McFly

The wait is over, McFly are back with Power To Play, their biggest, boldest and most brilliantly noisy statement yet. Their highly anticipated 7th album is an all-out celebration of rock music and will be released on June 9.

Over 10 million Albums sold, Winners of Multiple Awards, 91 Million Youtube Views. 1.2Million monthly listeners on Spotify. Apart from these amazing things, what would you say you are most proud of achieving?

Harry: Attitude’s Sexiest Man Of The Year 2000.

Dougie: We performed with Brian May once, and that was pretty amazing. That’s certainly something that everybody, globally, seems to be impressed by.

And on the flip is there anything you still want to achieve either personally or as a band?

Harry: I always say the same thing. I just want to keep doing what we are doing. Hopefully in another 10 years time, we will still be chatting to people about new music and things that we have done and tours that we have been on. Yeah, just keep doing what we are doing.

It’s crazy that 20 years have passed since we were first introduced to you guys, would you have imagined that you would still be working together, making music, touring etc in 2023?

Harry: I think that there was a general sense from all of us that we very quickly realised that this was something forever. I mean there was always people like family saying “What’s he going to do when this is all over?”, “When is he going to get a real job?” “He should be prepared for when this all finishes?” I just always had a feeling that it would last , so none of us ever considered it. It was never, ever a conversation of it not happening.

Having worked together so long is how you work like a well oiled machine with everything running like clockwork or can things still be a challenge?

Dougie: Yes, there are still challenging times but I think that as time goes on we just get better at what we do. I can only see us getting better, better at production, better at playing. I think everybody has their own challenges but musically it has always been great.

The music business and industry has changed so much, do you think if you were starting out in this day and age you would be as successful?

Harry: I think it would be completely different. It’s a lot harder for young bands to make ‘noise’, it’s difficult. Now, you don’t really see young bands getting signed, I can’t think of a young band that ‘breaks through’ anymore.

I think we would be cancelled pretty quickly. Some of the stuff that comes out of your mouth at 17!

Everyone I interview says they have amazing fanswhat makes yours the best?

Dougie: I’m actually still blown away that they are still into us. They are literally the life blood of our band. If it wasn’t for them then we wouldn’t have been here for 20 years, for sure. I have no idea why they like us so much and why they keep coming to our shows and supporting us. But we definitely wouldn’t have got very far without them.

Are your fans the people that have grown up with you or is it new audiences or a mix of it all?

Dougie: It is definitely a mix of them all now.

Harry: Yes, because all of our fans from the ages of 8 to 20 when we first started or 8 to 18 would have been our main demographic, the 15-16 year olds they are like 35 or 36 now and some of the have 10 year old children that are coming to shows so it’s a bit of a mix. Another 10 years down the line there will be a more younger breed of fans so we are always trying to strike that balance between keeping older fans keen and interested and the bringing on new fans as well.

Talking about new fans and kids, you have 3, what do they think of your music?

I’ve got a daughter aged 7 and she likes some of our stuff and my son is completely obsessed. Actually I would say possessed! He is guitar mad. He is 5 and all he wants to do is listen to McFly, particularly our new stuff. He loves the guitars. He just walks around with a guitar around his neck all of the time. Yes, that’s all he talks about which is pretty cool. One of Tom’s kids is pretty much the same, so it’s really amazing to see that you can have that influence on them. My son comes to the studio and watches us rehearse and brings his guitar. I’m really happy to be able to give him this opportunity, for him to be exposed to something so cool.

Dougie - People loved the legend series of I’m a celebrity, did you watch? Where you ever asked to be involved?

Dougie: I did not watch and I was not invited.

If you were asked would you have done it again?

Dougie: No not at the moment. We have got a new album to promote so I am pretty busy.

I obviously didn’t really make that much impact on the show. That’s how I ended up winning, people just forgot I was there.

Harry, I love musicals, you are no stranger to the stage having done several - any more shows in the pipeline and what is your dream role or show?

Harry: No, not really. If you would have told me 10 years ago I would have ended up doing shows I would have laughed at you. I’ve only been able to do one because it was dance and music based so I played a bit of drums and danced. I’m not really a good enough singer to be in a musical. There are certain musicals I really enjoy so it’s kind of crazy to me that I was in a couple. The Friends one, that was more of an acting and comedy role which I really enjoyed.

Tom is the musicals guy of the band, he did one that I was in again. I was dancing and playing the drums, I somehow fit into some of them, however I am never a leading man. I shouldn’t really admit because I think some people assume that I could be but I just don’t think its quite me.

So we are not going to see you singing lead vocals in Les Miserables?

Harry: No. I’m afraid I don’t quite have the pipes for that, unfortunately. To be honest, when I did that stuff it was when the band wasn’t really active, so it was just opportunities that came to me at the time. I have to keep working, so I found myself suddenly in the West End. I worked hard, I enjoyed it and I can dance. That was a totally new and amazing experience, a really different world for me. Being a drummer from a band and suddenly going into this world with dancers and singers, it is so different. From the music people are into, the fashion, the culture, everything. I felt slightly like an odd one out but I did enjoy it and it was a good experience. I’m at my happiest when I am playing the drums with McFly.

Right we need to talk about the new album “Power To Play” which is out on 9th June. Is there still the same level of excitement, pressure and expectations etc when you release new material?

Dougie: The excitement is certainly 100 per cent. The excitement has never really gone anywhere. You always feel like you are on the brink of a song that is going to align the planets and it is going to change the world. I think we just put pressure on ourselves to make something that satisfies all of our needs and is a great song but still works live.

Now more than ever we love what we do and feel very privileged and fortunate to be able to do it. How does this album compare and differ to your previous ones?

