Seven days in the sun: Grant Nicholas on Feeder’s long-awaited Aussie return

It’s great to have you back in Australia for the first time in 14 years! What’s the biggest difference between Feeder now and the last time we saw you on our stages?

Maybe a few more grey hairs, but otherwise we are still doing what we do and still enjoying it. Our musical catalogue has also grown considerably, as we have released a lot of new music since our last visit there, when we had just released our seventh album, Renegades.

On your previous visits, you played with Muse, and on the Soundwave tour, some amazing shows! What are your favourite memories of touring down under?

Great weather along with great food and audiences. Australia always seems so relaxed and always up for a party. Moving around city to city on the Soundwave festival tour was a great experience for us, and we also got to watch some great bands on the billing. The Muse tour was our first trip to Australia, so that was a lot of fun as well as a cultural education.

And what are you looking forward to this time round? And Perth in particular? I read that you have friends here, and it was a favourite place to visit of yours…

We generally liked all the cities we played but had a bit more time to see Perth and be shown around the sites by our friends, so we got to see a fair bit of the beautiful city.

On our arrival, the guys from Muse told us some guy had died after being mauled by a great white shark on his daily morning swim. They had been at the same beach only the day before, so we decided to give that planned band and crew beach trip a miss. It’s a pity, as the beaches were fantastic.

So many good memories of Sydney and Melbourne also, amongst others. Just too many to list.

You arrive on the back of your latest record, Black/Red, which is the final instalment in a trilogy of albums that began with the COVID-era Torpedo. Why did you elect to release music in that format? Was there something you wanted to do or say that was too big for a single LP?

I’ve personally always wanted to make a double album at some point, and it just felt like the right time for us. I had so many songs written that felt like they belonged together, sharing the same musical journey.

It became a real labour of love, and we really wanted it to be a strong listen, with no filler. Torpedo, which is the first part of the so-called three-album trilogy, was going to be a double, but we decided to wait for the Black/Red release.

And how would you describe the difference between the Black and Red records? Is there something that distinguishes the music on the two records?

I think the ‘Red album‘ side has some classic Feeder, more melodic, anthemic tracks and is maybe slightly lighter sonically than the ‘Black album’ side. Double albums can often be too long and have too much filler, so we really tried to keep it interesting, but also classic Feeder, making the music we like.

And have you had much of a chance to play new material live? Will we be able to hear some of it at your Australian live shows?

Yes, we’ve been touring the Black/Red album in the UK and Europe, so it’s been nice playing some of that material live. There is some new music already recorded, plus I’m always writing new stuff, so there will definitely be some new Feeder music coming next year, as well as a reissue of our Comfort in Sound album in September this year.

At the shows in Australia and the rest of the far east tour, we will be playing a good mix of Black/Red material, plus some Feeder classics and maybe a few more old school songs.

What are your future plans for Feeder after the tour? With an impressive twelve albums to date, is it greedy of us to expect still more new music from you in the future?

There will definitely be new music coming in the future, and we are really trying to do more shows and play new territories we’ve never been to or revisited for a while. We’ve been a band now for over 30 years but there’s still so much more we’d like to do and many boxes to still to tick before it’s time to leave the party.

Feeder’s Black/Red Tour hits Rosemount Hotel on Saturday, April 5, 2025. Tickets are on sale now from thephoenix.au