Fyfe Dangerfield (GUILLEMOTS)

Guillemots (Common guillemot, Common murre /N America/, lat. Uria aalge) are any of three species of black-and-white seabirds (genus Cepphus, family Alcidae). Guillemots have a pointed, black bill and red legs. Guillemots are deep divers that feed at the bottom. The best-known species, the black guillemot, breeds around the Arctic Circle and winters south to the British Isles, Maine, and the Bering Strait; it is about 14 in. (35 cm) long. The similar pigeon guillemot breeds along both coasts of the North Pacific, south to Japan and southern California; the spectacled guillemot breeds from Japan to the Kuril Islands. In British usage, the name also refers to birds called murres in the U.S.

Well, that is true, but Guillemots (should be pronounced 'gilly-mot') we are talking about are British indie band, coming from Birmingham. They have excellent debut album "Through the Windowpane" that has been nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize.

Their singer Fyfe Dangerfield was very cooperative and in no time he send answers on our questions that we sent him by e-mail. T. Where are you now and what are you doing?

F. I'm sitting in bed, listening to the band "Smog", drinking instant coffee, and replying to about a thousand emails. Such are days off....!

T. You are not well known band in Croatia, so please give me a brief history of how the band started?

F. We all met randomly through friends of friends and found we had a common desire to try making pop music that didn't sound like any other pop music. We're still trying...but it's a fun adventure.

T. I know that everybody is asking that, but your name sounds very exotic and unusual, so why did you name yourself GUILLEMOTS?

F. After the seabird. It's a lovely little bird that nests on cliff ledges. We all like birds and we all like the sea, so it seemed logical. T. I think that you created your own unique sound, but everybody's talking about Jeff Buckley when listening to your music. And in your brighter moments I can hear a lot of early THE CURE and XTC. What do you think about those comparisons?

F. Any comparisons are interesting. What's nice is that we get loads of different comparisons. If we only got the same 3 or 4 names I'd be worried, but we've been compared to everyone from Sonic Youth to Billy Joel so hopefully that means our sound is quite hard to pin down.

T. From the names of your songs, people can tell that you're obsessed with Brazil. I was there once and I can only hope that I will have a chance to go there once more. Why is it so, that when you go there you want to go again?

F. Brazil actually only comes up in two songs, Sao Paulo, and obviously "Trains to Brazil". But our guitarist, Magrao, is from Sao Paulo, and I think it's a place that holds a lot of interest for the rest of us, even though he's the only one that's ever been there. Trains to Brazil was also named as a tribute to Jean Charles de Menzes (I'm not sure about spelling!) after the tube shooting in London. That affected everybody living in London, but obviously with Magrao being from Brazil it struck a real nerve with us.

T. Why did you pick "Through the windowpane" for the title of your debut album?

F. It just seemed to be the right name - it's an album of dreams and faraway places, and wishes... it was also a slight reference to the Lewis Carrol "Alice" books.

T. What was on your mind when you were created Sao Paolo?

F. I'm not sure. We wrote it in a rehearsal, and even though I physically wrote the lyrics, it felt like we were all thinking as one four-headed creature. I'm not sure what they lyrics are about, but they sum up a sort of feeling that everyone, I think, has at some point.

T. Who is your favorite artist for this year Mercury Prize?

F. I really love Richard Hawley's record. And I also respect ThomYorke hugely, obviously. To be honest, I'd probably like a lot of the records on the list but haven't heard many of them.

T. If you could support any artist, who would you choose?

F. Bjork.

T. What are your favorite albums, movies, books?

F. Too many to name! And we're always searching for new favourites anyway...

T. Tell me something I would never guess about you?

F. I am the real Santa Claus.

pedja // 04/09/2006

PS: Well, Fyfe and the rest of the band, thanks for your time and I hope you'll won this years Mercury Prize…