Furny

furny is an British alternative band that formed in 1998. Best known for an experimental style of alternative music, the band were one of the first established acts to use Creative Commons licenses on their work.

furny's best-known songs include "Bagpuss" (from the 1999-2005 EP), "Knight Rider Overkill" and "Song for Emma". Their experimental nature allows them a quick turnaround on production, enabling them to produce tracks within days or even hours of events breaking, such as "The Day That John Thingy Died", a song about John Ritter's premature death, and Leeds, which references the hometown of the many of the suspects of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

furny's heavy use of samples means that many of their early tracks are unavailable for release, due to their copyright infringement nature. This led the band to make better use of public domain samples, taken from The Internet Archive.

The band is particularly vocal about its dislike of 'celebrity', and particularly those who seem to seek it by exploiting their particularly misfortune, such as Simon Weston, decorated war-hero and after dinner speaker.

History

Before furny (1998)

LeCetto and Cousens met in 1998, when LeCetto presented his Bagpuss demo. Between 1999 and 2005, they worked feverishly, producing a number of tracks under a variety of names, many of which were made available on peer to peer networks, such as Napster and Morpheus.

1999-2005 EP (1999 - 2005)

In 2005, an EP was released, via CD Baby, called simply 1999 -2005 EP, containing high-fidelity recordings of many of their more popular tracks. Copies of the CD were sold with a password on them, offering access to a special part of their website, where other tracks, including some which were not recorded for the release could be downloaded. Most of the meager profits from the EP release was used to purchase a Nintendo NES console from eBay, with the intention to use it on later recordings.

The EP was originally known as 'The Legend of Richard Cousens', and later 'Fatcock'.

All Kinds Of Cool Stuff, the furny sessions and reshuffle (2006)

In 2005, hot on the heels of the EP, the band set about working on their next album, All Kinds Of Cool Stuff, which even managed a (now rare) Japanese pressing, after the band were downloaded by the owner of an Japanese indie label.

This was followed by a period of 15 months, known as the furny sessions in which occasional tracks were posted to the bands website, and various peer to peer services, including The Day That John Thingy Died and Song for Emma - during this time, Emma Heys who had joined the band during the recording of All Kinds Of Cool Stuff left, partly due to the failure of the OMFG EP, and was replaced by Vikki Crowe, who had worked with LeCetto on his aborted solo album. As a trio, furny refined the recording process to produce the sessions-inspired record, more mature escapades in hi-fi in under two weeks.

Recently, furny are working on their next release, Another Rock and Roll Halloween, which includes a cover version of The Monster Mash.

Name

The band's name is a variation on the word 'funny'. This was suggested by a friend of band upon hearing Bagpuss.

OMFG EP

Despite the total failure of the recording process, and a release of only 14 copies, the band continues to list OMFG EP as part of its discography. The breakdown within the band over this caused Emma Heys to leave, and almost caused LeCetto and Cousens to consider winding up the band. During this time, LeCetto worked with harpist Vikki Crowe on his solo record, (A Parody Of Each) Unconscious Thing (You Do). The track Celebration For The Coming Of Vikki To Gig In London Song was featured, identically, on both recordings.

Influences

The band cites a wide number of influences in its recordings, from fellow artists like The Beatles, Ween, They Might Be Giants and Neil Innes, to family members and even random people, including Guy Blandford, 'that guy on the bus' and 'hot girl seen on the train to Exeter'.

Discography

Studio Albums

* All Kinds Of Cool Stuff (2006)
* All Kinds Of Cool Stuff (Japanese release) (2006)

EPs and Singles

* 1999-2005 EP (2005)
* Slutty Mother (2006)
* OMFG EP (2006)
* more mature escapades in hi-fi (2007)
* Another Rock and Roll Halloween (2007)

Horsley Sound

Horsley Sound is the band's own record label. It was formed in 2006 for the release of OMFG EP, but first used for Another Rock and Roll Halloween. Other artists on Horsley Sound include Bunty LeCetto and Chimney Factory. The label is co-managed by the band (LeCetto, Cousens, Crowe) with their management team (Mark Stephenson, Liam Smith, Nick Hancock and Captain William Horsley, the label's namesake)

Notes and references

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See Also

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