Welsh rockers Funeral for a Friend have come a long way in their 14 years together and the band are coming to Kingston this month to promote their new and most grown-up album yet.

The band’s seventh full length album Chapter and Verse sees them throwing off their teenage emo reputation and embracing being in their thirties, explains guitarist Kris Coombs-Roberts.

“We’re not teenagers or 20-somethings anymore,” says Coombs-Roberts.

“We are in our 30s now with families. It would be a bit embarrassing if we were still behaving like we were over a decade ago.

“The emo tag was one that always got forced on us but it was never something that we really identified with.

“If I had to put us in a genre it would be the post-hardcore, but I don’t really care what people call us.

“Being called emo doesn’t really bother me. I remember when emo just meant you played emotionally charged music, when it wasn’t a dirty word.”

The band has a traditional, hardcore fan base but the new album, released at the beginning of year, has meant a younger generation have discovered the band.

Coombs-Roberts says: “We have people that have been coming to watch us since we started and they have grown-up with us.

“It’s great to have those people at the shows because they know all the songs and they really know what we are about.

“With our latest shows we’ve noticed a younger generation of fans appearing, which is great.

“One of the things we’ve always prided ourselves on is the fact that all of our albums have been different and that means our fans are really diverse.”

Now the band has to manage families and responsibilities along with their touring which has further enhanced their more grown-up sound.

“It can be difficult to juggle touring and having a wife but I think that the way that we are touring now is a bit more grown-up,” says Coombs-Roberts.

“I love going out on tour and seeing new places, but only for a couple of weeks now. It’s nice to do short tours and then go home.”

Funeral for a Friend; Hippodrome, Kingston; Thursday March 19; kingstonhippo drome.co.uk/ kingston-upon-thames