Saturday, September 10, 2016

A Few Words With Adam Ficek

The Babyshambles, Roses Kings Castles, The White Sport, and now Mr. Ficek goes solo!


KA: Hey Adam! Long time, no chat! I first interviewed you in 2007-08 I believe. I hope I've come a long way since those days!


KA: I just gotta dig in here, Adam! You are just everywhere right now promoting a new project, doing CrowdFunding, playing music on Facebook Live. Tell me about those things, what do you want people to know about what you are funding?


AF:Well, the Facebook Live thing is great to keep in touch with friends and supporters so I use that loads to update people on what's happening. I'm funding my 5th solo album so have rolled it out to all the people I have met and impacted with music over my past ten or so years in the industry.


KA: That is great! Are you going for a different sound on your 5th album?


AF: This album is more acoustically accomplished than any of the previous stuff. I wanted to challenge myself so I wrote particularly demanding counter melodies. Although it's hard live, I'm just about managing it! I wanted this EP to be able to stand up to a live solo rendition. My previous outings were all ensemble based so it was difficult when going out solo. My next one will be more electric...


KA: Here's a two/three parter for ya! As most who are familiar with your work know, you made a name for yourself as the drummer in  a band with Peter Doherty ( from The Libertines fame) called The Babyshambles,then you went off on your own to form Roses Kings Castles in 2008. But you also had a little project called The White Sport. What would you say was the most beneficial to your creative soul out of these projects? And how were they different from in each other, and what were some striking similarities being in these projects?


AF: Babyshambles was a fantastic experience, but very fast and at times a struggle to keep up with....we had a lucky break with the band and I wouldn't change anything about it. I enjoyed being a drummer but missed harmony and the musicality that playing a melodic instrument can provide. I think the most creative outlet for me was Roses Kings Castles as I played all the instruments, produced and performed the whole circus. It's all music in the end.


KA: I know when I write, it's the deep emotional things going on in my life that inspire me.How much does your personal life inspire the songs you write, I mean does love, pain, sadness move you, or is it something else?


AF: I'm not really sure, I always make connection when I look back at the songs, but at the time of writing there is never a preconceived notion of what the journey holds.


KA: You also recorded two Jazz albums, I'm impressed! Or has my research skills failed me?


AF: That's true, my background was in Jazz. It's the highest art form, pure creativity and improvisation.


KA: Was that the first music you learned to play, or that you enjoyed?


AF: 'I love the spontaneous improvisation of jazz, playing pop stuff can get a little boring at times, the freedom in jazz is what feels more natural to me as an artist but I also understand people live a song...but I've just always been drawn to that side of things. I started with the Beatles as everyone does, they stole lots of their harmony from jazz standard'


KA: You have some live gigs coming up, due to the horrible terrorist attack at the Paris concert venue, do you have any anxieties regarding that?


AF: I don't have anxieties from the Paris terrorist attacks but do suffer general stage anxiety. I seem to push through, but I'm working on it. I guess it comes from a little self doubt and sobriety.


KA: I hear ya there


KA: England, much like over here in the States, was in a political uproar. How political are you, where do you lean?


AF: I tend to try and not get entangled with it.


KA: Smart man!


KA: What are some things that affect your music that you never thought would, what makes you go, oh, shit, I must have been going through THAT at the time when you play it back?


AF: My own life experiences, I have seen the start and end of life. Had many struggles as most of us do. We are human, we have to embrace that life is tender but wicked at times.


KA: You told me you managed to never become an addict. That is SO impressive given you were around addicts for a lot of your career and these days, addiction seems to run havoc on loads of young musicians, how did you dodge it?


AF: I grew up in a deprived area where drugs were rife, I witnessed the destruction they created. I lost two friends to drugs way before the band days. I also knew how lucky I was being in a band and 'making it'. Someone had to steer the ship or it would have collapsed taking me with it.


KA:  Which bands would you recommend to someone like me still stuck on 90s Britpop? I need recommendations!


AF:Gene


KA: I love Gene!


KA: Do you read? If so, what are a few of your favorite books?


AF:Not fiction. I'm interested in the connection between music and emotions...I read academia lots...


KA: What are a couple things that being in the music business has really opened your eyes to and you realize it is a total turn off?


AF: The fickle nature of the industry earners. I realised how musicians in the industry are just extensions of being a product. I experienced first hand the classic 'the phone stopped ringing'.
I'm pretty tenacious and robust so managed to just 'keep on'.


KA: Have you ever had that 'Fuck everything" moment,if so, what was it, and how did you overcome it?


AF: I thought that before this pledge campaign. I thought I would give it one last go to see if there was interest. To my surprise there was!! I relit my faith in my own music and the support of a loyal crew.


KA: I'm really glad you're getting the amazing support you needed!


KA: Has it been difficult being in a band with a front man as headline heavy as Peter? I know some drummers that love being in the background, and others that feel left out in a sense. A bit  overlooked.


AF: It was the making of us and also a hindrance at times. I knew what I was getting into when I joined it was no surprise so I managed it in my own way.


KA: What is playing solo like for you? take me on a journey into your mind during a live, solo gig...


AF: I get very nervous before I perform and as the material becomes increasingly demanding it does get harder but as I previously mentioned, I 'white knuckle it'.


KA: If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be, and what would you collaborate on?


AF: Max Roach, a drum suite.


KA:  You also have done some DJing at festivals such a T in the Park and V Festival, what do you like about spinning tunes versus playing music?


AF: It pays the bills and it's far easier, I've been Djing since 98. In these days of 'DJ's' with laptops it's quite refreshing to look back at my vinyl days. The DJ thing has changed so much since the pre nineties. It's a different animal.


KA: you are quoted as saying 'There are only two types of music - Good and Bad'  do you typically think in black or white on most artistic things?


AF: It's far easier, if not into the varying Grey shades.


KA: would, you like me, say you are a music snob? I'm truly trying to get better, I really am! (laughs)


AF: Ye I Am also a music snob.


KA: Out of all the major festivals you have played with any given band,( Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds...) which was your favorite and what made it so amazing?


AF: Reading always held a special place for me but obviously it has changed again....into a different animal. I would often cycle past billboards advertising Reading & Leeds as I made my way from a factory somewhere in the holidays. It was a romantic notion that seem day I would go. I never imagined I would be headlining a tent!


KA: can you give us a sample of some new, unreleased lyrics?


AF: It's a secret.


KA: Aww...Or is that a lyric? (laughs)


KA: The podium is yours, my dear, promote yourself, your projects. Convince us to check your shit out!


AF:It's gritty, honest and evolving. That should be enough for any human.


KA: Thanks for your time, I wish you all the luck!

AF: xx

To help pledge Adam's music or even get a Skype drumming or guitar lesson, clink below!
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/adamficek

Official Website
http://adamficek.com/




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