture it (or try). 

You're off to North America next supporting The Boxer Rebellion, how did it feel when you heard you were going to tour there?

It felt great, they will be our first shows over there. The Boxer Rebellion are a great band and lovely chaps too so I think we're going to have lots of fun. There's lots of people who have been waiting patiently for us to come over, we can't wait to meet them.

The album has been well-received already in the US are you hoping the tour will galvanise your fan base there?

We're really lucky that it seems to be growing very organically in the USA for us - we managed to reach number 1 position in the new artists' album chart (Billboard) which is amazing - since that we've found a great home for our music in Vagrant Records so we're really excited about the coming year. 

After the UK tour, North America tour and playing some festivals as well, what's next for Fossil Collective?

We're continually being creative (the best part of being in a band for us) so we'll be working on new music whilst we play the album to as many people as we can....

Fossil Collective's album Tell Where I Lie is out now. www.fossilcollective.com