Introduced by Monk

When you think of rock ‘n’ roll centres of the Überverse you automatically think of the big hitters: London, Hamburg, Nashville, Los Angeles… The Channel Islands, that little offshoot archipelago nestled off the French coast is not one such location which would necessarily and automatically spring to mind… Yet, it was from there that a little combo by the name of Coastal Fire Department first came to our attention last September, when they impressed my colleague DJ Astrocreep enough to wrestle their way onto our ‘Singles Club’ playlist.

Well, now the power trio of guitarist/vocalist Ollie Goddard, bassist Saad Frihmat and drummer Ozzy Austin are back, gouging their way (sic) into our aural cortexes once more with their vibrant and faithful homage to alt/post-rock innovators The Pixies. It’s a powerful cover, with Goddard truly evoking the bleak spirit of Black Francis in his acerbic delivery. So, what better time to fire up ye olde internet connection thingy and catch up with the band involved… I started in the most obvious place, the beginning, by asking them how they came together:

Saad: CFD was formed in 2013 in the Vale, Guernsey. Ollie started the band with our former guitarist Bobby, although the genre was very much acoustic rock and they did a few gigs in 2014.  I met Ollie in 2015 as he joined the company I worked for and asked me if I wanted to play bass in CFD so I joined. Ozzy joined in 2021 when we had a drummer change, although we have known Ozzy from local gigs and bands he has played in. Guernsey is a small island so everyone knows everyone in the local music scene. 

Personally, as a historian, I have an interest in etymology, so I feel have to ask about where the band name came from and if it has any special significance…

Saad: I believe Ollie went for a coastal walk in Guernsey and he saw the French coastline in the far distance and could see a red mist which looked like a fire and thought to himself I wonder if they have a coastal fire department in that location.  The name stuck in his head and when he went home he Googled the band name and nothing came up music related. So we picked the name as a band. It’s hard these days to find an original name not used by other bands so it was kinda lucky.  

A few people have confused our band name for us being strippers as well. We did play this rock biker festival a couple of years back and when having breakfast in the morning in a local cafe, some biker women walked in and sat next to us. They started talking about how they were looking forward to the male stripper band playing later in the afternoon.  Ollie bumped into them towards the end of the festival, and they were not impressed when we walked on stage and ripped into our opening track and didn’t strip live on stage. 

Music is categorized into various genres and sub-genres. How would you define your sound? What individual and collective influences do you draw on for your sound?

Saad: Our sound is very alt-rock and ’90s grunge and we are often compared to the Pixies and Nirvana. We do try to put our own spin on our original songs but keep the grunge vibe. We love catchy choruses which stick in people’s heads and like to keep the song structure simple but driving.

Ozzy: I have to admit I don’t like music without any drum in it: straight into the “bad” category. Any sort of music with repetitive drum loops that have been programmed: straight into the “bad” category. Then middle of the road stuff with real drummers on it doing their thing with life and feel go in the “good” pill.  The “awesome” pile is for the elite fantastic bands with great drummers playing for them, like Korn, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Machine Head, Genesis, Toto, Fear Factory, QOTSA , Foo Fighters, Gene Krupa, Pearl Jam, Faith No More – and obviously Roxette, but that goes without saying.

If anyone defined my sound and compared it to any of the above than they would be mad, think more of a semi-trained over-excited monkey on a sugar rush smashing out on a drum kit for fun playing along to ‘It Must Have Been Love in an over enthusiastic manner… that is my style.

You’ve just have just released your new single, a cover of a song by a band you just mentioned: can you tell us a bit about it?

Saad: [Yeah] we have just released a Pixies cover song, ‘Gouge Away’. This is the first cover song we have recorded as a band. We are often compared to the Pixies, so we wanted to pay homage by putting our spin on the song that tells the story of Samson and Delilah. It’s recorded a little quicker than the original with added dynamics. We are proud of it; it’s an upbeat version with big choruses and a new almighty ending. 

Our next single, called ‘Gentleman’ is scheduled for release on 9 December and this is my favourite song we have recorded to date. It’s upbeat and a real kick to the chest when listening.  We have a couple more singles to be released January/February, then we will be releasing an album in March.

Are there any particular lyrical themes/personal issues you are addressing in your songs?

Saad: Ollie tends to keep things real and avoids politics and religion when writing lyrics, and focuses his writing on real life issues like relationships, domestic abuse and mental health. Some lyrics might come across as dark, but they are subjects that need to be talked about.  Although, some of our songs have no meaning, like ‘I Don’t Wanna Hold Your Hand”, which just repeats the line “I don’t wanna hold your hand” for two minutes. We challenged Ollie to write a two minute grunge song and he did, and just repeated the lyrics.

How important is social media in getting your music out there?

