With their recent ‘Parasites’ EP, The Decoy produce a punchy, effective collection of well-written math-infused alt rock.
After receiving a glowing review from us, vocalist Lewis “Biff” Barber decided to repay us by giving us the lowdown on what ‘Parasites’ is all about.
Alongside its mismatch of genres, timings and melodies, ‘Parasite’ lyrically takes on subjects such as being unemployed, jealous boyfriends, losing your youth and coping with sick parents. Lewis explains it all…
Hi. If you’re reading this, then either you want to know what the songs on our EP were about, or you’re insanely bored and have stumbled upon some reading material to occupy your time. Either way, hi. I’m Biff. I’m in The Decoy. I wrote the songs. They’re not really that interesting in all honesty. They’re pretty much just about my life, and since I’m from Trevethin in Pontypool, Wales, that’s not really gonna make exciting reading. Still, lets begin…
That was the first step in how to write a track by track and look like a dick while doing so.
Moustache Cash Dash
First, I’ve gotta tell you about the name. We’re packing up our shit ready for a gig or practice. The van is full and we’re heading out. I’m in Blake’s car I think, maybe Joel is there? I can’t remember actually, but there’s these three kids running outside with toy instruments. We wind down the window and say “are you guys in a band?” and the kids are like “yeah man.” Baring in mind, these kids might only have been about 5 or 6? They were an age that is deemed to be labeled as “kids”. So we ask what their band is called and they say Moustache Cash Dash. Naturally we were taken aback and impressed to fuck with their naming skills. We have shit naming skills, I mean, we’re called The Decoy because it was a cafe we saw online.
‘Moustache’ is about being on the dole. I was 19 when I wrote this song. I was bored as fuck, had nothing to do except the band and basically wanted something to do. At the same time there was this big wave of people on FaceFuck being very judgemental towards each other. It still kinda happens. That status update that kinda goes like “honey, I don’t care what you think, you’re a bitch” and it’s not tagging anyone or anything so you know it’s basically like a dig at someone that that person and all their friends know, but you don’t? Anyway, that kinda thing is utter bullshit. I got a lot of stick as a kid too for looking kinda goofy and being really tall. It was just generally about bullshit. The one bit touches on the whole hipster thing too. That thing where they’re all different, but because so many people are trying to be different they’re all the same and therefore not actually different? What’s wrong with that? Nothing at all. If you wanna be different with someone, then that’s just as cool as being different on your own to me, just don’t go about saying you’re different all day. We’re all fucking different anyway aren’t we really? I mean, my bedroom is blue, pink and yellow. Anyone else got those colours? You should. It actually looks awesome. I think so anyway. But yeah, if your room has those colours send us a photo on facefuck!
Vultures
‘Vultures’ is a song about a jealous boyfriend, but not in the sense of “oi, you leave my woman alone” more like “jesus dude, chill your beans, you don’t own that girl.” There’s a lot of that thing going on lately I think, where people don’t see it as a compliment, and I see it as a compliment. It’s just like saying “your better half is so beautiful that I felt it necessary to hit on her/him/whatever” which I think is high praise indeed. So that’s what that is about. Plus it’s also about desperate people who just do things and kinda look a bit daft. But they all end up going home alone, masturbating. As you can probably tell, Dylan Thomas I am not. There is no poetic beauty to this song, or any of our songs for that matter. It’s just words about a thing I’ve seen or heard about or thought of. Except Hugh Hefner. Never seen him.
Parasites
This one is kinda like a concept I guess. It was written as if I was talking to myself as a youth? So like when I say “I lived nearby” well, of course. I lived really close to myself. It’s just about going out about and seeing friends and just doing and being. It was also a song inspired by racist. I fucking hate racism and fascism. What gives anyone the right to judge anyone? I hate many a thing. I hate religion. I hate corruption. I hate dicks. But I superhate racists. There was this whole bullshit happening with some people I went to school with, and without naming names, they are clearly bigoted fucking idiots who called an entire “race” parasites. It sort of sounds a bit like our government too doesn’t it? Get them out? Nah, I think we should get the fucking racists out. That’d be much better. The idea was that if these fantastic people come and share their knowledge, culture and betterment with us, and are deemed parasites, then what the fuck must I be?! I am a fucking parasite. I am a student for fuck sake! That’s just a leech on government funds. The song is about losing my youth and also about hating racism.
ANDYOUISM
This is about my folks being ill. It’s not very nice. I didn’t like my parents being ill. It was fucking horrible. I listened to Nirvana. I went to sleep. I felt a little bit crazy. Your mind does funny things when you’re upset.
Thanks for reading, thanks for being cool. Thanks to everyone so far for all the amazing support and help we’ve had. More shows please!
‘Parasite’ EP by The Decoy is out now on Ghoulish Records.