Biffy on the Liffey

Justice and music aren’t natural bedfellows. For every Muse or Snow Patrol, the yellow brick road is lined with casualties like Clor, Kerbdog and The Immediate who never quite achieved their rightful status.
That’s why the success of Scotland’s finest, Biffy Clyro, is even sweeter. After 12 years together and three top-class albums which became cult favourites but failed to break the mainstream, the new record Puzzle is turning them over to the masses.
The LP hasn’t lost any of their experimental rock roots, yet the death of Simon Neil’s mother has had a profound impact on its more tender moments.
With a broader sound encompassed, the album reached No. 17 here and No. 2 (damn Rihanna!) in the UK – an upward trajectory echoed by their recent Muse supports at Wembley, a Stage 2 Oxegen slot and a personal invitation from Roger Daltrey to open for The Who.
The ball, Simon tells me when the band were last in Dublin, started rolling when they were Kerrang! cover stars in January, and headlined their annual tour which came to the Ambassador in Dublin.
“It didn’t seem quite real,” he admits furrowing his brow. “We’ll probably have the Kerrang! cover framed on our wall for the rest of our lives.”
And now that they’ve made the great leap forward, are they rubbing shoulders with the musicalati?
Drummer Ben Johnston enters the conversation: “Yeah, we went to The Edge’s house just now.”
For tea?
”No,” Simon interjects, “just to see what that bloody delay pedal’s all about. And then switch it off permanently.”
The trio – completed by Ben’s twin James – burst out laughing.
The camaraderie in the group is clear, unforced and little to do with familial bonds. When recounting their adventures in Canada recording the album, the feeling of unity is undeniable.
“Simon had visited Canada before, but it was the first time we’d been as a band so it was amazing,” recounts James. “We started off in Vancouver and then moved to Gibsons, which was in the middle of nowhere and a wee bit like Twin Peaks. We went out for dinner one night and it was so funny – the door creaked open and they all turned around…”
Ben picks up, in a Twin Peaks accent: “…You’re not from around here, boy.”
Simon [in an equally funny drawl]: “We want our thumbs back.”
Recording abroad was a luxury afforded to them with a change of record label; they spent most of 2005 shifting from Beggar’s Banquet to 14th Floor, a subsidiary of Warner’s. So far, they’ve been impressed with their new home.
“We’ve had so much freedom with this record – we’ve taken our time and experimented with all these different ideas…” enthuses James.
“…and been able to see them through,” adds Simon. “We wanted strings on the album so instead of getting a mate to do it or having one of us bastardise the strings, we were able to hire a small orchestra. That’s so much more fulfilling.”
Their work ethic is unparalleled, particularly on the live front – for example they’ve now played three full tours of Ireland rather than just the Dublin/Belfast stop-off annoyingly favoured by most bands.
Simon explains their fixation: “It’s because we didn’t get a chance to come over during the first couple of albums, so when we could, we wanted to put the effort in. Plus we know what it’s like in a small town: if a band does just one date in Glasgow, that’s a five-hour drive for people in Inverness.”
Unsurprisingly, it’s their fans (known collectively as ‘Team Biffy’) from Scotland that they claim are the most hardcore.
“Biffy fans everywhere are crazy but Scotland’s on another level. It’s almost like we could fart into the microphone and we’d get a cheer,” he jokes. “It’s like a big family get-together when we play Glasgow; there’s a huge sense of community.”
Have any over-enthusiastic fans camped outside their door?
“They know which towns we live in – Simon’s from Ayr and we’re from Kilmarnock – but we’re always out and about and people know they can approach us, so we don’t really get any hassle we don’t want,” explains Ben.
James: “We’re lucky in that our hometowns are shit so there’s not too many people who’d be into a band like ours.”
Ben agrees. “If Bono walked down the street in either of our towns, they’d be like, [with a thick Scottish accent] ‘Oooh, that’s the guy from Franz Ferdinand.’”
“We do have some really dedicated fans though,” interjects Simon. “One of them made us an embroidered sheet with cartoons of us…”
“…and a whole fucking comic book involving our songs and lyrics,” Ben chips in. “Really well thought-out, creative stuff. It’s amazing.”
Better than an ‘I love you’ note written in blood then?
“Yeah,” quips Simon. “And ‘I need a lock of your hair’!”

Biffy Clyro's Puzzle gets an Oxegen airing on Saturday July 7.