WORST KEPT SECRET FEST VII PREVIEW: Friendly Faux

By: Chris McLafferty

People say don’t meet your idols. They’ll never match the narrative cloud you’ve created of them. To meet and excel past any ghost of the image you have of them is a thing of fantasy……

Ever since I was unexpectedly ear punched by the CD 102.5 sounding board and uttered the phrase, “What the fuck is Friendly Faux” I’ve been enthralled by the idea of this band. Their eruption from the Columbus music scene was like that of the Birth of Xenomorph in Alien. Very few saw it coming…at least not the elevation it’s currently at. Not being honored with regular rotation airplay or sharing a stage with national acts like Robert Delong, Jungle, The Airborne Toxic Event, and Shakey Graves as they did opening CD 102.5 Day on April 4th. Even though my pulse on the scene isn’t what it used to be, far from the hemoglobin transport I was back in the day, I expected I would have at least heard about them prior to these accolades. Much like their single “Three Lefts,” Friendly Faux came roaring though, without warning and seemingly without caution.

I had to see this for myself. Shit…it happened to be the day before their big sold-out show at the LC. I doubt they would be giving it their all. How could they? They need to make sure they’re ready for their defining moment. Brothers Drake is fantastic but…it’s no sold out LC Pavilion.

What I witnessed was an unheralded twister of unbiased grunge chaos not seen since….dare I say it… I was wrecked. This….this…is just amazing I kept muttering. Words escaped as they were thrusted out of my mind, cleansing itself for the grand arrival of these tracks that kept hitting harder, smarter and more move induced than the last. The performance matched the sound and style of this somehow calming firestorm of shreds sparking hysteria. “Going, Going, Gone” took over my life. I couldn’t stop playing it. I couldn’t stop talking about. Hell I couldn’t even get the revving grunge engine slide off repeat on the mind’s playlist. It took weeks to even be able to move onto “Garbage In/Garbage Out” (track 2).

Towards the end of the show I finally got to meet them, we exchanged pleasantries earlier as I bought the “give me everything you fucking have” merch package, in which drunk Chris swooned over this new majestic exciting rock toy like a One Direction twitter follower. A shot or two later (who can remember) and we’re finally talking about something other than just the magnum opus I just experienced , trust me it took everything I had not to keep saying “Do you know how fucking great that was!” over and over. I realize holy shit, this band seems legit, not a character piece to further their music, they actually give a shit. They’re here at 1:30 am (well mostly here, Geoff was draped over my shoulder at one point so I’m not sure how “here” he was) drinking and rocking out to the very last band when they have easily the biggest show of their life tomorrow. Could this be…..?

At this point, I’ve only known of Friendly Faux for a little over a month but that was enough to have this sit-down rank as one of the most anxious things I’ve ever done. It’s breathtaking on levels beyond what hits the eye. What if you fuck up? What if you’re not cool? Worse. What if they’re not? What if this is all just an act? What if they just put on a really great show?

Their sound and matching on-stage persona reverberates into the upper echelon of awe-inspiring, mystical root of rock. A type of rock that’s so rock it’s innocent…contrasting it’s rough heavy thrashing through the factory pipeline that is modern music. It evolves by stripping down bare for you to see it for everything it is, with lyrics so deeply personal you’re still inhaling the smoke of the lashings. Their cool, calm Fonzie-esque demeanor is everything music has been lacking. Could it be the savior of rock, and more importantly music itself? A band that doesn’t give a shit about the fame, the fortune, the money….a band that just truly only gives a shit about making music, connecting and living the classic, unadulterated pure version of the rock star life. Are our era’s Rock Stars ready to emerge and lead?

Fuck…..what if they’re fake? What if they’re not the vivid masterstroke of music’s promising savior?

“Hey man, we’ve got this CD 102.5 interview, then afterward you wanna come swing by Brandyn’s pad? He’s got a sweet loft down in the Short North. We can just grab some beers and kick this out?”

