In the great big circle of rock life, each generation of bands passes their wisdom and pitfall warnings onto the next. The person they are telling usually don’t listen and their band splits up over a row about which flavour of Doritos to have on their rider but still, it happens nonetheless. Dance-y indie-rock quartet Foals have now been around long enough to pass on their own tales to the next wave of bands just as they received themselves – a couple of years ago, frontman Yannis Philippakis told this writer all about some of the advice he’d been given from his elders.
“Michael Stipe told me to see a reflexologist or acupuncturist,” he began, stating that he’d been talking to the R.E.M. frontman about how brutal touring was for his body. “At the time, I’d get back to Oxford and go straight to the pub. I wouldn’t know how to stop the tour, it would continue with me at home in a way that I’ve learned better now. Michael Stipe said the way to do that is you have to allow yourself to be ill when you get home, go and see acupuncturist and release all this stuff. I didn’t ever do it but I liked the advice.”
