LaFaro
From: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Lazy Equation: (The Jesus Lizard + Therapy?) x mclusky
URL: Website // Facebook

Thrash Hits Verdict:
When we first heard Belfast’s LaFaro blasting out of the Thrash Hits stereo, we momentarily thought that the much-loved, much-unappreciated beast that was mclusky must have reformed when we weren’t looking. But as we listened further, we heard a thicker, nastier groove in amongst the high-strung screeches and sick-sneer lyricism. Yes, we thought to ourselves, as Easy Meat continued to spin on the stereo - this is something we can definitely we want more of. So naturally, our next stop was to drop them a line for a Future Hits piece.

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Describe your sound in 3 words
Not too shabby.

How did you meet?
In a public toilets in Belfast. While queueing for the same glory-hole we got chatting about music and it turned out we had similar tastes. Quite literally according to the fella in the cublicle.

What made you want to start a band?
Watching the bands we loved as youngsters having the time of their lives and getting paid for it. We get to do just that! Only without the whole “getting paid” part…

Where did the name come from?
Ha! Ha! It’s taken from jazz bassist and musical prodigy, Scott LaFaro. He was class. He played with pianist, Bill Evans. His sister recently wrote a book about him which includes a mention of yours truly. How nice of her.

Where did you grow up? How do you think it’s affected your music?
We’re from all over. Jonny [Black, vocals/guitar] is from Portstewart, a seaside town on the Nort Coast filled mostly with retirement homes and amusement arcades, hence his cheery lust for life which comes across in the lyrics. Alan [Lynn, drummer] is from Bangor, just outside Belfast, where Dave [Magee, guitars] is from. We all actually met at Bangor college around 10 years ago. I can only say that where we grew up affected our music in a positive way. Had we all been from London we’d be brapping drum’n'bass artists right now. That would be awful…

What are your non-musical influences?
Guinness, Marlboro, Star Wars, Buckfast, Jaegermeister, Burger King, KitKats, The Wire, Sleep, nice Vans shoes, and the constant yearning for true love.

So far, what has been the best thing about being in a band?
Getting to watch other great bands for free on the other side of the world while drinking free beer. Hard to beat seeing the world as a “perk”.

With which band would your dream support slot/tour be?
Probably Queens Of The Stone Age. Because they’re immense. Failing that, a reformed Girls Aloud (for merely predatory reasons).

What marks you out as different to other bands around at the moment?
We’re much uglier and don’t have cool hair or nice threads. That’s all I seem to see in other bands these days. Musically, I suppose we just do what we feel is right and don’t worry about trends like most other bands. Plus we have riffs. Not dance moves.

What’s the best 0 and the funniest – shows you’ve played?
The Best – We play a festival called Glasgowbury every year and it’s always the best.

The Funniest – We did play in Northwich last year and pretty much just lake it up as we went along for the whole set, that was pretty funny. This year we intend to make our shows funnier by including full-frontal nudity and dairy products from the region we’re playing in.

What bands do you consider as part of your scene or as your peers?
The Rupture Dogs, Gascan Ruckus, Fighting With Wire, And So I Watch You From Afar, Hold Your Horse Is are all great bands we have the privilege of hanging with. Great bunch of lads.

Tell us a joke.
I saw a sign in my local bar – ‘Single Night, 7-11′.
Imagine my dissapointment when I showed up with a bag of Haribo…

(credit to John Colbert of The Alice Kona band for that one.)

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LaFaro’s second album, Easy Meat, is released on October 03 on Smalltown America Records, but is available for pre-order from today. If you need a bit more convincing before shelling out for a record, LaFaro are set to tour all over the UK from later this month – check their tourdates out down below.   

LaFaro September/October 2011 tourdates:
September
24 Aberdeen Tunnels
26 Glasgow Stereo
27 Edinburgh Sneaky Petes
28 Liverppor Shipping Forecast
29 Leeds The Well
30 Manchester FAC:251
October
01 Blackburn Live Lounge
02 Sheffield Corporation
03 Guildford Boileroom
04 Cambridge Portland Arms
05 London Upstairs At The Garage
06 Southampton Joiners
07 Tunbridge Wells Forum
08 Cardiff Buffalo
09 Bristol The Croft
10 York Stereo
11 Birmingham The Rainbow