Awesome, I’m going to be following an interview with a radio station so cool, CNN did a story on how cool they are. I walk up the stairs, 30 minutes late-way to start taking your life more seriously Chris, to the awaiting trio of Geoff Spall (Guitar/Lead Vocals), Charis Yost (Bass/Backing Vocals) and Brandyn Morit (Drums). They chill in the kitchen, knocking down Gin & Tonics, Heinekens, and smoking cigarettes as if they’re a mutated being gaining their breathing gas through sticks of tobacco.  A glimpse into the tightly packed freezer overflows with tubs of, recently un-planned vacation ice cream mecca, Jeni’s.

“That sucks for them. They’re a really great company.” Brandyn says.

Our conversation starts running through local hotspots with an emphasis on Hot Chicken Takeover, which gets overwhelming raves from the band.

“Columbus is awesome,” Charis foreshadows. “There is just so much amazing shit here.”

Another beer, a top off of Gin and an offer of frozen style laid out pizza before we head to the main room. It’s displayed like you’d expect a 70’s rock band chill room to be. No TV. No man made light, but two windows allow enough light to battle the radiating weed smoke into a calming fog like haze. A couch, a few chairs and a table make the room, showcasing this as an interaction hub with emphasis on conversation, a far cry from the modern technology stuffed room. The only possible distraction comes from the presence of a record player wired into two sizable speakers. The Cars self titled goes round and round like a carousel of wise prodigious music lessons, settling in as it’s own voice in the conversation.

“Moving In Stereo” emerges from the speakers as we kickoff the interview (as it should for you as you read along). How fucking fitting to pulsatingly guide our exploration in the pursuit of the real Friendly Faux. Then the mic clicks on….

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZhfFXEMMI4[/youtube]

 

Tuned Up – The most common question I get when I bring you guys up is “Where the fuck did those guys come from?” They’re amazing but they just blasted on the scene. So the first question has to be, “Where the fuck did you guys come from?”

Geoff – I’ve never heard that.

(Everybody laughs)

Charis – It was a combination of two bands coming together. I mean me and Geoff were in a band off the beat and path and Brandyn was in Seasonal Help, then Geoff joined Seasonal Help. There was just a lull in both bands, Geoff and Brandyn started coming up with some ideas and there was (booked recording) time to record with one of the bands, where it didn’t end up working out. So we came together and said “Why don’t we do a little silly project.”

Geoff – Filled the time we already booked.

Charis – It ended up being really fun and new to us because we had been kind of dragging through the other bands for several years, this was kind of a fresh start. It just kind of snowballed.

Geoff – That was our first full-length.

Charis – Yep, then we got some buzz from that. Then we did the Three Lefts EP and that’s kinda where we got the “explosion” that people ask about. We got on CD 102.5 and got a lot of exposure from that, we’re grateful for that.

Geoff – We just have a lot of friends around town and everyone really appreciates what each of us are all doing. Our group of friends are all doing really good things in town, a lot of the bands I know. We’re just one of those bands really. We like to get loud and rowdy. What did (Columbus) Alive say?

Brandyn – Rowdy guitar driven

Geoff – Rowdy Guitar driven Rock N Roll musak

 

You just got done playing CD 102.5 day at the LC, I believe you said the biggest show you’ve ever done, walk me through the experience of that day?

Geoff – I had trouble waking up.

(Everyone laughs)

Brandyn – We had played a show the night before so yeah it was rough waking up but then I don’t know…it just happened really fast you know. That day went by kinda in a blur.

Charis – I remember at one point, we were in the green room and it was after we were done with sound check, about 45 minutes before we went on. I was like this is going to be the longest 45 minutes of our lives, followed by the quickest 30 minutes of our lives. (laughs) It truly was. I felt like the last song was the 3rd song and then we were off the stage. I just wanted more of it.

 

Did you think about dropping off the show the night before knowing you had such a big show the next day?

Brandyn – No, we had booked that way in advance before the contest.

Geoff – It’s all how things play out. People contact you (about) what you have booked and what you say yes or no to. It’s the luck of the draw

Brandyn – It was a CD release and we didn’t want to let anyone down.

