Funeral For A Friend consists of Darren Smith (guitars), Gareth Davies (bass), Kris Roberts (guitars), Matt Davies (vocals), Ryan Richards (drums).
Funeral for a Friend are a post-hardcore/ progressive formed in Bridgend, Wales in the United Kingdom. They are often described as emo due to their success with that particular scene.
The band "Funeral for a Friend" do not take their name from the Elton John track as often thought and reported, but from the song "Funeral For A Friend" by a US punk/hardcore band called Planes Mistaken For Stars.
In their first guise, in 2001 as a sextet, Funeral for a Friend were known as January Thirst. This did not last long, and in 2002 Funeral for a Friend recorded their debut EP Between Order And Model with their original, 6-piece line up, after having been together for just a few months, the band changed their line up and subsequently signed a deal with Warner Brothers records for whom they recorded their second EP Four Ways To Scream Your Name, which is now a sought after item on auction websites such as ebay.
In 2003, the band scored what many saw as a huge upset, winning the Best UK Newcomer award in the annual Kerrang! awards. The Darkness were predicted to sweep the ceremony that night, and captured all other awards they were nominated for. FFAF's success was largely attributed to their feverent fan base, as the award was voted for at Kerrang!'s website.
The band's debut full-length album Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation was released in October 2003. Strangely, the LP was not given a concurrent US release; instead, a seven-track mini-CD named Seven Ways to Scream Your Name (collecting non-album tracks from the earlier EPs) was issued in America by the independent Ferret Records.
Meanwhile, Funeral for a Friend embarked on a series of high-profile touring engagements, including a series of European dates opening for Iron Maiden. The band headlined the second stage of 2004's Reading and Leeds Festivals (before moving to the main stage the next year, on the same day as their former touring mentors, Iron Maiden), where they debuted the first track to be heard from their second album; the song "Roses For The Dead".
