Butterfly Fan The Inferno - Interview

The original incarnation of Butterfly Fan The Inferno started on the East Coast of the US back in 2006, but come 2007 / 2008 and John was looking for a move to Birmingham with a view to hooking up with a “long time creative sparring partner". An unusual band name, and a very unique style, BTFI are to their credit difficult to pigeon hole, with a variety of influences, their music is compelling.

It’s an unusual name, who came up with it, and how did they come up with it?

John did. Juggling some words to come up with interesting combinations. He knew it was original straight away. It‘s a very polarizing name, but f*** it, it sets us apart.

We’ve seen you compared to a wide range of bands, such asQueensof the Stone Age, Talking Heads, XTC, Cake etc, do you take that as a compliment or do you find that it’s sometimes a negative thing to get categorized like that?

It‘s nice being compared to true originals; the downside to having an eclectic sound is that promoters find it hard to put you in a box...” you‘re not punk, you‘re not hardcore, you‘re not metal...what the f*** are you BFTI?”

You’ve played a variety of venues, as well as Glastonbudget, and have done a US tour, what was the response like in the US, and how was it playing to a UK festival atmosphere at Glastonbudget?

People are always receptive wherever we play as we stand out a mile from most bands. We deliver powerful, precise versions of all our tunes. One of the absolute coolest things, is the descriptions people come up with of how we sound...like “if Tool were a 70s band... that‘s what you sound like!” A music fan can only grasp the focused complexity of what we do when they see us live.

The roots of BFTI were initially put down in the US, has there had to be a different approach taken musically / stylistically?

Every group of musicians eventually finds their collective sound and rhythm. It just takes time.

Your “double A side” single is due out on the 29th, so you’ve probably got mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement, could you tell us a bit about the two tracks, and what inspired them?

“Sunset Scavengers” is about the shiny side and also dark side of the drinking lifestyle; “i Coma” is an affirmation of uniqueness. We think for ourselves. The road less travelled.

Are there plans in motion at the moment for a full album?

Can‘t the music industry move beyond albums?; the last classic album was “Songs for the Deaf” in 2002. Why not focus on quality? Oh that‘s right, record companies only care about money, not quality.

I saw some incredible artwork by Liiga Smilshkalne that had been done for a promo, but now the design / logo are very industrial / minimalist. What prompted that change?

Liiga is an awesome artist; we just thought that because the name takes a bit of digestion, we didn‘t want to over-complicate matters with elaborate artwork.

For more information you can find their Reverbnation page here: http://www.reverbnation.com/butterflyfantheinferno