FERRIS & SYLVESTER

~ Interview mit Issy Ferris ~

Im Jahr 2022 veröffentlichten FERRIS & SYLVESTER ihr Debütalbum ´Superhuman´ (# 1 der offiziellen britischen Blues-Charts und beim UK Americana Awards 2023 ausgezeichnet als “UK Album of The Year”), Anfang März 2024 kommt der aktuelle Geheimtipp aus dem UK mit seinem überragenden neuen Studioalbum ´Otherness´ für drei Konzerte nach Deutschland.

Nach ihrer ausgedehnten UK-Tour im Februar treten FERRIS & SYLVESTER glücklicherweise noch in Hamburg, Köln und Berlin auf. Diese erinnerungswürdigen Auftritte in Club-Atmosphäre sollte niemand verpassen. Wer noch unschlüssig ist, sollte sich mit unserem Interview auf den Geschmack bringen lassen.

Vorhang auf, Spot an, für FERRIS & SYLVESTER:

You were already seen on stages in Germany last year. You played at the “Stimme Festival” and the “Static Roots Festival”. Now you’re heading to the clubs in March. Is the anticipation already great? What expectations do you have for the three live performances in Germany?

We have loved coming to Germany to play shows. The audiences in Germany are always so warm and welcoming, so we’re thrilled to be coming to play our own shows for the first time. We’re currently touring in the UK, and our new set is really coming to life. We can’t wait to bring these songs to these venues. We want to give people a great night of music, a night to remember. See you in March, Germany!

Have you already thought about the setlist? How extensively will you include the songs from ´Otherness´ in the show?

The setlist is coming together, and is currently being played night after night in the UK. We’ve been changing it up every night, working out how to make the show the best it can be. It’s a lot of fun playing these shows with our band, letting the songs take on a whole new life on stage. The songs from ´Otherness´ are the main feature of the set, but we do have songs from the first album and from the early days of FERRIS & SYLVESTER. A tapestry of all our chapters.

Have the new songs already been tried out on stage or will there be some premieres at the performance?

Our dates in Germany come at the end of our 26-date tour… so the songs will be tried and tested for sure! It’s really important to us though to keep the set fresh. Each show is different. We don’t play to click, we don’t use tracks, and so we have the flexibility to play with the set from night to night.

How can the viewer imagine a live show by FERRIS & SYLVESTER?

For us, it’s all about the songs, and giving the audience a night to cherish. Live music is about coming together to tell stories and feel understood. We play a lot of blues and rock with the band, then bring in right down to its bare bones and sing together with an acoustic guitar. There are dark moments, and moments of celebration too. We want our audience to love the music, love the show and leave feeling empowered.

Are the three shows in March just a quick “hello” from you to the release of the new album and can we expect more concerts from you in Germany?

We would love to come back and play more shows in Germany. This trip is just the beginning! We hope to be back very soon. Make sure you come down to the shows this time, so we get booked again!

Which audiences mostly come to your concerts? People from the folk scene, the blues or rock scene?

We are very proud that there is a real mix of people who come to our shows. It makes for a great atmosphere and brings people together – families, friends, people old and young, and of all different backgrounds and music tastes. There are rocky moments, bluesy moment, folky moments scattered throughout. Ultimately, we hope everyone in the audience, from any music scene, enjoys the show and the different stories/genres that unfold.

And which one do you feel you belong to?

We feel we belong to all of the above, really. We see ourselves as songwriters, and we just want to write the best songs we can, and take them wherever they need to go – whether it’s a song like ´Headache´ which felt intimate and folky, or our song ´Dark Side´ which felt like it needed to be bluesy and full of guitar riffs. We love a lot of music within those genres – from Led Zeppelin to Joni Mitchell to Peter Green to Dolly Parton – and that massively inspires our writing.

Is your musical style actually a mixture of both of your preferences or do you both just love so many styles of music?

The answer is, both. When we first met, I (Issy) was playing mainly folk songs and Archie was in a blues trio. So we found our sound as FERRIS & SYLVESTER by combining the two styles and writing with those two voices. But, as we’ve written more and more together over the years, it’s less about our two preferences coming together and more about listening to lots of different music and creating a sound of our own.

Do you feel comfortable in the present or would you rather have lived and made music in the 60s or 70s?

Good question! Making music in the present day is really exciting. There is so much great music out there, and if you have a computer you can make any music you like from your bedroom. It is limitless, and that’s not always a good thing. We have found our sound by embracing limitations from the 60s and 70s, and executing them in a modern setting. Mixing old with new. For example, we recorded and edited our album ´Otherness´ digitally, using a select group of vintage instruments. We then sent the stems into a 60s tape machine, giving it a warm, saturated sound, and recorded it back into the digital world. We would have loved to have made music in the 70s, but we’re equally happy flying the flag today.

You have been working together musically since 2019. May I ask how long you’ve been a couple in your private life?

We actually released our first music project together in 2017, after meeting at a show in 2016. We started writing together quickly after meeting, and decided music, and indeed life was better together. We’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.

We look forward to March and your shows. Thank you.

Wir freuen uns auf März. Wir freuen uns auf die Shows ebenso wie die Menschen, die FERRIS & SYLVESTER bereits auf dem Reeperbahn Festival, dem Static Roots Festival und BST im Hyde Park sowie bei den ausverkauften Headliner-Touren in ganz Großbritannien gesehen haben. FERRIS & SYLVESTER haben die Bühnenbretter sogar schon mit Robert Plant, George Ezra und Jade Bird geteilt. Und zuletzt haben sie als Appetithappen für die Tournee einige Live-Videos in den legendären “Real Word Studios” von Peter Gabriel in Somerset gefilmt.

Die deutschen Fans sollten sich auf die drei Termine vorbereiten: Köln (18. März, Blue Shell), Hamburg (19. März, Nochtwache) und Berlin (21. März, Prachtwerk). Tickets sind im Vorverkauf erhältlich.

https://www.ferrisandsylvester.com/tour