Will McFly 'do a Radiohead'?



McFly have told Newsbeat they are thinking about 'doing a Radiohead' by
letting fans decide what they want to pay for their album.
The boys have
been recording album number four in Australia where the surfing definitely beats
London traffic
The band have left the record label they've been with for
around four years to start up their own label called Super Records.
Blonde-haired band member Tom Fletcher said it was all down to creative
differences and the boys simply decided to leave when their contract was up.
Speaking from Australia, where the band are working on the artwork for their
fourth album, Tom explained why they parted company from Island Records.



'Play it safe'



"We left a while ago actually, we left just before Christmas
officially but we didn't tell anyone about it," he said.
"We
weren't dropped, we left on really good terms. It was just contractually we were
allowed to leave. We had been talking about going independent for a while. We
thought it was a good time for us to take the step and do it.
"We really
wanted to take full creative control. We had a lot of creative differences. By
staying with them we just felt that we weren't going to continue in the way we
wanted to continue.
"They just wanted to always play it safe. We didn't want
to be a boring band."

McFly perform from Tom's house for Radio 1's Live Lounge
Tom said the band are more excited than nervous and are relishing being in
charge.
'100% us'
"We're young guys and all our fans are our age. We
just wanted to make a fun exciting album that we're proud of and not worry 'Does
it fit this demographic?' or 'Will it be OK for radio?'. We just wanted to make
the album that we enjoy making."
He added: "This album is just
exactly how we wanted to make it. So all the stuff from now on that the fans are
going to receive from McFly is 100% from us. It's all been our decision and our
creativity without anyone having their opinions on it."
One of the
things the band felt they could really make a difference on is the way they sell
music, as the industry has changed so much over the
years.

Downloads

The band felt that their old label wasn't embracing those changes and
are keen to experiment with new ways of getting music to fans.
Tom said: "There's not a set way of doing things anymore. Now, especially with stuff
like downloads, or giving music away, there's so many options for what you can
do."
Tom said they are thinking about 'doing a Radiohead' and releasing
their album for free, but they haven't decided yet.
"It's one of the
options we're talking about, but we haven't made any decisions yet. You'll have
to wait and see!" he said.
Although the band are working with
distributors, there's no major label involved.
New sound
Dougie, Danny,
Tom and Harry do their bit for Sport Relief
McFly would like to look into
signing other groups in the future but are keen to tie up their album first.

So is their sound any different now?

"This is the album that we've been wanting to make for a few years.
It's different but not a drastic step away.
"For us it feels very natural.
We're not saying we're rock and roll or we're an emo band. It's still very much
pop but it's just really ballsy and exciting," Tom said.
Obviously with
the new creative control comes risk, but the boys seem prepared.

Surf's up

"Now, if it all goes wrong we've only got ourselves to blame. But
in a way that's what we want because we are putting absolutely everything into
this album," Tom said.
The boys have spent ten weeks in Australia
making the album, which was much more fun than being stuck in London.
"The whole point of recording an album is about having fun. We'd be
surfing every morning and then we'd go into the studio at sort of two, three, in
the afternoon, and spend the afternoon in the studio recording...it was very
relaxed," Tom said.
"Before it got a little bit boring, getting in
a cab in London... spending all day in the studio, you'd be stuck in traffic for
two hours. It was a bit like going to the office."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/music
... 410163.stm

It’s official. heatworld is in love. We’ve just spent the past hour and a
half with McFly! (That's us, Isabelle, looking very flushed and totally uncool
in the middle.) We know, if we weren’t us we’d be jealous of us, if that even
makes sense. See, our brains have stopped working properly. Anyway, the lads
very kindly invited us over to have a listen to some of the tracks from their
upcoming album and we just had to come back here and tell you how totally A.
MAZING they were. The lovely boys have now got their own record label called
Super Records and this new album is the first one that’s really all theirs. If
you loved McFly before, you’re going to blown away by this new stuff, which Tom
informs us is far more “ballsy” than their previous hits. Ballsy is a good word,
because all the songs we heard ROCKED! “We wanted to take it to the next level,”
explained Danny and, we can assure you, they’ve definitely done that. Leaving
their former record label has allowed the lads to make the music they’ve always
wanted to, and Harry was quick to point out that being completely in control
meant they “didn’t have any limits”. Danny, Tom, Harry and Dougie spent ten
weeks in Australia recording the album (yes, they do have the tans to prove it.
Drool...) and told us they got really into the healthy lifestyle while they were
there. Dougie is now a bona-fide surfer – look, he’s got the hair and everything
– and all the boys were literally glowing. They are so enthusiastic and excited
about the new album that you can’t help but get caught up in it. The tracks that
stood out for us were Lies – a darkly worded standout track that’s purely
rocktastic; One For The Radio, which we sneakily suspect may be their first
single – we were humming it all the way back to heat Towers. We also adored the
beautiful Falling In Love, which is a refreshing twist on the usual love song,
but still has those sweet McFly lyrics we all love, and finally Do Ya, a song
that’s McFly at their poptastic best. As one lyric asks, “Do ya love me, cause I
wanna know?” – the answer is “yes” McFly, we definitely do! We predict, in the
words of McFly themselves, that this new album is going to be their most “epic”
yet!

The first single will be released on 14 July and the album will follow
on 21 July.For more details on all things McFly, go to http://www.myspace.com/mcfly
PS.
Dougie, that salmon/woodchip smell was NOT us!