UTG INTERVIEW: Great Cynics Discuss ‘I Feel Weird’

Since 2011, Great Cynics have been bringing their own version of folk-punk to the masses. First it started with their home country of England, but now in 2015, they’ve logged thousands of miles thanks to some incredible tours with groups like Joyce Manor and The Smith Street Band.

Their third full-length, I Feel Weird, will be hitting US shelves on April 13 and is sure to spread like wildfire. Don’t believe us? Take a listen to “Lost in You” below.

After giving the record a spin, we knew we absolutely had to have a chat with the band about what’s been happening and where things are going. Follow the jump for our interview with frontman, Giles Bidder.

What’s changed in your lives since the release of Like I Belong?

We’ve all moved around a little bit, but not much. I moved out of Astbury Castle, which is a house in South London which a lot of the songs on that record were about or had a home in. But we’ve toured with Cheap Girls in Europe and Australia with The Smith Street Band, which are the two best things that could have happened to us.

What was the recording process like for this new album?

Pretty chill – we had demos before starting to practice them about a week before we went to record, and spent about five days in the studio and then a bit more time later on. On one of our last days recording there was a fire in the studio, which is basically a wooden room, so that was a bit scary! It made us hurry up and finish the record though.

I haven’t seen any production credits for this album – did you self produce?

Yeah, as far as producing goes for us, it’s all done when we’re practicing before we record. We’ve never had a producer who we work through the songs with and change bits. When we got to the studio, we set up live and pressed record. There were a few more days after we recorded vocals and extra bits. We kind of did this one on our own – we pressed the record button ourselves and ran back into the room to play it on a few of the songs!

Of this album, which song was the most difficult to record?

The last track, “By The Sea,” is pretty different – it’s kind of an ode to the Replacements’ song “Skyway,” but ended up being acoustic. That took a little while because it’s basically the same thing the whole way through and we had to keep on trying it.

Which song was your favorite?

Probably “North Street” or the first song, “Chunky.”

Where did the idea of offering hemp soap bars as a part of your pre-order packages come from?

That was Specialist Subject’s idea – there’s a company called Washed Up Co. which makes soaps and just started around the same time we were getting stuff together, so when Andrew and Kay at the label suggested it, it was like “yeah!”

Towards the end of this last year you guys toured with Joyce Manor. I’m sure you’ve heard something about the backlash they’ve received surrounding their frontman’s opinions on stage diving. What’s yours?

That thing was just a classic internet-only deal. I think the people that care about the band probably didn’t care that much. They’re an amazing, really fun band and that whole thing was kinda forgotten about by the time we toured with them.

Now that Great Cynics are releasing a record through an American label, how soon should we expect a tour in the states?

We’d love to come back to the states! We’re doing something there later in the year, so we’d love to book around it. I think dream tour would be with Spraynard, Modern Baseball or Cayetana. I can’t say NONA here because they don’t exist anymore (RIP).

Do you have anything else that you’d like to share?

We’re stoked to be releasing this album, thanks to everyone who’s helped us!

Written and conducted by Adrian Garza (follow him on Twitter)
‘I Feel Weird’ will be available on April 13 (US Pre-order / UK Pre-order / AUS Pre-order / iTunes)

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