Tell us about yourself and your music
Hello, I’m Brent, I play guitar for Far From Fiction.
Our band is comprised of four nerds who love to occasionally have fun on stage. We’re heavily influenced by the 2004-present Warped Tour “scene”, if one wishes to call it that. Definitely a blend of pop-punk, emo, etc. If you like downtuning and octave chords, you might like us.
Our vocalist is a woman. Her name is Mia and she’s a total badass. She has killer pipes and I think she’s a phenomenal song writer.
Our drummer Peter and bassist Kosta are both music performance majors and we are beyond lucky to be able to play with them. Their talents take our songs to another level.
My guitar style is to jump around on stage a lot and break too many strings.
Talk to us more about your latest release
Our latest EP “Void” is our shortest, but probably our best. It encapsulates our style pretty well. The first song “Van Gogh” is an uptempo pop-punk tune with emotive lyrics. The second song “Annie Knows” is on the heavier side and deals with a unique case of infidelity. The third song “Up In Flames” is probably my favorite song we’ve written. It kind of blends all of our influences together and features this big, booming bridge section that ties the whole thing together really well. Then we tracked each of those songs acoustically as well.
Again, it’s short on quantity but high on quality. We’re very proud of it.
What inspired you to write this release?
As soon as we get done with one EP, we usually begin working on the next one. We’re always coming up with ideas. I probably have like 30 unfinished songs recorded on my phone. That’s how most of our songs start.
After we finished Void, we decided to take a step back to refocus our energy. I’ve been in bands and touring for over a decade now, with a wide range of success (or lack of), and I just really needed to slow down for a few.
Now that we’ve had some time to recharge our batteries and get the creative juices flowing again, we’re really excited about where 2020 could take us. We have a lot of ideas and really we’re just looking forward to making music and playing shows for personal enjoyment above all else.
Describe the writing and recording process
Mia is always writing lyrics, and I’m constantly writing baby versions of songs. Eventually we find a matching pair and that’s where it will start. Once a song is in the works, it usually doesn’t take long for us to finish it.
Once we have a batch of songs, usually 5-7 of them, we have to look at them all and figure out which ones we feel are going to work the best or best represent us.
When we get in the studio that’s when we’ll make little adjustments or finishing touches so the songs can be the best versions of themselves. Void took four days to complete. Peter and Kosta knocked their parts out quick. I spent a day on guitars and working out production elements and whatnot. Then Mia used a full day for vocals and harmonies. And then at the end I replayed all the songs acoustic.
Any plans to release a video?
https://youtu.be/ExnFc-QQF14
Any plans to hit the road?
We’ll have some show/tour announcements in the next couple of months. We’re trying not to spread ourselves too thin these days.
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
The word “brand” has become one of the most overused words to me. People will be like “oh, colored hair is your brand” or “everyone wearing Chucks is your brand” or just any minuscule detail. It gets annoying.
But anyway, we’re really just all about our songs and our live performance. We do have a pretty energetic live show, and that’s the hill we die on. Just come see us play. That’s all we really want.
Who have you been listening to lately?
I can’t speak for everyone, but I have a few staples; Paramore, Taylor Swift, Stand Atlantic, Hey Monday, Tonight Alive, Bayside, Mayday Parade, Miley Cyrus, Meg & Dia, Just Surrender, Matchbook Romance, My Chemical Romance, those are kind of my go-to artists. MCR is back so that’s super exciting! I’ve also got a few MySpace throwbacks like The Eyeliners, The Millionaires, and Jamison Parker that I’ll get back into. Lately I’ve been into Poppy, BLACKPINK, and Brie Larson. I also listen to a lot of WWE entrance themes, soundtracks from Marvel movies, and atmospheric music from Disney theme parks. I’m kind of all over the place! Then I’ll go jam some Millencolin, Bounsing Souls, Tsunami Bomb, Distillers, Sharptooth, or Anti-flag to maintain the illusion of punk credibility.
Who are your biggest influences?
Yeah it’s mostly Paramore. Probably some Just Surrender and Matchbook Romance. That’s kind of the sound we’re going for these days. But basically anything that was ever featured on Warped Tour or bands that were on Drive-Thru Records or Victory back in the day. Anybody that I listen to even remotely often. But probably those three the most.
Tell us about your passions
I love wrestling! Especially women’s wrestling. I mostly watch WWE/NXT, Impact, and Shimmer. I host an NXT UK weekly podcast. I’m obsessed with Marvel comics, movies and shows. I’m a huge fan of IndyCar racing and the NBA. And I’m a massive Disney Parks nerd. I’ll talk your ear off about EPCOT Center.
What else is happening next in your world?
Last year my friend Ruby and I started a small festival called Renegade Fest. We had Eyes Set To Kill, Corage My Love, Handguns, Carousel Kings and a bunch of other cool bands on it. We’re gonna try and grow that over the next few years.
And I recently purchased a miniature statue of president Martin Van Buren and I created an Instagram for him. I’m gonna take him places and photograph him and see if I can get him a fan base.
Thanks for an awesome interview, Far From Fiction
Connect with Far From Fiction
Website: http://farfromfiction.bandcamp.comFacebook: http://facebook.com/farfromfictionbandInstagram: https://instagram.com/fffbandmi?igshid=px18mh6gzpzcTwitter: https://twitter.com/FFFbandmiYoutube: https://youtu.be/ExnFc-QQF14
