False Friends find true sound with Dress Like a Tourist

More than five years as a band, and with a handful of successful releases to their name, the quintet appear to have found their sweet spot in their new single unveiled last week.

It features the same jangly guitar tones and powerful vocals, with a little dose of summer pop and in many ways it is a continuation of their most recent EP, A Great Day for the Parish, which certainly attracted some attention last year.

The band have already made a name for themselves since moving across the Irish Channel five years ago. Formerly of Omagh in Country Tyrone, they have settled in nicely with the Glasgow music scene. Their unique brand of indie pop-rock has been tweaked over time but it's fair to say it has really taken shape in Dress Like a Tourist.

It has been a long process which has tested the group, but for Jonny Kirwan and Anna Doody – who share the vocal duties – False Friends has never been stronger. And the realisation that they have struck a rhythm, all bodes well for the future.

"It's taken a while, but I feel that with Dress Like a Tourist we have really found our vibe," Doody tells The Weekender. "We all have a hand in writing the songs and we all have different influences – so it's been a long journey of getting to a point where we recognise the False Friends sound."

The writing process is a collaborative effort, guided by the principal writer but finished as a group. Over the last few years, they have mastered this method and it has had a habit of producing a sound which they are proud to call their own.

Kirwan adds: "We're all creatures of our influences and we all listen to different styles of music. How each song sounds will depend on who the writer is. There are songs that we have written together and others which were written separately.

"Someone will bring a song into the studio and we all have to sit around and agree on how it should sound. Sometimes we can't do that and it can be a bit of a nightmare, but when we finally get there – we all turn to each other and say: 'OK, that's False Friends – that's the sound'.

"We always just try our best to sound like ourselves and throw off any ideas of trying to sound like some other band. And recently we have felt like things have been making sense and that we know who we are as a band."

"For me, the song is about being awkward, and not necessarily in a cool way, and seeking a different persona in order to perform."

Indeed, there is a sense of identity in the song – which was written as a deposition on the extrinsic pressures facing a band as they find their feet and develop their music, as well as the struggle to adapt to either those conditions or defy them.

Kirwan notes: "It comes from the idea that I was feeling like I was trying to act like this character for people. I didn't feel like myself; like I was dressed like a tourist.

"When we first getting adjusted to the industry, we had a lot of people telling us what to be and telling us what we were going to be. And we did that for a while, and it was fine. But after a while we were starting to think: 'No, actually, this is what we want to be doing' and so on."

"We knew how we wanted to write the song from there," he adds. "The song became a bit of a collection of our personal experiences and our views. It's kind of a love-letter to the music industry in its own way, but also us learning to be 'us'."

For Doody, the song has a focus on the image-centred considerations that artists have to take on board when trying to get their material out to the public.

She adds: "It was written by all of us and there are some different perspectives in there. The general idea is describing what it's like to be in a band, within a ridiculous competitive scene – where it's not just about the music. A lot of the times it's about the aesthetics, the performance and the persona – the song is really about exploring that.

"For me, the song is about being awkward, and not necessarily in a cool way, and seeking a different persona in order to perform."

Dress Like a Tourist was first written during the practice sessions ahead of A Great Day for the Parish. Ultimately, it did not make the EP as it was felt it would have been a rush to build and finish the song in time. However, they were pleasantly surprised by the reaction to the song during live sets.

Kirwan recalls: "When we were getting that EP together, Dress Like a Tourist was there and we were practicing it, but it just wasn't there yet. The thinking was that we could rush it and try to finish it in the studio, because we did like it, or we could let it sit and see what we can do with it later.

"The EP then came out and we started playing Dress Like a Tourist live and – to our amusement – the song went down really well; people were asking us when it was coming out. So, in a way, it's all worked out.

"We do stick by it. We listen back to that EP and I don't think Dress Like a Tourist should have been on it. It actually feels like a perfect time now to be releasing the song. For me, all I have been doing since the lockdown has been listening to music, I'm sure it's the same for a lot of people. So, now is as good a time as any to bring out something new."

The tune racked up a few thousand streams in its first week, with an impressive music video – put together during the current lockdown – released on Friday.

"Our dream, eventually, would be to make an album. We don't know how far down the line that would be and whether there will be another EP before that.

With social distancing in mind, the band were limited in what they could do, but they were able to call upon False Friends friends to lend a hand.

Doody continues: "The song has had a really good reception and we've had some lovely reviews off the back of it. We had a good number of streams on Spotify and on Friday last week we released our music video and that has gone down really well.

"For now it's about finding new ways to communicate with people and that's what happened with our music video. It was inspired by everything that's going on – we asked people to send us videos of what they're doing in lockdown. It was a good way to be collaborative and interactive with people who are listening to our music.

"It was completely homemade; Jonny edited it all together himself, and I'm really chuffed with how it came out. Everyone seems to find it quite uplifting. Lockdown has had its challenges, but it's challenged us to be creative in a different way."

As with all bands, the future is subject to change for False Friends. Their previous plans are up the air, but they have assured fans that once the lockdown is lifted they will be back on the road. The band hope to release new material before the end of the year, though Kirwan admits there is no guarantee at the moment.

He adds: "The plan was to release the song around this time and then we had a few things booked for the summer. As of now, realistically, we are writing and demoing.

"Our dream, eventually, would be to make an album. We don't know how far down the line that would be and whether there will be another EP before that. We do have loads of new tracks – we had loads before going into this [lockdown] and since then we have even more.

"When we do come out of this, we will be looking at a tour. We have a lot of mates and – judging by the messages we get – a lot of fans in London and we are being asked to come back to Ireland. So, if we could do a few dates, with shows in London and maybe Belfast or Dublin, then we'd be so happy with that.

"I would assume that we would have a new song out before the end of the year. But we'll have to see where the pieces lie, when we do get out of this."

LISTEN: False Friends - Dress Like a Tourist