Tragedies and triumphs

Feeder went through a world of pain when their drummer died–but they never gave up, and are stronger than ever...

Few bands sustain a 25-year career without encountering their fair share of triumphs and tragedies. Feeder are no different. The Welsh rockers gigged relentlessly all over these islands, building a following for nearly a decade. Then their hard work paid off when their single Buck Rogers, and third album Echo Park, hit the top five in 2001. The classic Just A Day went into the top ten and the anthemic power of their songs made them perfect for large arenas and summer festivals. But only a matter of months after their first big successes, drummer Jon Lee died by suicide. His death in January 2002 shocked his bandmates, family, friends and fans.

Not surprisingly, singer Grant Nicholas contemplated calling time on the band, but found it within himself to carry on and take them to even greater heights, as he explains: ‘After Jon died we all, obviously, went through a terrible time and that feeling of loss never really goes away,’ he says.

‘I started a band with someone who I knew really well and then that happened. I didn’t know how to handle it. I went off the rails. I began drinking a lot. I didn’t know whether the band was something I wanted to continue with. We were a three-piece band: that was our chemistry, with Jon gone, I thought, can we really go on?’

But music was the Newport musician’s salvation. He recalls going into a demo studio near where he lived in London and starting to write songs again.

‘I wasn’t thinking in terms of whether they would become Feeder songs, I just kept writing and I came up with about 10 or 11 songs in about a month,’ he says.

‘I think I nearly gave the engineer who worked there a nervous breakdown; I just kept coming in and working constantly. That’s where the next Feeder album came from. I remember persuading Taka (Hirose, the band’s bass player) to come to London. I played him the songs and he seemed pretty blown away with them. We went to the pub and got hammered and decided to give it another go. We felt sure Jon would have wanted us to carry on.’

Comfort In Sound was the result. Although it contains beloved bangers such as Godzilla and the top ten hit Just The Way I’m Feeling, it was a more contemplative album. It went on to sell over 500,000 copies. Their old fans embraced Feeder’s new direction and it garnered them many more new ones.

‘Even from our early heavy starting point I always wanted us to evolve as a band,’ the 50year-old says. ‘I’m the kind of guy who listens to so many different kinds of music. I would listen to any- thing from Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young to punk. I like pop music and anything from Gary Numan to Duran Duran and the Human League. Although anthemic songs with driving guitars is a huge part of what we do, melody has been just as important to me. Even Led Zeppelin, the quintessential rock band, had so many different textures within their music. Basically, we wanted to make music that would sound just as good in an indie rock club as in a big arena.’

Feeder’s next album, Pushing The Senses went gold and took them to number two in the charts

in 2005. All their subsequent albums went into the top 20 at least, with 2016’s All Bright Electric and 2017’s Best Of Feeder both entering the top ten.

A number of drummers have come and gone since Grant’s friend died. ‘If there was one positive thing to come out of Jon dying, it was just that feeling of Taka and I not being afraid to try anything; to write what we wanted and not worry if fitted in with what people might expect of us.

‘Looking back, if I hadn’t gone into the studio when I did, that would have been it for Feeder. I don’t know whether I would have joined another band but myself and Taka just felt we had more to do and say and luckily, we still do.’

Feeder play The Olympia, Dublin on March 21, and The Limelight, Belfast, March 22

‘Taka and I just felt we had more to do and say – and we still do’