Social media is so important for getting our music out there and picking up new fans. Twitter and Instagram are our social media of choice at the moment and have allowed us to network with other bands, bloggers and radio stations, etc. However social media is only one part of growing as a band and it’s still about the music so it’s about getting the balance right. Also, we always retweet and thank radio stations and DJs who play our music to show our appreciation and to help plug their show as well. 

For us we try and stay active and post new content to keep people update on what we are doing as a band, but also mix content up to avoid continually self-promoting which is a no no.

We did set up a TikTok account recently and Ozzy seems to be getting the most views and attention at the moment with his ‘Snare Drum Saturday’ videos and saying random things on videos. It seems to be big with the younger generation. However, Ozzy still doesn’t have a clue what TikTok is, which we all find funny.

Is it more important than, say, streaming outlets especially given the fact that the financial returns for streaming can mean a band doing a lot of work for relatively little reward – i.e. you earn very small percentage returns, with the services themselves taking large chunks of your potential income. Is it worth the effort, or is it a fact of the business that you just have to accept?

Saad: As a band we accept that this is not our full time job so money is not a motivator for us creating music, however I appreciate that some artists need to make a living from music and the current system is not working for smaller indie artists. A high proportion of the revenue streaming platforms earn is not going to the smaller artists and I would prefer that my monthly subscription fee goes to the actual artists I listen to. This is a fair as not everyone listens to top 40 artists. However i do believe the major record labels hold the power over most streaming platforms as  if they change their payout model, these huge record labels and publishing companies can pull their music and stop it being streamed, so it’s a difficult situation.  I just can’t see the current model changing at the current time.

The pandemic of the past few years led to a log of bands having to explore other methods of generating income marketing themselves. I’m thinking of how many bands found themselves having to go down the live streaming route. And a lot of them charged their fans for watching the shows. I know there are pros and cons to “free” versus “pay per view”, but as a young band I’d be interested to know if, given the shitfuck of the past two years, it is more important for you to get your music out there than to make money out of doing so? I guess the point I’m making is “is it worth some short-term pain for long term gain”?

Saad: Live show streaming will get bigger, however this will never replace the live gigging experience in my opinion. Personally I have no interest in paying to watch a live streaming gig sat at my computer. You miss out on the atmosphere and the connection with the audience when at a live gig and streaming a live gig will never replace this feeling. It’s like watching a football match live and then on TV. The feeling is so different.  During COVID-19, live streaming was great for solo artists as they could still perform and get their music out there, but as a three-piece band it wasn’t really realistic.

In terms of free v pay per view, I guess it depends on how big your fan base is. If you’re just starting out as a band the free-view model is probably the best option as you need to build a fanbase so money is not the most important factor, but as you become more established people will be willing to pay for your music/content. However not everything is about money so you could give your music away for free, but obtain an email address. 

Life does seem to be getting back to normality, but do you think the option of things such as lives streams will continue to be used by bands, especially to reach into territories where they may not be able to play, or afford to go to?

Saad: In the next few years, I can see various music style Netflix companies being set up for live music as there is a market for live music streaming, however do people have the attention span to watch a live show on their computer or mobile for an hour. Social media data is showing that people now prefer short form videos less than one minute long, so I’m not sure if people will watch a one hour gig on their computer or TV now we are post COVID-19.   Although, I do agree live streaming can give bands that opportunity to get their music out there in different countries, so there are also benefits. 

So, what is next for the band? What is the plan for, say, the rest of 2022 and 2023 in terms of getting out there and bringing your music to new and expanding audiences?

Saad: We are returning back to London to play at the Hope and Anchor again on 25 November, so we’re looking forward to this and we have a few more ÜK gigs lined up early next year. Our focus is to gig more in the ÜK in 2023 and work on writing new material for the next album. 

OK, now a bit of fun, and a couple of quickfire “out there” questions to give us a wee bit of an insight into your personalities:

  • Ice cream: vanilla or strawberry?

Ozzy: Strawberry

Saad: Vanilla 

  • Gravy or curry sauce on your chips?

Ozzy: Curry Sauce every time

Saad: Gravy

  • Salted or sweet popcorn?

Both – Sweet

  • Buckfast or Irn Bru?

Ozzy: I don’t even know what Buckfast is, so would have to go with Irn Bru and vodka

Saad: Irn Bru

Smarties or M&Ms?

Ozzy: M&Ms   

Saad: M&Ms – as long as it’s not the peanut ones

Pineapple on pizza?

Ozzy: Wouldn’t eat a pizza without pineapple 

Saad: No, why would you put something sweet on a pizza?

Final question: If you had your choice of any bill to be a part of, who would be the three other bands (signed or otherwise) you would choose to play with?

Ozzy: Faith No More, Army Of Anyone and The Clash.

Saad: Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters and Seether.

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