credit: sg visuals
Fear Before the March of Flames is a five- or a six-piece band, depending on who you talk to these days. They’re working on their fourth full length release somewhere in Pacific Northwest. The fourth album is slated to come out in October, but there’s no official title for it yet. However, according to guitarist Adam Fisher, we’ll like it (and it could bring about world peace, but not really).
Sara Garcia: You are on your fourth album, but this isn’t the fourth release, how is it going to differ from the rest?
Adam Fisher: To be honest, this feels like our first release. This band has made a lot of changes member wise. Where as "Mouth" was a lot of myself starting songs and having the other guys add input, this album was all about working together and having equal amounts of expression. I think you can hear it in the music.
SG: You guys had a vast contrast between Art Damage and The Always Open Mouth, are we going to see that again in the next album? Do you think that you’re going to get the same response as you did for Mouth, where people criticized you, but you gained even more fans?
AF: I wouldn't call this album a 180 from Mouth but its quite different in a lot of aspects. It’s definitely our most 90's alt rock influenced album to date. You'll like it. People will like it. It’s gonna make everyone happy. At this point, I’m not worried about who’s gonna criticize it or compare it to Mouth or Art Damage because I like it and it is what it is. But seriously, everyone’s gonna like it. Don’t worry.
SG: Do you feel that you have matured as artists and people since the last album, or is it one over the other?
AF: Yes, very very much so. Especially as people. This writing/recording process is pretty much the opposite of Mouth. We’ve gone through a lot of shit since Mouth was released. It’s been really hard but it has caused us to grow and learn things about ourselves and what we really want out of life. That sounded really deep and serious...but its true.
SG: You’ve said that you view what you do as an art form, would you consider pouring your own talents into bringing about a full experience, using touch, sight and sound?
AF: Did I say that? That sounds really pretentious. I think that music should be treated as an art, not a way to make money. If you make money from it, cool. But there’s a lot of shit bands flooding the airwaves with shit music that is as far from art as it possibly could be. But we could go on for days about that. And it’s inevitable so it’s not like you can hone in on the heart of the beast that spews shit bands and just kill it, so fuck it. As far as bringing it into a full experience, some day if we could afford to make it happen, yes. We do as much as we can live to make our live shows more than just another band playing their songs. And we’re always stepping it up, so I’m sure it will get there.
(Dave Marion said this in an issue of AP right before The Always Open Mouth came out, so I really wasn't pulling that out of thin air.)
SG: Do you plan on having ex-drummer Brandon Proff design the new album artwork, seeing as he did the artwork on A Little Less Teeth?
AF: We’re not really sure yet. We need to pick an album title still. We might do something totally different.
SG: What’s the working title for this CD? Is it going to end up being the final title?
AF: There has been one floating around but its not 100% and if I tell you then it wont be a surprise.
SG: Which is going to come first, a video or an album?
AF: Good question. I’m not sure. Hopefully, a video. I love doing music videos. I love dressing up and getting messy. If and when we do a video I hope it involves mud.
SG: Who was playing the gigantic rabbits in the video for “My Fucking Deer Hunter”? Was it all of you or other people? And where did the idea for the video come from?
AF: I wish it was us. Those costumes were amazing. That video is amazing. We basically just had an idea to do something that looked more like a snuff video than a music video but then got crazy and weird and then Lex wrote up a treatment for the video and went for it. And I don’t think he could have done a better job.
SG: What has been the most rewarding tour to do so far in your career?
AF: Every tour we do is such a great experience and always a chance to make new memories. Touring is our life, it’s what we do. But if i had to pick one that really marked a high point for this band it would be "Dudestorm". It took place in the fall of 2005 with Bear vs Shark, Fall of Troy and Since by Man. It was a perfect example of how fun being on tour can really be and how good of friends you can make. Is that sappy?
SG: What are the best and worst parts about being on tour? Off tour? What do you guys do to pass the time in the van?
AF: Best parts are all the experiences you get to have that people not on tour don’t. Seeing the world and getting paid for it isn’t so bad either. I love traveling. The worst is trying to find food that isn't Taco Bell. You get sick of long drives and being in the van all the time but it’s better than working at Rite Aid or something. I love going home, but after 4 weeks or so it gets old way too fast. And now that I take my dog on tour what else do I really need? To pass time i usually read watch lots and lots of movies. Pretty basic and unexciting, but it works.
SG: What are some of your favorite venues to play?
AF: The Church in Philly. It’s the hottest, grossest, sweatiest place ever and every show is amazing. The Masquerade in Atlanta is always fun. The NorVa in Virgina has a basketball court and a pool table and a big screen tv....
SG: Are you bringing the dogs on tour with you while promoting the new album?
AF: Hell yes. I mean most likely. Scout is so old I hate leaving him. I’ve had that dude for almost 12 years now. Plus, he likes to party. They’re going to Canada with us in 2 weeks. They’re excited for fallafel.
SG: Was there a different response to the music in Europe versus that in the US?
AF: I think the universal response to mouth was just one of mixed feelings. Some people think its amazing. Some people think it is weird noisy garbage. The latter only come to the shows to yell "play on the brightside!"
SG: At the end of the night, what makes you happiest about being in a band? Would you give it up for anything? Or would you change anything?
AF: The fact that when I got out of high school I promised my parents that if I wasn’t on tour full time I’d go to college and here I am still kicking ass makes me pretty happy. I love getting to do this for a living. We scrape by and thats pretty cool. I would never give it up. We have goals and stuff we haven't done and would still like to do but it’s all about the journey not the destination.
SG: Are there any awkward rituals, stretches, mantras that you guys go through before recording or playing a show?
AF: Heh no not really. I wish I could say something crazy but every time I lie it ends up on wikipedia or something.
SG: Is there a perfect cure for a hangover? If so, what is it?
AF: Keep drinking. As a disclaimer, there are a lot of videos and stuff of us partying and acting crazy. We’re not that crazy it’s just that the funniest stuff worth video taping happens when we have a beer or 2 in us.
SG: What is it like to meet so many new people and meet up with people who have been coming to your shows for years?
AF: It’s awesome! That’s one of the best parts about doing this whole thing, and the people who have been coming to see us for years, those are real fans. People who really get what were doing and it’s so cool! We couldn't appreciate those people more.
You can hear more Fear Before songs and watch their studio updates on their Myspace: http://myspace.com/marchofflames
- Sara "still doesn't understand her horoscope" Garcia
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