Almost everybody has a band that they absolutely adore, but have never quite managed to see performing live. Before this interview, quirky Welsh rockers Super Furry Animals topped my list of such bands. The previous two times they had come to town, I was either too young to get into the club where they were playing, or stuck at a friend’s wedding without a date. I had started to believe that SFA would remain forever elusive. Then, finally, it happened: the Super Furries were coming, and I could make it. I was old enough to get into the club, and my single friends had all thoughtfully opted to remain single.

The prospect of actually seeing the band was further heightened when I was offered an opportunity to chat with SFA lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Gruff Rhys. This would offer its own challenges -- particularly when it came to acquiring an advance listening copy of Mwng, the Welsh-only album behind which the band was touring. The band's label was still waiting for their promotional CDs, and a priority-mailed cassette dub of the album failed to materialize on schedule. Even a brief allegiance with the Dark Side -- Napster -- failed to produce results. I would be interviewing the band about an album I hadn't even heard.

Undaunted, I arrived at Chicago's Double Door ready to reverse my SFA curse. Everything was running smoothly -- almost too smoothly, which naturally made me nervous. After finding the band’s tour manager I ran into the first minor snag of the evening: It seems that Gruff had impulsively gone out to see the Sears Tower and was not back yet. Now I was starting to sweat a bit; the first band was done, the second band was halfway through their set and the clock was ticking. Luckily, Gruff re-appeared at the last minute and we retreated to the band’s (heavily marijuana-scented) dressing room to talk. Unfortunately we did not have much time for our conversation, but as we were both suffering from sleep deprivation (and possibly, in Gruff's case, the effects of certain herbal fumes), that might have been a blessing in disguise.

SPLENDID: So, do you guys like touring America? Do you like coming here? Is it cool?

GRUFF: Yeah. Yeah. It's...erm...it's very...exotic for us. And exciting.

SPLENDID: How are the crowds here different from home crowds?

GRUFF: I think all crowds have similar needs wherever you go, y'know? Wherever you go you start fresh, and play to a new audience. It's always exciting, y'know? And, erm... you've got a cool microphone. Is it stereo?

SPLENDID: Yeah.

GRUFF: Wow. It's like a horned beast.

OTHER SFA GUY: Or it could be one of those electrical discharge things from...uhh, Star Trek or whatever.

SPLENDID: A phaser? Okay.

GRUFF: You should draw a face on it.

SPLENDID: That'd be nice. You could draw one on there if you'd like. (Gruff indicates that this might be a bit beyond his present faculties) Okay, we'll try to get back to the questions.

GRUFF: (chuckles)

SPLENDID: Okay...I know Mwng is in Welsh. Had you always intended to release an album all in Welsh, or was this just a spur-of-the-moment decision?

GRUFF: Yeah, we had twelve songs, we recorded them and released the record. It was quite straightforward. Erm...it's...you know, it's a language we all speak, so it's as normal for us to do it in Welsh as it is to do it in English.

SPLENDID: Besides the language difference, how is Mwng different from Guerrilla or Radiator?

GRUFF: Erm...we recorded it in the same studio as Radiator, so it's probably more similar to Radiator. We experimented with digital technology on Guerrilla, whilst...erm...Mwng is more of an analog album and the songs are played a bit more "live".

SPLENDID: And you released Mwng on your own label, Placid Casual. Was that always the plan or was that because of Creation folding?

GRUFF: Yeah, it was gonna come out on Creation, but they folded so we bought the album back from them for six thousand pounds and released it ourselves.

SPLENDID: So will everything from here on out be on Placid Casual?

GRUFF: We're not sure, because Creation were bought up by Sony Music. We don't know what the situation is there yet.

SPLENDID: So you may still be contractually bound to them?

GRUFF: There might be a takeover bid for us. We're in limbo at the moment.

SPLENDID: Even if you don't release any more of your own stuff, are there plans to release any other records on Placid Casual?

