Fat White Family Interview with Nathan Saoudi

First off, congrats on the latest album! I really like it and it seems like there have been

some pretty positive reactions all around to it at this point.

Yeah, thank you.

So, you’ve just done some touring for “Songs for Our Mothers” in the U.K., and now

you’ve been in the U.S. Do you notice any differences in how the crowds react from country

to country to your music and the on-stage antics?

Well, we’ve done like two tours in America and the reception has not been as big as it is in like

Europe or the U.K. The third time around, I don’t know. Hopefully it’ll connect. We’ll have to

wait and see because we’re not going on tour for like another two weeks. We’ll be in Boston.

Oh yeah, it looks like it’s going to be the end part of the tour in Boston for the U.S. in May.

I think so. It’s like one of the last couple of shows. Yeah there are not many that we play here,

but the last couple of times we’ve went over and gone around the country there was about 40 to

50 people in the crowd. But in New York, L.A. and Chicago the reception’s always been pretty

strong.

That’s good. They definitely have more people coming to those shows I feel like. There’s

more of a scene for it—for people to come out to shows and just really get into it.

Yeah, but the people that do come normally like, not a lot of them dig it. Hopefully they’ve gone

home and told their friends so a lot more people come this time around.

Yeah, that’d be good! So, from my understanding, part of the new album was recorded

with Sean Lennon as like a co-producer. Just in general, what was this recording process

like and how did it compare to recording “Champagne Holocaust”?

We only recorded one song with him, which is alright, and his studio is like a really plush studio

up in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. But the rest of it was done with our old

producer from our previous album. So, whenever it comes to songs, like about production

techniques or whatever, we only recorded one song with him so it wasn’t enough to go and really

tell what the difference was. But but he’s a lovely dude and his studio’s good and he’s got good

taste, but he wasn’t really the main producer on the album.

Just talking about this new album, some of the songs have been pegged as controversial

just because there were some references to fascism and Ike and Tina Turner. Were these

written to get reactions or were they kind of to bring these taboo topics to light? Or does it

do a bit of both?

Well, they might be controversial but they’re meant to be representations of things that are

actually current affairs, aren’t they? They’re not just to wind people up nonsensically. They’re

actually there to remind, or to point them in the direction, of things that are actually wrong going

on nowadays.

The topics of your songs, you were saying they bring about these larger, relevant topics. Do

you think that it turns people on to your music? Or turns people off to it, just because it

may appear controversial?

Well, I think it will alienate some people who don’t really understand those things, those topics.

But for the people that are aware of it, I reckon it will bring people in. It’s not that common.

It’s bringing fresh topics to this music scene. It’s not something that is commonly covered,

which is nice. It’s new, in a way—fresh.

You think they would be covered a bit more.

They should be at least!

Yeah, but they don’t seem to be, do they?

Not many bands I guess are bold enough to take that stance, I suppose, you know?

Maybe. Or maybe they’re just spoiled. I don’t know. Maybe they come from some bougie

upbringing and they just don’t care, I don’t know.

Right. Also this album, sound-wise, is noted for having an array of different sounds that

can vary from song to song, but still create that distinct Fat White Family album. Did other

artists influence any of the sounds on the album? Or was it kind of more of this creation of

the band’s mind?

Well like “Whitest Boy on the Beach” and stuff like that has some Laibach influences. Do you

know Laibach? It’s like a Slovakian band, I think. They write songs that mention fascism and

stuff. They played North Korea a lot last year. You know that band? Did you hear about them?

I think I’ve heard their name around before. Don’t know much about them though.

But yeah, that’s cool. Has the band evolved or grown musically or even

relationship/dynamic-wise since the first album, in your opinion, at all?

We have some other people in it. It’s a change in line-up. It’s mostly changed, yeah.

By the time you guys are in Boston, you’re kind of at the tail end of your North American

tour, as we mentioned. And it looks like you’re doing some European dates and festivals.

So what does the future hold for Fat White Family after touring this album? Or are there

even plans yet—are you playing it by ear?

We’re going to be doing it all year. I can’t really see beyond the end of the year, but hopefully

we’d start writing the third album and stuff like that. Do a couple of videos and we’re just going

to be touring extensively this year. Like Australia and stuff like that.

That’ll be cool. Have you been there before?

No, I’ve never been, so I’m excited to go there. We’re hoping to get to go back down to South

America too. But yeah just got hundreds of shows, just focus on them. Make sure we don’t all

die.

That’s all the questions I have for you. Thanks so much for your time and doing this for us.

Thank you, and I’ll see you in Boston.

Good luck on the tour and I look forward to seeing you guys then!

Fat White Family will be coming to Brighton Music Hall on May 4 with Dilly Dally.