Ed Macfarlane

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Edward David "Ed" Macfarlane (born 15 May 1984) is a singer, bassist, keyboard and synthesiser player, producer and the principal songwriter of English band Friendly Fires. He is often called by the nickname "Ed Mac" to avoid confusion with his bandmate and guitarist Edd Gibson. He has written, co-written, produced or co-produced all of Friendly Fires' songs.

Background and education

Macfarlane attended St Albans School in Hertfordshire, where he met his future bandmates Edd Gibson and Jack Savidge. They formed their first band, a post-hardcore band, called First Day Back, at age 13. Because St. Albans lacked big name artists coming into town to do shows, the three often went into London for shows ("St. Albans is close enough to London that no one ever wants to go near it.") Macfarlane looks upon the lack of gigs or scene in St. Albans as a benefit to living there, saying to American music blog PopWreckoning in an interview at Dot to Dot Festival in Nottingham in May 2009, "...I like the fact that in St. Albans, there are no distractions." The band took advantage of this peace and quiet, using Macfarlane's parents' garage in St. Albans to record their debut album Friendly Fires.