FOALS: STABLE MATES

Their unusual sound and genre-defying profile hasn’t stopped Foals from becoming a galloping success. Vocalist Yannis Philippakis talks to The Note about the band’s origins, going full-circle with their latest album and losing their virginity in Adelaide.

WORDS: Tyler Jenke | IMAGES: Sam Neill & Pooneh Ghana

You could be forgiven for being surprised that the unique sound of English indie-rockers Foals has translated into chart-topping success the world over. But no one is more surprised than they are. 

“It’s sort of shocking when I look at it from a certain perspective,” admits guitarist and vocalist Yannis Philippakis over Zoom. “We were very surprised at how big we ended up getting.” 

The band came to prominence in the mid-’00s, though Philippakis says the band originally thought they would prove too ‘difficult’ for the British music press to properly get behind. Indeed, it was at a time when the music press focused on straightforward indie bands like the Klaxons and Kasabian – all a long way from Foals with their post- punk inspired guitar lines, unconventional rhythms and unorthodox song structures. 

“But I think there was an element of ‘right time, right place’ – the wind blew in the right direction and we kind of just got kind of taken up with it.” 

Foals’ conception was an interesting one. All the members were university students, and the nascent band was stitched together from the personnel of three separate bands: Philippakis and drummer Jack Bevan came from math-rock outfit, The Edmund Fitzgerald; bassist Walter Gervers and guitarist Jimmy Smith arrived from their short-lived band, Face Meets Grill; and their then- frontman, Andrew Mears, came from Youthmovies (though Mears soon left to be replaced with Philippakis). 

They were heavily inspired by their previous musical efforts, albeit with newfound influences from groups such as Death Cab For Cutie, Minus The Bear and US dance- punk favourites, The Rapture. But essentially, Foals’ formation saw it refocussing on a whole new format. 

“We had this idea for a type of sound we wanted to create, but we hadn’t really quite heard anyone do what we wanted to do,” recalls Philippakis. “We just had this kind of idea of a band that was danceable and more emotional, but also still quite technical and didn’t follow along with the norms of songwriting. 

“We just wanted to play house parties and to make dance music,” he adds. “It was such an exciting time, and we just really felt like we were doing something fresh and meaningful with our time.” 

A handful of standalone singles preceded the release of their 2008 debut, Antidotes, which would hit #3 on the UK charts – effectively seeing the group break into a gallop. 2010’s Total Life Forever turned some more heads globally, but by 2013, their impact was becoming apparent, with Holy Fire giving them their first number one record when it topped the charts in Australia. 

As Foals found themselves amassing a wider audience and even garnering attention from the notoriously-hard- to-crack American market, things continued to evolve. Bigger tours led to them playing larger rooms, all while perpetually curating a sound which would see their dance-influenced blend of indie-rock resonate further amongst their ever-expanding fanbase. 

While 2019’s two-part record, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, became their biggest success in their home country, Philippakis notes that their latest effort, 2022’s Life Is Yours, is something of a full-circle moment for the group – a return to the disco and house influences that earmarked the band in their earliest days. 

“I think some of the epicness that came about when we were doing Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost would have shocked me and the guys in the band while we were doing Antidotes,” he admits. “On the first few records, there was actually quite an active desire to migrate the band to some other place. We kind of recoiled from Antidotes and wanted to write Total Life Forever, which was us doing the opposite of what we’d done before in some ways,” he continues. “The trajectory of the last few records has been a bit more delicate, and not quite as violent.” 

Having been forced to cancel a world tour in the wake of the global pandemic in 2020, Foals found themselves in a position where they decided to refocus somewhat. Recording Life Is Yours with a handful of different producers, it was the group’s first album as a trio, following the departure of Gervers in 2018, and founding keyboardist Edwin Congreave in 2021. 

Though initially planning to take a year of rest in 2023, a near-endless run of live shows across the US, UK and Europe was complemented by the news of Gervers’ long- awaited return to the fold. 

“When Walter left, it was definitely a puncture to our idea of what the band was,” says Philippakis. “We were all so romantic about the band and about our friendship that we never thought anybody would leave. 

“We’ve been feeling that loss for some years, so when he called up and said that he wanted to come back there was no hesitation from anybody,” he adds. “It just feels right, both on stage and off stage, and I think we’re playing better than we have in many years.” 

Earlier this year, Foals announced they would be making their first trip to Australia since 2019 as part of the Heaps Good, Hay Days and Lost Paradise festivals, adding to the ever-growing list of festivals the group have played in Australia over the last 13 years. 

“I remember when we would come and we would play in Sydney and in Melbourne, there was just this sense of homecoming in my mind,” Philippakis remembers fondly. “I hadn’t been there before, but I felt like the band was understood over there. 

“That was to do with the fans being awesome, the shows just having tons of energy, and it felt a bit like an adventure,” he adds. “A European tour in winter can be a bit of a slog, but Australia has never felt like that.” 

The upcoming visit to the country will also see the band returning to Adelaide to play the Heaps Good festival on January 6, 2024, alongside the likes of Flume, The Avalanches and Declan McKenna. Though the city had been a staple for Foals in their earliest years of Aussie touring, this upcoming date will be their first visit to Adelaide since a headline show at HQ Complex back in 2013. 

For Philippakis, Adelaide holds a special place in the heart of Foals, with a performance at The Governor Hindmarsh serving as the location of their first-ever Australian show back in 2010. Having been sent across the world on a ‘nonsensical’ flight route that originated in Switzerland, a tired, dehydrated and slightly inebriated Foals landed in Adelaide with mere hours to spare before their debut gig in the country. 

“We were absolutely deranged,” he recalls. “I just remember that we felt crazy – like,actually mental – on stage. It was this mixture of the jet lag and the booze, the crowd was just absolutely feral, I remember shoes were getting thrown at us, and I was hanging off the rigging. 

“It was just super intense for about 24 hours,” he adds. “Adelaide will always be the place that took our Australian touring cherry, and it was definitely a hell of a ride.” 

See Foals play the Heaps Good festival at Adelaide Showground on January 6. Tickets on sale now.