'This will be our last festival performance': Funeral For A Friend's Ryan Richards talks ahead of Download set

The Bridgend five-piece stated that they would not be reforming any time soon, leaving behind a legacy of world tours, festival slots, and seven full-length albums spanning their extensive career.

But now, the rockers will be giving fans one last chance to dance with a set at this year's Download Festival.

"It's great to be on the bill - we're very excited," says drummer Ryan Richards.

"We have a lot of history with Iron Maiden. They took us on tour before any other big bands were interested.

"We played with them just as our first record was coming out and they taught us a lot. They looked after us and showed us how a band should be treated.

"Iron Maiden taught us things that put us in good stead for the rest of our career."

As well as metal icons Iron Maiden, the band join a bill featuring the likes of KISS, System Of A Down, Deftones, Alter Bridge, Korn, Gojira, Volbeat and many more across three days at Derbyshire's Donnington Park.

But it's not just these well-established acts that the band are looking forward to performing alongside.

"As well as the huge headliners, it's great to be playing with so many talented up-and-coming bands," Ryan says.

"I'll be on double duty at Download. After leaving the band in 2011 I went into music management, and four of my bands will be playing the festival - Sleep Token, Holding Absence, Loathe and Kill The Lights.

"I will be there watching them, and I would definitely advise others to do the same.

"Generally on The Avalanche Stage - that we're headlining - there are lots of incredibly talented acts playing. For me, its the most exciting stage of the weekend."

"Download has something for everyone - big headliners, classic rock'n'roll, and some bands you may not be familiar with that become your new favourite act."

The group's final tour, that came to Birmingham's O2 Institute for two nights, saw them play iconic albums Casually Dressed and Deep In Conversation and Hours in full.

Released in 2003, Casually Dressed... was the band's debut album, featuring hit songs Bullet Theory, Escape Artists Never Die, Rookie of the Year and anthemic single Juneau.

The album was included on NME's album of the year list for 2003, and Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics list.

The record debuted at number 12 on the UK charts and achieved Gold certification after sales of 100,000 copies just a year after its release.

Hours was the group's follow-up record in 2005, also reaching number 12 in the UK album charts and further cementing the group's rising reputation.

It produced four singles - Streetcar, Monsters, History and Roses for the Dead - all of which charted in the UK top 50.

Even more than 10 years since their respective releases, the albums have left a profound mark on each member of the band's lives.

"There were so many firsts when we released Causally Dressed...," Ryan remembered.

"We went from this underground band that just sort-of toured on weekends when we weren't working, to suddenly being noticed.

"We suddenly got signed and then this became our job, so we really got to immerse ourselves in our music.

"We put everything into recording the album - it took a good while to record and get out there - and how it was received by fans really hammered home how our career was developing.

"Iron Maiden took us on tour and we got to play all across Europe. It was a time of massive change in our lives.

"Then came Hours. The main thing I remember about making the album was recording it in LA and it just being such a crazy thing.

"We worked with Terry Date, who produced some of our favourite albums of all time by Pantera, Deftones and others.

"There was a lot of pressure after we released the first album to make something better, and almost an expectation that we wouldn't.

"I'll never forget when we performed at Reading Festival and played Roses for the Dead for the first time.

"We were just randomly trying a brand new song and the crowd went crazy. It filled us with so much confidence to release Hours to the world."

This rise to global acclaim was something these five lads from The Valleys never expected to achieve, and something that they dived into head-first.

"Recognition almost seemed unattainable to us," Ryan said.

"I am a professional musician, it is my life, and for Funeral For A Friend to reach this level of success was such a whirlwind.

"Everything changed so quickly, but we dived into it head-first. It was great fun.

"Even though it became easy to do things digitally and record albums without being in the same room, we still met every single week to record and practice in-house.

"We were forever on tour, and it became very all-consuming. It was a really busy climb and a fantastic decade.

"Some people crumble under the pressure, but I think it brought us closer together and we made some of our best music during this time."

Before the group's split four years ago, Ryan parted ways with Funeral For A Friend after 10 years.

After joining the band in 2016 for a series of final live performances, Ryan is picking up his sticks once more to perform.

"This is something I never thought would happen," he told us.

"None of us did. When the band did the final tour in 2016, we really did plan for it to be final.

"Matt [Davies-Kreye, vocals] has a very different live now in Germany, the rest of the band has all moved on to new and exciting projects, so that was that really.

"There was a line drawn under Funeral For A Friend and that was that."

That was until 2019 when close friend of the band, Stu Brothers, a man who started the first forum dedicated to the band before they even had their own website, was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

To raise money for his young family, the rockers played three shows across Cardiff and London with all proceeds donated to the Brothers family.

"It was amazing to see so many fans turn out to those shows and donate to such a wonderful cause," Ryan said.

"We hadn't played together for a long time. Darran [Smith, guitar] and I made little cameos on the final tour but that was it.

"But in terms of the full line-up, we hadn't played together as a unit since 2011.

"About two weeks before the show, we still hadn't even rehearsed.

"I had this sudden panic thinking 'oh my God, this could be terrible' and I was worried about how it would go.

"We really wanted the shows to be good, especially because they were for charity, but I was worried they wouldn't stand up to the legacy we left behind.

"I was nervous, but after an hour in rehearsals it all came back to us.

"The first show in Cardiff my mouth was so dry and I was sitting bolt upright before our set started, but a minute into the first song I felt all the love in the room.

"From that point on, across all three shows, it was an absolute joy.

"The saddest thing was that Stu never got to actually see the shows, but it was so special to share them with his friends and family.

"I went to meet his mom just before the doors opened on the first night, and she was overcome with emotion when she saw the t-shirt design and my drum skin with her son's face on.

"Seeing his two sons watching us live was very emotional. It was nice for them to see not only how much Stu meant to us, but how much he meant to the very foundations of the local music scene.

"He found us when we was studying in South Wales and built a forum for us before we even had our own website.

"He led trips to see us all over the country - he even travelled to Australia to see us play.

"He started to spread the word and became a pillar in the music community. We wanted everyone to understand just how important he was to us.

"Hopefully the shows were some comfort to his family that he will never be forgotten by so many people."

After these charity shows, fans began to speculate whether the band would be reforming, hitting the road to tour once more and maybe even release new music.

But, as Ryan says, he would put 'a large amount of money' on this being the last chance fans get to see the band in a festival setting.

"Aside from the circumstances with Stu, we never planned on playing as Funeral For A Friend Again. I would put a large amount of money on this being the last time we play together like this," Ryan told us.

"There's lots of bands that do final tours over and over, but I really believe this will be our last festival performance."

Funeral For A Friend will play Download Festival on Saturday, June 13.

The Donnington Park event runs from Friday., June 12 to Sunday, June 14.

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