Yannis Philippakis is the vocalist and guitarist of Foals, the minimalist, psychedelic, math-pop band from Oxford that has been causing a furore over the past two years. They are currently on a European tour before taking a break to work on their new second album.

Dazed Digital: How would you define your sound to a completely new listener?
Yannis Philippakis: I would like to think we are a migratory band, like a bird that moves with age and time. I would say it is epileptic pop music or psychedelic pop music. Being in a band is like being a vamp; it’s like being a predatory vamp. We devour influences and we make things out of them.

DD: And what are those influences?
YP: It changes. Right now it is surf rock, summery sounds, ambience drones, like the Centuries or Steeple Chase or even The Beach Boys. I am also fascinated by the Olympics. Those runners in the Olympics are like one elongated organism; they are so incredibly synchronised. Also films like The Deer Hunter or any David Lynch film. I’ve just finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers and his short stories, and I read the quarterly journal McSweeney's and I get ideas from all those – from art that is proud and courageous.

DD: Describe life on the road in five words.        
YP: Adrenalin, escape, fatigue, pot, and ……and…… Hmm, yeah, just leave it as dots.

DD: How important is improvisation?
YP: VERY.  I think we don’t do it enough, we tend to be at the whim of the audience, but I think we’ll feel more confident the more we play. We want our records to sound nothing like live.

DD: What’s your favourite country of the ones you’ve visited on tour?
YP: Japan. Without a doubt - The fact that it is so alien to the culture I am used to. It’s so colourful and calm… and manic at the same time. It is the worse place to be hungover; so intense. But the audience is fanatical which is great.

DD: Your worst memory on tour?
YP: It is difficult to break up experiences because touring happens in one long expanse of time and all memories are blurred… It’s dark small things that happen, like the smell of Edwin’s (keyboard) pants in the bus.

DD: Do you believe that music can make the world a better place?
YP: I want to make individuals feel better.  It is so different now than in the 60’s. I think we do not have the same power anymore. Google can change the world now, not us. But it doesn’t make music less valid. We try to make music for one person only; we try to focus on that. We want to be a catalyst for other stuff, like make that person want to learn to play guitar or making them feel optimistic about creating stuff – all it requires is passion. Our lyrics are written with lots of spaces to make things not so obvious, so that people make their own mind.

DD: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
YP: Dead. Or senile and living with my mum. Hold on. No. Can you change that? I don’t want to be fully senile, just… mildly - I don’t want to upset my mum.

Foals will be playing at the Jersey Live Festival and Electric Picnic this weekend.
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