Harry: It is the heaviest music we have done it is very guitar driven. It is a proper rock album. We were just like ‘F*** it’, no rules really apply here, we can do what we want. It was quite liberating and a lot of fun.

Watching the videos seemed like you were having a lot of fun?

Harry: Yes it was so much fun. There is still variety on there. There are definitely songs on there that people wouldn’t believe were McFly, which is exciting.

Danny was one of the producers. Does that help with the process?

Dougie: I’ve always found it a massive help because he is kind of like your translator. You can play him something that you like, like guitar or a vocal sound, and Danny can translate what it is and knows how to pick it apart so that we can go away and recreate it.

We spent about 2 years on and off making this album and there were a good few months in between where we just done deep dives on guitars. We learned stuff from some of the great rock producers like Bob Rock and Mutt Lange and Jerry Finn. I think it is a great asset.

Harry: Also, we have our own studio now, so to be able to have a member of a band that can produce music is great. If we suddenly have a song it doesn’t get stale. Momentums are really important thing in a creative process. Even if they are really good songs that can just get left behind quite easily.

If Dougie had an idea on this album and Danny is there. He just says “Here’s an idea”, then he plays it to everyone and we are like “that’s great” record it and you have a producer in the band that can produce it. Our other producer, Jason Perry, can’t just put his life on hold for 2 years, so he committed to a certain amount of time and then Danny did these other tracks. He sort of follows our lead as well, he is confident with his decision making but he doesn’t dictate how it is going to be. He is very open to all of our thoughts.

I love ‘God of Rock N Roll’, it is such a mind melt though, it reminds me of 2 or 3 classic rock songs, was this intentional?

Dougie: Yes, it is totally intentional. It was the last song written for the album and it was born from this idea that if there was a God of Rock and Roll then we certainly would worship him. Like going to a gig and kind of like going to a church - everybody is there for the same reason and everyone is just having a good time and singing along. It is euphoric and there is something kind of spiritual about it and that is how the concept of the song was born. Anytime it got to punky or weird, it didn’t feel right, so sticking to the classic rock song formula, it captured the essence of it. There are a lot of nods to our favourite bands in that song.

When it comes to the creating process, who takes the lead or do you all get involved?

Harry: It is really varied. Often Tom will come in and have a song that is just finished or he will have the bulk of it done and he will want our input. Sometimes Danny and Dougie will write a song together, or it will be Danny, Dougie and Tom, or just Dougie or Danny. I often come in towards the end of it and have an opinion from an outsiders perspective which I think can be quite helpful at times. It’s very varied and it’s a real collaboration. It is literally just a complete mx from the 4 of us, some more than others.

You will be touring soon, what are the best and worst things about it for you?

Dougie: The best thing is playing a show every night. I don’t dance so I don’t know what it feels like to go out dancing, but I imagine it’s like you let off a lot of steam and energy. And people applaud you when you finish which is always cool.

The only bad thing about touring is how ‘beat up’ your body feels. If we do 3 shows in a row, obviously your voice starts going a bit, but physically, we don’t prepare our bodies for the amount of jumping around that we do. I’ve got a sore neck at the moment because I have been rehearsing standing up do god knows what I am going to feel like after these first few shows on tour.

Elephant in the room, there aren’t any dates in Ireland - What’s that about lol - Any plans on coming over soon?

Harry: Daniel, all I can say is, we are working on it.

Fan Questions

Paul Roche asks have you ever been approached or approached McDonalds to do any type of fun collaboration - The Mc Fly lol

Harry: Yes, actually we did have a McFly toy in the Happy Meal. It was like a real retro toy, like a collectors item, a fan has that, I often see it. Often loads of fans comment and say “OMG That’s my childhood”. Also, I think it was our third album where are faces popped up - it may have played music but I’m not too sure. Actually, Tom did a collaboration with McDonald’s with his kids books, but yeah. cFly, McFlurry - do they still do McFlurry’s?

Gary Campion asks- I remember you stripping off for a Gay Magazine back in the day, would you have any objections to doing it again for the GNI Readers lol

Dougie: I wouldn’t have any objections but I think we don’t look that good naked anymore. I think it would just offend people if we got naked.

Harry: Daniel, Dougie is talking absolute s***. He is in the best shape of his life. Look, I love getting naked but I think maybe we have pretty much went the full ways there’s not much else to see now.

Dougie: Did we get completely naked?

Harry: That’s all that’s left is full frontal!

Louise1992sarget asks if you could do a collaboration with anyone dead or alive who would it be?

Harry: Do you know who I would love to collaborate with? I just think Lewis Capaldi is so great. He has got to be the first person ever that is as good a comedian as he is a musician/songwriter. He somehow manages to be really funny in a ridiculous way, but then also totally believable with really moving and heartfelt songs. He has just always been really nice about McFly as well, so I think that we would get on which would be fun.

I would also like to do something with Springsteen. Danny absolutely idolises Bruce Springsteen and anyone that comes to see us play live and doesn’t know anything about us will look at Danny and say “He likes Springsteen”. So that would be cool.

Connies147 asked Can you describe ‘Power to Play’ in 3 words?

Dougie: Erm, rad, rad, rad!

Sarahdumbell said I am coming to meet you in Leeds for the signing, my 7 year old son Tommy is such a fan, he asked what is your favourite song to perform and who is your favourite football team?

Harry: Well, I support Arsenal Tommy. Danny supports Bolton. Dougie supports Panathinaikos., which is ironic for Dougie because he’s not really interested In football. So Bolton and Arsenal.

So, I’m loving playing our oldest songs like ‘One for the Radio’ and ’Lies’. However, I am loving playing all of our new songs. They are the most fun songs to play live. They are up tempo, the drum parts are fun, there’s loads of guitar solos, so any of the new album basically