An Interview With Fin Fang FoomAn Interview With Fin Fang Foom
After Fin Fang Foom's awesome Saturday night performance at Bar One during The Fest V, I got a chance to pick their brains a bit about Gainesville's music scene, their next release and inspiring shows they've been to.
First off, is this your first Fest?
Eddie: No, actually, we've done all of them since the first one.
What do you think the best part of The Fest is?
Eddie: Getting to see all the bands - all your friends. Being that we used to live an hour away, we have a lot friends here. That and just everybody getting together.
Mike T.: I think it's a really amazing thing, community-wise. All these bands are coming together, all these people are coming together, and it's still so, you know, noncorporate. It's very grassroots and indie. It's still punk rock and I think it's awesome that it carries that vibe through it. I think it's really important. It's amazing what Tony [Weinbender of No Idea Records] and everyone involved has done - keeping it kind of pure and noble. No commercial nonsense. Staying true to what we all believe in and what we've been working for for so many years.
Cynthia: I've never been to Gainesville. I've never been to The Fest. The people here have been so crazy and so nice. It's totally revitalizing to see it going on outside your town. I've met so many crazy people tonight who are just like, "Hey, what's your deal?" It's so friendly. The energy in this town is so great. It totally inspires you, like, "Yeah, man, this is what it's about." It was awesome. I was shocked - I thought it was gonna be a bunch of punk rockers sitting around and growling at each other and it was gonna suck.
I hear the cello player is a recent addition. How did you guys decide to add that?
Eddie: We've always wanted a cello player. For a long, long time. It just worked out because she was a good friend of ours, an awesome person, and she played cello.
Do you guys have an album coming out soon?
Mike T.: Yeah, it's like a Japan exclusive, but we've conviced the Love to release it and it's going to be distributed through Dischord. It's supposed to be out, but the CDs have been on a boat. Seriously, on a boat. Dischord is like, "Well, we can't get it on this release date because it still hasn't gotten here." We're just waiting for that to come. Then we have new stuff that we're going to record and hopefully have it out next year.
Interview continued after the jump...
Are you guys on tour right now?
Mike G.: Just for the weekend. We did our ex-hometown last night, and then we're part of The Fest tonight.
How would you compare Florida's music scene to North Carolina's?
Mike G.: A lot more aggro and punk down here.
Mike T.: I think people are still holding on to certain aesthetic and lifestyle of punk rock and still embracing that. I think it's really awesome. It seems that No Idea is responsible for so much of keeping the whole ideology behind punk rock and sense of community going. I come to Florida and then I go to Europe - like Germany - and you see it. And you see it a lot less in other places now. It's cool for us because it's still like our home turf. It's refreshing to come home and see that.
I've heard good things about Berlin's music scene.
Mike G.: Yeah, we showed up at a hostel and everybody was staring us down. It was probably the most sketchy place.
Eddie: It was right after 9/11, so it was a big anti-American thing.
Mike T.: Anti-Bush.
You were scared but you had a good time?
Mike G.: Yeah, it was amazing.
Mike T.: Yeah, the place we played in Berlin was definitely known as a pretty hardcore spot.
Eddie: We kinda walked in on a meeting at the club. They found out we're American, and they didn't realize we were the band playing that night. It looked like we were gonna get beat up really bad.
Mike T.: There was a bit of a language barrier. We didn't know what was happening because the basic gestures of goodwill are different.
Eddie: But it turned out to be awesome.
What is one of your all-time favorite live shows you've been too, and what made it so great?
Mike T.: I think mine was the first time seeing Jesus Lizard. David pulled out his balls and put them up to the microphone. And then they played after. It was pretty electrifying, a pretty intense experience.
Mike G.: I'm gonna say probably the last Mastodon show I saw. I'm a big metal fan. I won't play in any metal bands ever, but I grew up on metal, being from Florida. He's one of my all-time favorite drummers in the whole world.
Cynthia: I realize I get my mind blown on a pretty regular basis at shows, and I have a really bad memory. So the best show I saw was last weekend. I saw this woman named Natalie Joy, from Philadelphia. She played solo in this weird antique shop in Pittsburgh. She played guitar and sang some songs. But she played some songs on a little beat-up Casio and sang. It was so amazing. I was crying, watching her play. I haven't had that happen. It was just her, solo, no mics and her crappy Casio, and I was bawling. She's amazing. She looked really young. You'll see her soon. She'll come to your town and you will leave crying.
Eddie: As far I can think of right now, it's this Japanese band called DMBQ. They're total showmen - climbing on the ceiling, the guitar player has a guitar in his mouth and he's playing. They're just crazy maniacs. Swinging from the rafters, upside down, screaming. People carrying them. The most showmanship I've ever seen anyone do. And on top of that they're really amazing players. We did a couple of shows with them. Then their next tour back, unfortunately, their drummer, China ... They rolled their van and she died.
Thanks a lot, guys. I really appreciate it.
Mike G.: Fin Fang Foom would like to give a huge thanks to Tony. He set us up. We've done the Fest five years in a row now, each year. Tony - props out from Fin Fang Foom for all you done for us.