Geoff – That and I love those bands too. I didn’t want to miss their shows, especially Zoo Trippin and Coya Hill‘s debut gig, essentially debut gig.

Charis – In Columbus at least, they’ve been playing in Delaware a bit, it was cool to have them out here.

Geoff – Those guys are good friends of ours, they’re a great band too.

Charis – We’ve never really been a band that will look past one we’ve already committed to and say that’s not worth it anymore, you know? We stick to what we commit to. We usually follow through with, you know? We feel like that’s a disservice to not only the community because of the bands (involved), but to yourself because that’s only going to cultivate a perception that you’re too good for it. We’re not that, we love being a part of somebody’s big day and we love being in it. Whether it be a CD 102.5 show at the LC or one of our buddy’s band’s first shows or CD release. We commit to what we love.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnG9YCCbifU[/youtube]

What was it like to hear yourself for the first time on the radio, did you guys have a “That Thing You Do” moment where you ran into the streets?

Charis – CD 102.5 is so good at exposing local artists, I mean we had been on Frontstage and other local spotlights but “Three Lefts” was a little different. I remember driving to work at like 10:30 and I heard the song on.

Geoff – Yeah we got like regular play which was exciting.

Charis – The regular play was really like the defining moment. It was like WHOA that’s really weird. Unexpectedly hearing your band’s song on the radio, rather than knowing alright, at 9 Tom Butler is going to play 2 of our songs.

Brandyn – I’d say we owe Tom Butler a big thanks because he’s always played our bands on Frontstage and this was a huge surprise when he emailed us and said you’re on full rotation. We just dropped off a CD for Frontstage and then he wrote us and said we’re going to put “Three Lefts” on rotation and that was pretty cool.

 

With you being more on the heavier/harder sound, maybe even the heaviest what do you think draws them to your sound where they feel comfortable putting you next to someone sound wise like Matt & Kim or Passion Pit, knowing the listeners are going to love it?

Geoff – I think it’s because we’re different and we take more risks than everyone else.1005810_495232947272532_7286246155491825047_n

Brandyn – And “Three Lefts” was a 2 minute quick song that they could slip in a lot, that helped.

Geoff – It’s got a rustic quality to it. (laughs)

Charis – It’s witty too, if you listen to the lyrics it’s good writing. In main-stream, popular music, people really pay attention to lyrics. At least on “Three Lefts,” a lot of the lyrics are really catchy. They kinda stick in your brain once you hear them, you end up singing along and singing in your head and shit.

Geoff-Like the Cars man.

Brandyn- I really like the Cars.

(Something clicks and Brandyn jumps up to change the record)

 

I recently did an interview with Matt Monta, I asked him who he was listening to around Columbus and he had nothing but good things to say about you, one of the things he highlighted was the lyrics. Adding they were fun lyrics, ‘I like the entire song but the lyrics really stood out to me.’ Where do they come from? Especially the Filet Mignon one in “Going Going Gone” (You had Filet Mignon, now you’ve got Chef Boyardee)

Geoff – I like to write around our music mainly, we all write the same. We all think the same way musically so its very easy for me to sing songs that work with that, like phonetically and syllabically, rhythmically. It all just seemed to tie together with this band to the point where I was willing to take weird risks like that and just try to show….(he loses himself in thought for a minute)… a darker side to a lighter subject or a lighter side to a darker subject, all kinds of ways you can write about things, I don’t know, ways you feel and things like that.

 

When you’re listening too, a majority of people are going to say, that’s how I feel but I can never articulate it that great, I can never come off that witty and great.

Geoff – It’s enigmatic. It’s an interesting blend of colloquialism and…I don’t know, rhymes and life and attitudes, you know? That’s the way I write. I don’t know, I couldn’t speak for anyone else. The way I write, it’s weird.

 

In a time when music seems to be drifting away from standard rock and more towards like this synth rock, what made you guys stay true to the style, almost like a throwback to this early un-caged grunge?

Charis – Because that’s what we love! That’s what we grew up on.

Brandyn – That’s what we’ve always done.

Geoff – There’s a raw feeling of what we try to do. A lot bands I admired can capture that feeling so we’re still trying to.

