THE Super Furry Animals talk to David Powell about their new album, money and why they've finally ditched the yeti suits IT'S 3.10pm and I still have half an hour before my appointment with Super Furry Animals' drummer Dafydd Ieuan and bassist Guto Pryce. So I kick my heels and have a wander past shops on the busy Cowbridge Road East in Cardiff. There's the usual selection of fish'n'chips and sandwich bars. Suddenly a shop confronts me on the street's corner. There, beside the peeling Fight Poverty Not War posters, is a licensed sex shop. But it isn't the white lettering on the blued-out windows for "rubberware, marital aids and novelties" which catches my eye,, it's the sign above the door in huge, crimson capitals - LOVECRAFT - almost the same name as Super Furry Animals' new album Love Kraft... Just a coincidence? Well, it might well be. Lead singer Gruff has said of the album's title: "I had a vague notion that all the songs were about relationships. Love and how it goes wrong, love of the road, even love of aliens. That is why it's called Love Kraft." I'm meeting the band at the headquarters of their managers, Ankst Management Ltd just down the road, but the building proves elusive - there's an alley where it should have been. I can't find it anywhere - Ankst are starting to cause me a lot of angst and I haven't even met the lads yet. In desperation, I pop into the hi-fi store next door. "Don't worry," says a salesman cheerfully. "People ask for directions all the time." Ankst are in fact up the alley and through a nondescript door in a building on the right which has no sign whatsoever, except a cryptic sticker proclaiming "We Are Antlers". It's already shaping up to be a long day. After buzzing the intercom, a young woman called Ffion opens up and leads me upstairs to a first floor office. Inside, is a long lounge-cum-storeroom to the left and an editing suite to the right. Guto Pryce joins me in the lounge, Daf Ieuan shortly afterwards as he is busily "ordering a hard drive online" in the other room. Their new, seventh album was recorded in Figueres, Spain, and starts with the sound of guitarist Huw "Bunf" Bunford diving into a swimming pool. "It was a perfectly executed dive to Olympic standard," purrs 32--year-old Guto, deadpan, on the low settee. "We have a high standard for everything we do and that includes swimming. "It was in an outdoor pool in Catalonia, the Pyrenees were in the distance and we were surrounded by sunflower fields. The splash makes you think you're on holiday. It was an afterthought to include it on the album." As Cardiff-born Guto explains, this record is different. "There were more songwriters, not just predominantly Gruff, and everybody chipped in. We sit down with a list of songs and people present them in different forms, either on a guitar, CD or as a demo. We see which ones work together. We'd rehearsed them a lot before going to Spain. This album's very orchestral with a mixed choir on a couple of songs." Formed a decade ago, Super Furry Animals are frontman Gruff Rhys, guitarist Huw "Bunf" Bunford,, keyboard player Cian Ciaran - they're all away today - plus Daf, 36, and Guto. I look up as Daf walks in, shakes hands and sits in a comfy armchair on a cushion with psychedelic dots. On a table are chocolate-coated doughnuts and white jumpsuits hang up nearby with labels for "Gruff" and "Cian". There's also an enormous poster of a hairy yeti on the far wall. Super Furry Animals used to dress up as yetis. The conversation turns to how well the new album might sell. Daf shrugs. "Who knows? It's out of your hands. You can do interviews, your videos and your touring but you can't go into people's heads and get them to buy the record," he says.. "We want to sell enough to carry on. Considering how hard it is and how many bands come and go, it's quite an achievement. The new album's more lush. It's easier to listen to." The Super Furry Animals have never been more popular, performing recently in Istanbul and Dolgellau at Sesiwn Fawr. "The Sesiwn Fawr was bonkers. Typically mental North Wales crowds." Where to next? "We've never played in Africa, although you've got to avoid all the wars. I've also got a taste for South America having mixed the album in Rio." Sure enough, along with beige shorts and sandals, he's wearing a shiny, black football shirt belonging to Rio's soccer giants Vasco Da Gama which he bought there for $10. The Furries flew to Rio de Janeiro to mix the new album with producer Mario Caldato who lives there. Daf snorts: "It was cheaper than going up the road to Rockfield Studios (in Monmouth) even after the flights and everything. "Mario isn't a whipcracker, it was stress free. He's into the engineering and getting the vibe." With all this travelling for work, do they have time to visit their families? Bangor-born Daf says: "My mam and dad live in Anglesey and I've got loads of mates in Menai Bridge, Bangor, Bethesda... I'd love to go up there more often. "Even if I wasn't on tour it'd still be a b*****d to get all the way up to North Wales." But doesn't he drive a flashy Mercedes? "No, I wish!" laughs Daf gruffly.. "I've got a second-hand, red Citroen diesel. I borrow it off my girlfriend's dad. It's got a two-litre engine and it's nippy as f***." So no Mercedes but how wealthy really are the Furries? "We earn more than a nurse for making music which is a very privileged position to be in," says Daf.. "People do much more beneficial jobs. But we never make money from touring. It costs between £12,000 and £15,000 to put a show on every night. "You'd be surprised how little money we have, even though once you've signed a contract people say 'You must be a millionaire'." Guto adds: "We've had that ever since the year dot. We make a living but we're not mortgage-free." Maybe the 12-track CD Love Kraft will bear fruit. It's a rich mixture of ballads and anthems and may be their best yet. Fans will enjoy the lovely Back On a Roll which is irresistibly catchy and reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop, the gorgeous Ohio Heat, soaring Cloudberries and infectious Lazer Beam. What does the band make of the recent Live 8 concert? "It's easy to be cynical but it was better than f*** all," says Daf.. "I find it very hard listening to lecturing people like Madonna saying: 'Are you ready to start a revolution?' Ah,, shut up, just sing woman!" They don't claim to be multi-millionaires, but they are a canny band. "We've been in £800-a-day studios and half the time somebody's there putting something on computer for you. And you think: We might as well learn how to do this ourselves cos it's one less link in the chain. It's cheaper and you're a bit more in control," says Daf. As for the future, they don't rule out another Welsh album. "In North Wales there's probably a decline in Welsh. But round here, I've got a kid who I'm trying to get into Welsh nursery. It's hard because demand is so high. You could open 10 new Welsh language schools in Cardiff and they'd fill them." As for his Welsh compatriot and girl-about-town Charlotte Church, he says: "I'd love to go on the p**s with her." Before I leave, I can't help mentioning that gimmicky yeti poster. "We killed the yetis off last year," explains Guto.. "We can't keep on dressing as yetis. Sometimes these things overshadow what you do." * Super Furry Animals' new album Love Kraft is out on August 22 before a UK tour in September. | 
