Michigan post hardcore act, Famous Last Words have just released their debut release "Two-Faced Charade" and have got a tour underway soon enough as well as a whole lot more other band activity in-store for them. Frontman vocalist JT talks of the band's debut, touring trek, and more!
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Famous Last Words, and how long the band has been together.
JT: My name is JT, I am the vocalist for Famous Last Words. I started this band under a different name about 5 years ago. This band has gone through many member changes and name changes, but the band's name and members are now permanent.
2. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
JT: Famous Last Words is based out of Petoskey MI. There are some really talented local bands from the area. We are good friends with the guys from the band, Apparitions.
3. How did the band get the name Famous Last Words, does it represent a certain meaning?
JT: We just thought Famous Last Words is a classic phrase that rolls off the tongue nicely, and no, we are not named after the My Chemical Romance (MCR) song.
4. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
JT: For our latest album, Two-Faced Charade, we wrote the album following a story. There are a ton of theater references in the lyrics because we were going for a "musical theater meets post-hardcore" sort of vibe. As for the messages of the album, there are really only two. A happier message, and a more realistic dark message. The happier message is to go for your dreams and conquer your heart's goals. The darker message is the honest truth of life. That not every story has a happy ending.
5. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
JT: We listen to so many different genres of music on the road it's ridiculous. From hip-hop, to metal, to punk, to classical, etc. So we have a ton of influences from all genres of music. We tried to incorporate as many genres into the album as we could, while keeping a good solid flow to the album. We listen to Silverstein, The Devil Wears Prada, NOFX, The Used, Asking Alexandria, Rufio, Akon, Justin Timberlake, A Day To Remember, and the list goes on.
6. Is there any story or concept behind the Two-Faced Charade title?
JT: Like I said earlier, Two-Faced Charade is a concept album that follows a short story that we released for free download on our Facebook. It's about a psychopathic maniac who falls in love with his neighbor. He finds out that she already has a lover and he loses it. This is when he discovers his "other self" showing the listener/ reader, that he is also schizophrenic. This is why the name ,"Two-Faced Charade", fits the album perfectly.
7. Who produced Two-Faced Charade and what was it like working with them?
JT: We first recorded the entire album in Petoskey MI at Stella Morta Studios with Alex Lee Grubaugh. Once we finished the pre- pros, we took the album to Metro 37 Studios in Rochester MI and tracked the album with Nick Sampson. Working with Sampson was amazing. He took the songs we wrote and really made them solid. He truly is an amazing producer. After we finished tracking the album we sent it off to Joey Sturgis at The Foundation Estate for post-production, mixing, and mastering. Working with both of them was so awesome and we hope to have the same team for the next album.
8. How does it feel to have finaly released your debut album, what runs through your mind, how does it make you feel, what sort of accomplishment do you think you've made by doing this?
JT: It is one of the most incredible feelings to have finally released this album. We worked on this record for roughly a year and a halfl. We put in a lot of money, time, and detail into this record to make it special and not "just another album". It's been a great response so far and I can't wait to see what happens.
9. Who did the cover art for Two-Faced Charade and how much input did you have on it?
JT: Our good friends Kerri Kiple and Christopher Lee Shelafoe from Rendezvous Tattoo and Body Piercing in Marquette MI drew the pictures by hand with colored pencil. We then scanned them and that was that. There was no editing done to them at all. We just gave them a brief description of what we wanted the pictures to look like and what we were imagining in our heads and they took scenes from the story, drew them out, and brought them to life.
10. What are your expectations for the CD?
JT: I really don't know what to expect. All part of the ride I suppose.
11. What is your opinion on sites posting your guys material and other bands material?
JT: I don't see a problem with sites posting our music and promoting. Putting it up for free download is a completely different story though. We know the album will get pirated online, it's gonna happen and we've accepted that. All we can do is hope the people who listen to the album like it enough to actually buy it and support us.
12. How do you guys feel about the classifications in metal? like deathcore, metalcore and other subgenres and how some get a negative rep.
JT: Honestly, there are so many different genres/ sub-genres that I don't even understand them anymore. Music is music, you either like it or you don't.
13. What have you done to prepare yourselves for this tour?
JT: We have been practicing everyday for weeks now. This will be the first tour we will be playing new music for in years. So I can't wait to get back on the road.
14. What are you looking forward to about working with Crown The Empire, Capture The Crown, Palisades, and Heartist on this tour?
JT: We have toured with Heartist before, so we are stoked to see them again. We also played a show with Capture The Crown a couple months back so we are all excited to see those guys again. Crown The Empire just dropped their new full length, so I think the shows are gonna be awesome. Plus every band on this tour package is so talented. It should be a good run.
15. Once the tour in the USA is over what do you have planned afterwards?JT: At the moment we don't have any tours set in stone, but keep on the lookout. I'm sure we will be back out on the road in no time.
16. Any final words of wisdom?
JT: All I can say is never give up on your dreams. We did something that people said wasn't possible for a local band from MI. If we can do it, anyone can do it. "Maybe if I try, I may succeed to fail. But if I don't try, I will always fail to succeed and prevail" -Voices (Two-Faced Charade)
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