 

One of the things I really like about it is your stage presence really combines that. It kinda compliments that. When you’re on stage there’s something really hard rock, everything is going crazy and (Geoff) is kinda just chilling there with his guitar and it’s really smooth and laid back but at the same time, it’s this hard, fast, everyone is energetic rock. How do you balance that on stage?

Brandyn – Sedatives (everyone laughs)

Charis – I guess “the groove’? (laughs)

Geoff – For me it’s always very difficult to sing and play and get everything right. I’m highly critical of myself as everyone should be.

Brandyn – Just trying to feel it as much as possible.

Charis – I feel like me and Brandyn are like the energetic side of things that’s keeping the thing pulsing underneath and Geoff is just kinda slick willy sliding all of his licks on top, you know? It melds well for sure.

 

1379719_390925107703317_1151782962_nTalking about Brandyn on the drums here, you’re thrashing around like crazy, your hair is everywhere in your eyes almost like your Cousin It. Is that difficult to see or do you just get in the rhythm where nothing can take you out of it?

Brandyn – I keep my drum set super simple so I just know where everything’s at. So I’m just kinda particular. I just have one tom, one floor, one snare, I’m particular with my symbols so I know where it’s at so I don’t have to worry about that. I just try to listen to Geoff and Charis and just get into it.

 

Speaking of playing live, your next show is Worst Kept Secret Fest at Skate Naked, festival runs May 22-23rd, you play later Friday. What about this festival drew you to want to play here? What’s special or unique about this festival?

Brandyn – We started it… so kinda that (everyone laughs)

Geoff – A group of friends started it, which we’re involved. We’ve invited a lot of bands to play, for me it’s like the biggest party in the city that night. Its always really fun to see so many friends and to me, it’s just seems like a big group of friends there for music.

Brandyn – It’s always free, that’s like half a reason to go.

Geoff – It’s free so people who can’t make it out to everything, people who want to see a lot of bands real quick. Quick and dirty.

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How many years have you been doing Worst Kept?

Geoff – Two.

Brandyn – Since 2012.

 

It was previously at Dude Locker, what was the reason for the change in venues?

Brandyn – Space.

Geoff – Dude Locker was becoming more and more populated and they have a lot of people in and out of there already.

Brandyn – A lot of bands practice there.

Geoff – So they didn’t feel and we didn’t feel we should over populate it. It was kind of a difficult thing to do there towards the end.

Charis – With the growing success of Worst Kept, it was also expansion to bigger spaces. Skate Naked is going to be thrice the size of what we did at Dude Locker. So its going to be able to accommodate more people, there’s a good parking situation at Skate Naked. There’s a lot of factors that went into it.

Brandyn – And there’s going to be skaters next to the stage.

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Charis – Skaters! We actually have one of our stages in front of a bowl and there will be skaters behind so you’ll be seeing people catching “high air” while..

Brandyn – People biff it (laughs)

Charis – Yeah, like the drummer is going to get a skateboard to the head, I just know it.

Geoff – No, we went there because they have insurance. (laughs)

Brandyn – You have to sign a waiver.

Charis – And with the skate park, that’s the best insurance you’re going to get. There’s literally a sign that says “Enter this area at your own risk.” Not even skate at your own risk…just enter. If you’re just walking around, there’s probably going to be a skateboarder that runs right into you if you’re not looking out.

Geoff – There’s sort of a dangerous spontaneity to that kinda show, where there’s a lot of people and we don’t even know how that’s going to work. It’s going to be a big ass party.

Charis – It’s going to be exciting, I’m excited. This is the first year at Skate Naked.

Geoff – It feels like the first one thrown actually.

Chairs – It kinda has the sense of that too, the decision was made to go over there kinda late towards our deciding process so, I mean, it’s all a rush to finish line, kinda like what we were doing the first time. It’s bringing an excitement and kinda renewing that jitteriness of it.

Geoff – Its a fun party.

