Brisbane indie-rock quartet Friends of Friends are quickly proving themselves as ones to watch this year. After touring with Slowly Slowly in 2022 and releasing their latest single “Morphine” on 24 November, the band will be embarking on an East Coast tour tomorrow to celebrate the new song.
The Morphine Australia Tour will see them play at Black Bear Lodge in Brisbane on 3 Feb, The Gasometer in Melbourne on 4 Feb and The Vic in Sydney on 11 Feb. Supporting Friends of Friends on the tour is Dusty and The Splints in Brisbane, Cheap Skate and Sick Visor in Melbourne, and Grxce in Sydney. You can get your tickets HERE.
We had the band interview each other so you can get to know them better, and the results are nothing short of hilarious.
Tom Bowie (guitar): Barnaby, four arms or four legs. What do you do?
Barnaby Baker (vocals): Definitely four arms. Rather be a monkey than some kind of weird horse.
Barnaby: Morgan, what’s the most interesting thing about someone in your band that no one else knows?
Morgan Blake (drums): Tom has two freaking epic skills. ONE – he can barbeque like no one’s business. But TWO, and I promise you are not going to guess this – he makes rings.
Like legit rings from scratch! He has a little workshop at home like some artisan from Game of Thrones. It’s so sick, and he made us all matching FOF rings.
Frank Christian (bass/keys): Morgan, what are the ticks and icks about playing in FOF?
Morgan: So, I’ll give everyone in the band a serving to be fair.
Tom is super social and incredible at networking, which is FANTASTIC. However, it’s basically impossible to remove him from a venue if you are trying to go anywhere fast. The dude will just go walkabouts and he’s basically part of the streets until he requires food.
Barnaby has some kind of amazing-manageable ADHD where he is constantly creating music and developing song ideas. But then we will turn up to rehearsal and he’s changed the key in four songs up a semitone and added an Indian sitar sound to the chorus and forgets to mention it to anyone.
Frank has no ticks or icks and is perfect x.
Barnaby: Morgan, would you rather play drums with 2b pencils, or hammers?
Morgan: So, I’ve actually had to do this already – I was pranked at a show and our guitar player at the time cut my drumsticks in half. I walked on stage ready to throw down and picked up these carrot sticks. They were basically 2B pencils at that point. Still ripped.
Tom: Barnaby and Frank, would you rather have to sing “Careless Whisper” by George Michael before every set in 2023, or have to recite an entire Friends of Friends set in Ron Burgundy’s voice?
Barnaby: Sex panther’s a little too strong for the FoF set, so Careless Whisper for SURE. It’s the perfect pre-show anyway. Lights down, wine in hand, and those sweet, sweet George melodies to get everyone in the mood.
Frank: I basically do the entire FoF set in the voice of Ron Burgundy – come to a show for proof.
Morgan: Frank, the boys have gone digital for guitars as well as yourself on bass. How would you describe your current bass sound, and how do you get there?
Frank: An embarrassing amount of research and trial and error. Ups and downs with going digital especially with feel, but the consistency you get and use of Impulse Responses make it worth it. Also, very travel friendly haha! I’d say specifically for my sound on bass, I tried to go for a tone close to Nine Inch Nails and 1975’s first album by blending a clean DI and distorted bass amp and then adding a chorus effect in specific songs.
Tom: Fantasy League Band – you have five people to form the ultimate band with. Who do you pick, why, and what’s the band name?
Frank: Frontman – Dave Grohl, Guitars – Mateus Asato and Myself to balance out the talent, Bass – Paul McCartney, Drums – George Daniel.
Barnaby: It’s a band called Death Riot – Barnaby on drums, fronted by Ellie Roswell (Wolf Alice), Flume on synths, Trent Reznor (NIN) on guitars. Fifth member is a sold-out Suncorp Stadium (could be weird, but it’s an industrial dark-pop band, just go with it).
Morgan: Dua Lipa, Cory Henry, Mono Neon, Larnell Lewis and DOMI keys. It’s called Stanktown and I’m not even going to play drums in it. I’ll just show up for support while they make some insane pop-funk tunes.
Tom: Boys, guilty pleasure band. Go.
Barnaby: Harry Styles. Definitely off brand for me, but I rinsed Harry’s House. Take me to a sushi restaurant daddy.
Frank: Lizzy McAlpine. She’s an absolute queen.
Morgan: Every collaboration Zedd has done with a female singer.
Frank: Barnaby, which band member would you marry, and why?
Barnaby: I think Tom is the cheeky choice, always gonna have something spontaneous up his sleeve. Frank is the husband you want though, you know he’ll love you right and gentle. But can’t go past Morgan’s blue eyes and precision organisation…
Frank: Tom, you’re stuck in an elevator with your crush, but you really need to fart. What noise do you use to disguise it?
Tom: Always a big sneeze, but awkwardly timed so it’s before the fart. They know…
Morgan: Frank, dream band to tour with, and where?
Frank: The 1975, Sam Fender, Lany would have to be it for me. Location – anywhere, anytime. They can fight over who gets FoF.
Frank: Barnaby, a music-deleting virus infects the internet, and you can only save one album. What do you choose?
Barnaby: Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral. Not only does this album remind me of my childhood and I deeply connect with it, it’s become somewhat of a cornerstone for my production and songwriting. This album definitely changed my life, maybe in a few bad ways…
Follow Friends of Friends on Facebook and Instagram for more.
