Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten has opened up about the bands support of Palestine, explaining why they want to use their platform to speak out.
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The topic arose during a new interview with NME, as the band are gearing up to release their long-awaited new album ‘Romance’ tomorrow (August 23).
Alongside talking about the inspirations for the LP, plans for their upcoming slot at Reading & Leeds 2024 this weekend, and aspirations for the future, the frontman discussed the band’s overt support for Palestine in recent months.
It comes as the Irish band teamed up with Massive Attack and Young Fathers for a limited edition 12” single to support the charity Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The release included material by Fontaines and a collaboration between Young Fathers and Massive Attack, alongside a sleeve and print designed by Robert Del Naja. 100 per cent of the profits from the single were donated to the charity to help their emergency operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
In a statement, the artists have also called for an immediate ceasefire in the region, “in solidarity with the Palestinian people living under a brutal military operation”.
Discussing how the idea for the joint EP arose, Chatten told NME: “We just did remixes of each other’s tunes. [Guitarist Conor] Curley did a remix of a Massive Attack tune, and it was just a joint effort.
“We asked ‘What can we do?’ It becomes incredibly tiring and disenfranchising, not just as a musician but as a young person, to be talking about and raising awareness.”
He continued: “At some point, you’ve got to do something that feels a bit more tangible, you know? Time is ticking and people are getting beheaded and massacred and so on. It really is the responsibility of the masses, of artists, and anyone with a voice – which is most people nowadays – to do something, say something. Which side are you on?”
The collaborative EP was announced in December and shared over the summer, and since then, Fontaines D.C also cancelled a gig in Istanbul in solidarity with Palestine, saying: “We must be clear in our convictions.”
The band were due to play at the Zorlu PSM venue in Istanbul this past Tuesday (August 20), but after speaking to “Palestinian artists and human rights activists”, the band decided to cancel their planned show.
The band cited the “global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement” which has been calling on artists to refuse to play the venue after claiming that Zorlu Energy part owns a plant that supplies five to eight per cent of Israel’s energy.
“We were really looking forward to visiting and playing beautiful Istanbul, however in this instance, we must be clear in our convictions and put solidarity with the people of Palestine first. We promise to play in Turkey as soon as we can make it possible.”
@trackstarshow @Fontaines D.C. are we cousins?
Other actions the band have made include the members donating $2,000 (£1,565) to a Palestine relief charity after winning a viral music quiz on TikTok.
The Dublin band participated in Track Star – a Public Opinion series in which players have to listen to a song and correctly guess the artist on the streets of New York City. As the quiz goes on, the guests are awarded an increasing amount of money.
Frontman Grian Chatten and guitarist Carlos O’Connell managed to identify a variety of tunes by the likes of The Strokes, Thin Lizzy, The Libertines and The Ramones – winning a total of $2,560 (£2,003) for doing so.
Chatten confirmed in the video that they would be donating the cash prize to Doctors Without Borders “for Palestine” amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. The charity provides “medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare”.
What’s more, O’Connell also read ‘Voices For Gaza’ letters of Palestinian’s war experience alongside artists including Brian Eno, Michael Stipe and Bastille’s Dan Smith earlier this year.
Clips of the readings were shared on the Instagram page for Voices For Gaza that saw famous faces from across the entertainment industry read letters from those in Palestine aloud, recalling the graphic details of the war.
Elsewhere in the new NME interview, Chatten spoke again about artists he’d like to collaborate with – namely Lana Del Rey, as the two will both be performing at this weekend’s R&L Festival.
It came as, in 2022, Chatten said in a Big Read interview with NME that Fontaines D.C. and Del Rey could “do a really good tune together”.
“Yeah, I’m going to muscle my way past security and pitch the living fuck out of our band to her!” he said when asked if he had any plans to make the collaboration come together. “No, I don’t really have any interest in pushing for anything in that kind of way. If it happens naturally, then it happens naturally. I’ve no expectations.”
He also went on to discuss the “neon and ridiculous” sound of ‘Romance’ as well as the band’s new fashion style for this era.
Ahead of their return to Reading & Leeds – playing the twin-site festival’s main stage on Saturday August 24 at Reading, and Sunday August 25 at Leeds – Fontaines D.C. will play an intimate album launch show at the Electric Ballroom in London tonight (August 22).
They are due to embark on their 2024 UK and Ireland headline tour later this year, with the stint including two nights at Alexandra Palace in the capital. They will then return to London next summer for a huge outdoor show in Finsbury Park. You can find any remaining tickets here.
Earlier this week, the Irish band also further previewed ‘Romance’ with another new song called ‘In The Modern World’. It followed on from the singles ‘Starburster’, ‘Favourite’ and ‘Here’s The Thing’.
In a glowing five-star review of the James Ford-produced album, NME wrote: “‘Romance’ offers moments of wonder and gravity while also feeling occasionally foreboding.”
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