Indie rock heroes Feeder are on course to top off their double anniversary year with a Top 10 album.
The band, who are celebrating 25 years as a band along with the 21st birthday of their seminal EP, Swim, released greatest hits set, Feeder - The Best Of, last week via BMG. The package also includes Arrow, a nine-track mini-album of new material, and sits at No.10 in the midweek charts.
Since forming in Newport in 1992, the trio have attained a remarkable 20 Top 40 singles and seven Top 10 LPs. A previous compilation, The Singles, peaked at No.2 in 2006 and has sold 524,880 copies in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company.
“It’s been 25 years for us as band and it just felt like the perfect time to do it,” said frontman Grant Nicholas, speaking to Music Week. “But I also wanted to make sure there was something new on there, because we’re not a band that want to live off past glories. I’ve still got that creative spark and I still get a buzz out of it.”
Feeder’s 2005 single Feeling A Moment is their most streamed song, with 8.8 million Spotify plays, followed by Buck Rogers (6m), Just A Day (4.8m), Just The Way I’m Feeling (3.2m) and High (2.2m) and Nicholas believes new technology is expanding Feeder’s reach to a new generation of fans.
“If you come to one of our gigs, it’s a bizarre mix of ages,” added Nicholas. “That could be down to a combination of streaming and also parents who have introduced Feeder to their kids, so that’s encouraging. It shocks me sometimes.”
The band, who are represented by booking agent Steve Strange of X-ray Touring, head out on their biggest tour in a decade in 2018, climaxing with their first O2 Academy Brixton show in five years on March 17, promoted by Kilimanjaro Live.
“I think people are realising that its great to have new bands, but you also need bands that have got the tunes and got the history,” said Nicholas. “There are not many bands left like us, but we’re enjoying it and are grateful to still be doing it. Twenty-five years of being in a band, 41 singles - it could be worse.”
Subscribers can access Music Week's full anniversary feature on Feeder, which features contributions from Nicholas and the team around the band, here.