Charis – Its cool, the last one definitely was like… it was great, it was fun, we nailed it but…there it was almost like we had gotten it down to a science so it was like doing a job rather than having this crazy, exciting…

Geoff – Friends of friends of friends of friends OF friends. (Everyone laughs)

Charis – Geoff’s REAL poplar (laughs)

 

Speaking of friends, who are you excited to share a stage with/see at Worst Kept?

Charis – I always love TV Movie, I’m glad they’re coming back from Mansfield. Sleep Feet is another I’m excited to share the weekend with.

Geoff – TV Movie…yeah…I love TV Movie too

Charis – James from TV Movie is awesome, he’s just a great guy.

Brandyn – Is Hundos playing?

Geoff – Hundos is playing yeah. I like the Vessels. I like all those bands, like Betsy Ross and Montauk Trash. (WKS Interview with Betsy Ross & Montauk Trash)

Bradyn – They’re all pretty cool people.

Charis – It’s a really cool thing because there’s just so many different styles and genres that are coming together. But all of us have equal respect for each and everyone of us, each other’s bands in their own right. It’s awesome when your scene can’t really be pinpointed by one genre, its just a music scene of all these people that do good music and everybody appreciates one another. Overall the whole festival I’m pretty excited about.

 

When you started it, was there something you started out to do or was it like ‘hey we want to put together all of these bands?’

Geoff – Everyone was playing in each other’s basements for years, we didn’t want to play in these shitty clubs so we decided to get a bigger venue and throw our own shit.

Charis – Yeah! We don’t want to fucking play in a shitty venue with a $5 cover.

Brandyn – We got sick of pay to plays.

Charis – That’s stupid!

Brandyn – Let’s have a fucking total free show.

Charis – Lets find a big space where we can have a bunch bands and have a huge party and that essentially was what we were trying to do.

Geoff – That’s pretty difficult to do in the confides of the modern US city.

 

Are there any venues you guys like to play around Columbus?

Charis – Yeah there’s definitely some.

Brandyn – The LC was pretty rad. (everyone laughs)

Charis – The LC was pretty rad, definitely. It’s small but I’ve enjoyed every time we’ve played at Brothers Drake, we’ve done Halloween shows over there. It’s small but they’ve really done a really good job with their sound stage and everything. Ace of Cups. Spacebar.

Brandyn – Spacebar is really cool now.

Charis – They’re smaller spaces but they’re great. They’re awesome. They have great owners.

Geoff – It’d be better if they were free.

(Everyone voices agreement)

Charis – They’d be better if they were free, everything would be better if …the Columbus scene just needs to wake up. Lets just run these free shows and then people will just walk in to go listen to a new band.

Brandyn – Carabar is always free and more often than not, usually packed. I just don’t understand why all the (venues) up and down high street, think a $5 cover is helping their business. Just let people come in and check out the band.

Charis – If they don’t have to spend $5, they’ll come in and buy a drink, listen to 2-3 songs. If they don’t like it they’ll leave. If you charge $5, nobody except for the people that know about the show are even going to fucking step foot in that door.

Geoff – It puts a door between the bar and the entertainment.

Charis – That’s where the problem is.

Brandyn – One time we were in Atlantic City at this bar.

Geoff and Charis both let out a grown

Brandyn – No body was there.

Charis – NO BODY

Brandyn – It was a $10 cover. There’s people coming up to the door, like ‘hey we want to come in and just like check it out.’

Geoff – NO We’re trying to murder the music scene…excuse me!

Brandyn – $10!! And everyone’s like fuck that I’m not paying $10.

Charis – So we sat with two other bands, just watched them do their thing.

Brandyn – Covers are just..ugh..played out, especially in this economy, people don’t have $5 or $10 to do it.

Charis – Covers (laughs)

Geoff – The morale of the story is you lose when you go to Atlantic City

(everyone laughs)

Charis – We definitely did lose too. We went all in on a blackjack one time and we were like…alright well… we lost, time to go home.

 

Your Halloween show, who did you guys play as?

Geoff – We played as the Arctic Monkeys.

 

How did that go, is that an unique experience when you take a step out of who you are as a band and play as someone else?