GRUFF: I don't know if we'll ever sign anyone, but we'll definitely release records. The criteria will be good tunes, good songs, good records...and we have a few planned at the moment that should be out soon.

SPLENDID: Something I'm personally curious about: those big inflatable bears you guys used to have -- where are those now?

GRUFF: We still have them. They're in a lockup space. We're looking for a good home for them.

SPLENDID: They'd look good in my yard...

GRUFF: Have you got a big yard?

SPLENDID: I always thought, from the pictures of them, they looked so cool -- so big.

GRUFF: Yeah, they're forty feet high...but...we'd have to interview you...you know...if you were to have the bears...to see if they'd go to a good home.

SPLENDID: It gets too cold here in winter. I'd have to take 'em down.

GRUFF: That's fair enough. Take 'em inside.

SPLENDID: My house isn't that big. They'd take up all the space.

GRUFF: Inflate them in your local church.

SPLENDID: I could do that.

GRUFF: That was cool.

SPLENDID: You guys played All Tomorrow's Parties not too long ago. How'd that go?

GRUFF: It was cool...we got to see some bands...it was quite a different...erm...atmosphere to other festivals, y'know? We had a good time.

SPLENDID: I'm sure you watched a lot of the other bands. Who was your favorite? Did anyone really stand out?

GRUFF: (After a very long pause) I think...erm...Godspeed You Black Emperor and...erm...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead...and the Delgados...it seems like such a long time ago.

SPLENDID: The other day I was reading that interview you did with Stewart from Mogwai...from SELECT, I think. It was interesting to hear you two go back and forth.

GRUFF: That was funny...yeah...it was very nice weather.

SPLENDID: After you guys finish here and go home, are you going to do the festivals? Glastonbury, maybe?

GRUFF: We're gonna do the Reading Festival...I think the Fuji Festival in Japan...and the Withness Festival in Ireland. That's our festival itinerary for this year.

SPLENDID: And after that you go home and start work on the next album?

GRUFF: We're gonna record a bit. We've started recording a new album. We've recorded about seven songs, and we're gonna carry on in America. We're gonna record a bit before we leave. And then we'll continue 'til the fall, y'know?

SPLENDID: You guys are now on Flydaddy in the US, but the first album came out on Epic. Was there something that happened with Epic that led to Radiator not being released on Epic and being picked up by Flydaddy?

GRUFF: It was more that nothing happened, rather than something happened. We've always been keen to come to America and tour, and we were trying to get Epic -- you know how Epic are. We were like "We'd like to come out and tour" and they were like "Oh, no, please don't. Don't bother." It just...y'know. They might as well have released it as an import, y'know? We didn't feel that they understood what we were trying to do, really, whereas Flydaddy have some inkling what we're about, and they physically drove us around on our first tour. It's a better environment for us to be in.

SPLENDID: There was such a huge gap between Fuzzy Logic and Radiator here -- Radiator came out and then two months later there was Guerrilla, so people kind of got hit over the head twice by you guys.

GRUFF: And now Mwng should be on its way as well...

SPLENDID: The third whack on the head.

GRUFF: Yeah...

SPLENDID: I heard somewhere, and I don't know if it's true, that on "The Man Don't Give a Fuck", you guys had some problems with Steely Dan because of a sample. Is that true?

GRUFF: Yeah. It was meant to be a B-side --

Gruff gets sidetracked by a lengthy conversation with other band members. The Super Furries should've been on stage five minutes ago.

GRUFF: Which...erm...question were we on?

SPLENDID: The Steely Dan thing.

GRUFF: Oh, yeah! What's his name -- Becker? (A lengthy pause while Gruff searches his mind, unsuccessfully, for Walter Becker's name) -- he got ill, so his lawyer put song clearance on hold, so we couldn't get clearance for a few months. I still can't remember his name. Sorry this isn't a better story.

The band is due on stage momentarily, so in order to leave Gruff's remaining consciousness for the fans, we opt to end our interview at this point.