Nowhere Boys

EVERYONE needs a refuge; a haven where they can escape the frenzy of the world.

And few people have had such a frantic year as Ben Duffy.

With his band Fenech-Soler, he is busy cutting up dancefloors everywhere with synthy electro-funk.

Fortunately for this hard-working foursome, they do have a bolthole to which they can retreat. Their music may sound relentlessly metropolitan, but this threesome are country lads – hailing from a small village in Northamptonshire.

Home is a tiny hamlet called Kings Cliffe. You most likely have never heard of it; few have. But it’s in this cosy corner, deep in the farming country on the far side of Corby, that I catch up with Ben.

“This place is the middle of nowhere,” he says. “But it’s really good to have somewhere like this to get back to. We like having the space to do things properly.”

Fenech-Soler formed around the nucleus of Ben and brother Ross. The pair then roped in schoolmate Daniel Soler – who also gave his (originally double-barrelled) name to the outfit, before recruiting drum and synth maestro Andrew Lindsay, who worked at a local recording studio.

“We are definitely all on the same page,” says Ben. “Me and Ross used to be a typical punky teenage band, but then we found a love for electronic music. We soon got into DJs more than rock, so had to figure out how it was made – and how we could play it live.”

Those formative years were spent listening to the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and Soulwax, as well as funkier, soulful sounds including George Benson and Michael Jackson and the rockier sounds of Queens of the Stone Age.

With a burgeoning body of brutally alternative work, they initially resisted the temptation to perform, choosing instead to perfect their craft.

“All the music was created before we thought about playing it live,” Ben explains. “We wanted to get things right before playing. We’ve only been playing shows for two years so there was a long period of teaching ourselves. Everything was done on laptops in our bedrooms; we kept it self-contained.”

Of course there are downsides to country living. “There is absolutely no music scene here,” Ben laughs. “We had to go to London and start at the bottom.”

Their dance-driven music is defined by Ben as having a “core electronic edge”.

“We have more keyboards than guitars,” he says. “I like melodies, hooks and top-lines, and people have been moving away from that. I’m constantly wondering where all the bands have gone in the Top 40. All I hear is this over-produced stuff.”

After coming out of the bedroom, the lads’ big break came when influential French DJ and remixer Alan Braxe (best known for that epic Stardust hit Music Sounds Better With You) got to hear their work, and asked to release one of their songs. The result, Cult Of Romance, was their first single and went on to win over more powerful allies – including Radio 1’s Annie Mac.

Also impressed were Groove Armada, who saw the band at a warehouse party and invited them to join their tour. They even featured Ben as a lead vocalist on their song Paper Romance. It’s not a bad achievement, considering other guests on the resulting album Black Light included legendary Bryan Ferry and Will Young.

Then came the release of their own blockbusting eponymous debut, which is doing well.

But, the burning question, is that name – which as well as being the name of bandmate Dan, is also the name of a Maltese patriot who ruled the Catalans in the 18th century. But why?

“We enjoy the mystery of the name,” says Ben. “And we love it when people find out we are not a cool Parisienne electro-band, but are, in fact, from a little village in Northamptonshire.”

Next month the band make it to Oxford as part of an epic national tour which takes them from Inverness to Tunbridge Wells. One place they won’t be playing, though, is Kings Cliffe. “Ah, no!” he laughs. “We will get there one day though. Our record is on sale in the local shop though.”

* Fenech-Soler play the Jericho Tavern on November 9. Tickets are £6.50 from wegottickets.com