Geoff – Yeah it’s fun, it’s a novelty. It’s fun to practice a different way and learn somebody else’s songs. To do it for Halloween, its the ultimate Halloween Costume because we’re musicians you know, we just want to do that.

 

Did you learn anything from taking on a different style, did it change your approach in song-writing?

Brandyn – Personally for me, I learned a lot of cool patterns and shit. Its like when you do a cover show, you either take it in the joke route, like they’ve done Creed and stuff (everyone laughs) or you go to a band you actually respect and admire. I took away some cool tricks, the Arctic Monkeys’ drummer is badass.

 

Favorite song to perform by them?

(taken back for a minute)

Charis – I really like playing “Fireside,” that bass line is awesome.

Brandyn – Whats the one “It’s the beginning of the end?”

Geoff – “Do Me A Favour.” We did that, that was cool.

 

Did you cover all 5 albums?

Geoff – I think we didn’t play anything off Suck It and See, but we did something else.faux 2

Charis – We did Favourite Worst Nightmare and a couple off AM.

Geoff – Everyone liked AM so we did 3-4 off of AM, I remember that.

Charis – That was a couple months after they released it so they were just blowing up.

Geoff – It was fun to do that though, that’s totally out of our style at certain points, it was sorta hard to tame down.

Charis – At certain points its very close to our style though. Especially AM is definitely out of our style.

 

Besides the Arctic Monkeys, who else do you guys listen to or are really into?

Geoff – We listen to a lot of bands…umm..

Brandyn – I really like Metz a lot right now

Geoff – I was at Austin Psych Fest and I’m really liking the Black Angels a lot. The Oh Sees and Ty Segall.

Charis – Yeah anything Ty Segall touches. Night Beats.

Geoff – Stuff on the West Coast is really cool right now. It’s definitely something to be appreciated and so sometimes we play the way we like other people to play too.

 

You talk about liking the West Coast style, do you ever foresee that being something that you guys maybe move out of Columbus or is this home-base?

Geoff – Nah

Brandyn – I think if we moved anywhere it would be NYC. That place is the place to be.

Charis – Yeah we all love that place and it’s pretty rad.

Brandyn-We’re East Coast boys.

 

Is that your touring focus?

Brandyn – Yeah pretty much East Coast.

Charis – East Coast is like if we go out in a distance, we’ll probably go and hit up a long weekend in NY. We’ve gone to as far up as Detroit and far west as Nashville. We do a lot of little weekend hops to college towns in Ohio.

Geoff – If we can fuel a vehicle, we’ll go play, pretty much.

 

Do you have a favorite place to tour or a favorite experience while on tour?

Charis – New York! New York! Alright I got this one. It was the 2nd time we went to New York and we had played a show and it was like the first good show. The first round of shows we had in NY were kind of hit or miss, we basically just made connections because we were doing shoot in the dark gigs. This time around our first gig was actually a really pretty good gig. There was quite a few people there, it was a free show, we had a really good set. (The next day) We’re just walking through the lower Eastside and just kinda sight-seeing and stuff like that, walking through the streets. Its in the spring, it’s beautiful. We end up seeing this really cool, fancy boutique, men’s clothing store.

Brandyn – Like rock n roll superstore.

Charis – Yeah just very crisp rocker fashion, you know? We’re like alright let’s go look in there. We started walking around and the clerk literally pointed at Brandyn, “You’re a kickass drummer!” and he was like..

Brandyn – …thanks?

Charis – He was like uhhhh yeah? Then the clerk was like I got your band. He went onto his IPod or computer or whatever and started playing our EP in this New York Fashion boutique and we started listening to our music while we were just looking through the racks and shit. The dude ended up bringing us upstairs and showed us their second story, where they did all of their tailorings and stuff. Then he took us to this third story where we met this guy named Mas Hino. (they all start laughing). This like 5 foot tall Japanese dude..

Geoff – Coolest dude ever

Charis – Yeah just like this coolest luthier guitar maker in the world. Just had this third story loft space that he built guitars in.

Geoff – Badass.

Charis – We smoke some joints and played some guitars that he had customly made, talked music.

