American Interior… Woah

WATCH: trailer for Gruff Rhys American Interior film/book/album with Flaming Lips drummer

Published on January 29th, 2014 | Jonny Abrams

It’s the Gruff Rhys American Interior news that’s sweeping the nation! The legendary Super Furry Animals front man, distinguished solo artist, Neon Neon dabbler, Mogwai/Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse/Gorillaz collaborator and so much more has an exciting trailer for his new film/album/book/app for us for sure for reals.

And if that’s not enough, it also – with Flaming Lips drummer and confirmed SFA junkie Kliph Scurlock along for the ride – constitutes the Furries/Lips cross-pollination we’ve always dreamed of.

They could call themselves the Furry Lips, if that wasn’t a bit disgusting. Super Flaming Animals? Sounds like a dodgy fast food joint.

Anyway, here’s the trailer for that there Gruff Rhys American Interior thing we were harping on about:

Quoth Rhys (presumably):

American Interior is an exploration of how wild fantasies interact with hard history and how myth-making can inspire humans to partake in crazy, vain pursuits of glory, including exploration, war and the creative arts.

And furthermore:

In 2012 I embarked on an investigative concert tour of the American Interior, retracing the steps, and looking for the grave of a relative called John Evans.

John Evans left Wales for Baltimore in 1792 and walked into the wilderness of the Allegheny mountains in search of a lost tribe of Welsh-speaking Native Americans, believed to be the descendants of Prince Madog.

Over seven eventful years, with very little in the way of resources, he embarked on a series of incredible adventures, lived with several First Nation tribes and left a trail of political chaos from which America never recovered. I took his cue and travelled through the Midwest playing gigs and writing songs.

In St Louis I picked up Kliph Scurlock from The Flaming Lips, who joined me on drums. We powered up the Missouri River by boat, playing more shows on the shore. In Omaha we went to Mike Mogis’s Arc studio and cut a record, then carried on upriver to play the UMOnHOn and Fort Berthold reservations.

Dylan Goch who directed a film called ‘Separado!’ about my previous investigative concert tour joined me again and shot a new documentary on the way.

When I got home I wrote a book about the tour and John Evans’s epic adventure. It’s called American Interior. The film is also called American Interior. As is the album.

So, there you have it. What with Super Furry Animals bandmates Cian Ciarán, Daf Ieuan, Guto Pryce and Huw Bunford all with new stuff in the offing, 2014 looks like being the Super Furriest year yet not to feature Super Furry Animals itself.

When the offshoots are this good, though, we’re happy to wait for album number 10:

Now check out this groovy content:

What about the other Super Furry Animals? What are they up to? Well…

Artists: gruff rhys, super furry animals

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.