Brandyn pulls out his phone to show off a picture of Mas Hino. Mas Hino is chilled back in a chair, the chair back inching out taller than his minute frame, playing a guitar as his eyes gleam off in the distance of wherever.

Charis – That by far was the most rock star moment.

Brandyn – This bass, he handed it to Charis. Charis started playing it than handed it to him like ‘that’s really nice’. Then this dude just starts ripping! Ripping and laughing in Charis’ face.

They all start laughing as Charis mouth imitates the Les Claypool sounding bass lines (at least that’s what it sounds like off of Charis’ mouth bass)

Charis – I just did like some little bass line, I had just started playing with my fingers, I’m more of a pick player but…yeah…That was by far the most memorable “rockstar” we’ve ever had.

 

Some people get weird-ed out when they listen to their own music. Do you or do you get awkward? When you heard him put it on, did it do anything to you or was just like yeah…that’s our shit?

Charis – It definitely was flattering.

Geoff – He like knew us and ‘I have your record right here,’ intending to listen to it. Put it on, which was a little weird but it was just such a cool shop. We needed friends at that point and these guys are like our friends, it was cool.

 

Hows the reaction/reception been when you guys play out of time?

Brandyn – It’s always positive.

Geoff – We do well but its hit or miss. Its a risk every-time.

 

How do you typically go about touring? Do you reach out to someone ahead of time?

Geoff – We don’t hire any agency or anybody. Nobody manages us.

Brandyn – We’ve never tried to push for labels.

Charis – We just try to make connections when we do a show with an out of town band so we can call them up. We’re not asking you to build a show but can you give us some venues or bands we could call?

Geoff – Everyone’s pretty nice on the internet.FF 2

Charis – As long as you support them, most people will support you back. That’s kinda been on our mindset.

Geoff – Ohio is pretty good overall, I will say that. Based on anywhere else I’ve been. Ohio is pretty fucking good.

Charis – Its a very underrated music scene for sure. There’s a lot. Cincinnati, Akron, Cleveland.

Geoff – Canton, Cincinnati. They’re all good. Even Bowling Green.

Charis – There’s good music coming out it. We always talk about how 80s and 90s punk scene kinda ruined…us..celebrating vocal music because they just kinda brought in kids that ripped shit apart and bar venues started being worried about bringing in people for shows. Woah you (now) have to pay this much money for overhead in case you piss on my pool table or put a whole in my wall.

Geoff – They’re too safe and they’re too sorry.

 

Kinda like this issue they had towards the end of the Kobo run, where a kid ripped down a ceiling fan..

Charis – Definitely certain types of music will flock in certain types of people.

Geoff – That’s why they need armed guards at the door. (laughs)

Charis – We need more laws

Geoff – We need more armed guards at every door, making sure you’re not up to no good.

Charis – You’re up to no good.

Geoff – Thats a double…that’s perfect…you can print that.

Deal

 

What does music mean to you? Why do you do it? You can do anything you want, why music?

(Taken back a bit as seconds roll by as they ponder)

Charis – Its the thing I most connect to, at least out of creative mediums. I’ve dabbled in a lot of different types of art, sketching, trying to do videos and stuff when I was a younger kid. Music was always something that I was naturally drawn to. Naturally inclined to, I always seemed to pick up things quicker than the average person. It’s just something that’s kinda rooted in me. That’s me at least.

Brandyn – It’s just fun.

Geoff – It’s an energetic outlet for me.

Charis – Yeah, exactly.  Because a creative medium is always something that’s healthy for the soul, I feel. Whether you write, or draw or paint…

Geoff – Blow glass!

Charis – Or blow glass or you shit on canvas or whatever you do.

Brandyn – I went to art school and I was just burned out. I feel like making visual art is stressful.

Geoff – Music is the opposite.

Brandyn – It gets stressful but it’s mostly fun.

Charis – Only in the critical times when you’re actually trying to put something down. The whole creative process of it is  kinda liberating for sure. It’s fun to kinda sit in a room with a couple of guys you all understand what you’re doing. You jam on stuff and explore new things, fun things. It’s a good outlet.

 

I asked Matt Monta, but I think it equally applies to you as well in a different way, what do you have to say when people say “Rock is Dead?” What is your reaction to that?

Geoff – You’re too lazy to find it.

Brandyn – Nowadays there’s so many sub genres of rock that there’s stuff out there. If you find a band you dig, see who they play with.

Charis – Switch off 97.9 or 107.5.

Geoff – It’s funny to hate on everything, it really is but after awhile just find what you like and show me and be enthusiastic. It sucks to find people that are always hating on everything. It should be funny, if you don’t like something its kinda funny, I don’t get this haha. But people hating on everything, that’s not cool at all.

 

Outside of Worst Kept Secret, whats up next for Friendly Faux?

Brandyn – We’re recording our new record right now, we’re going to put it out on vinyl self-released, it’s going to be sweet.

Charis – Full length.

Geoff – We just need money. (all laugh)

 

Have you thought about going through all of these new styles/ways to put out an album? Have you considered these places like Indiegogo or Kickstarter or anything like that? How do you feel about stuff like that?

Charis – I think it’s been a general consensus that we really don’t want to just ask for a handout. We’re blue collar.

Brandyn – Yeah I don’t know, I’ve never really been into that. I think those things are cool and stuff but I think for bands its kinda like taking an easy way out. Just play shows, sell some more merch, earn money that way, instead of asking for it.

Charis – That’s a good rubric to see if you’re doing good. If you’re doing show after show and you’re not selling a shirt or CD, maybe you need to switch something up (laughs) or go to different shows. That’s been a pretty good rubric for us, that we should keep on pursing it.

Brandyn – We usually just take our money and pay for recordings and things.

Charis – Yeah, we just put it right back into the band. Anytime we do shows or sell merch, it’s not like alright we split it up 3 ways and we get drunk off of it.

Brandyn – Do you ever watch Shark Tank? You don’t want to keep a band as a business but if you consider it like a start up business you don’t want to take money out. You want to keep investing until you start making profits. We all have our part-time jobs to pay our own bills so we just kind keep our band as our own little side business. Just keep investing in ourselves. It’s kinda cool, that we don’t rely on asking people for money or worry about sending out to labels and shit.

Charis – It gives us a little more pride in what we do, when we put stuff out or get new shirts, because we know that our art paid for that. It wasn’t that we took it out of our personal fund, which in the beginning that’s what it was. We had to initially put a start up, its been a reciprocal investment into the band and it’s worked out so far, its at least got us to this point without having to put in money into the band.

Brandyn – Out of our pockets, at least too much.

Charis – Yeah, disregarding equipment and shit because we all have to pay for new drum heads or strings or whatnot.

Geoff – Point is rock n roll is not dead, there’s just no money in it. Don’t take it up kids.

 

On that point are you guys concerned about the new streaming apps a lot of artists are complaining about, Spotify and things like that, what are your thoughts?

Charis – We’re all for it! We’re on Spotify, we’re on Pandora, anytime we can get linked to a band that has any kinda significance above us that can expose us to new people, we’re for it.

Geoff – Yeah, get us to other people.

Charis – Our bandcamp is online you can download our shit for free, or you can pay for it. We just want our music to be heard by people, because we think it’s pretty good you know?

Brandyn – The music industry, if you sign to a label or you do it yourself, you really don’t make money off recordings. You make money off of physical copies and performing. So I think music should be free if they’ll buy a shirt and come to the show.

Charis – We’re long past the Napster era. We’re passed it. You can get anything you want off of anywhere at the drop of a dime so why not just go with it. We’re in a new era, we’re not going to be stubborn about it, we’re gonna live with it and we’re gonna embrace it and make sure that we can use it to our benefit.

 

A band that truly gets that music is more than what it’s become. More than this industry that’s treated art in the same regard as it does a piece of overpriced jewelry on a late night run of the Home Shopping Network. A good, a product, a piece of sellable servings being choked down your throat. A band that gets music is so much more than all of the underlying noise polluting the beauty of a decaying art. It gets what makes music special……and that truly is a fantasy.

 

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