Farewell
We talk to Marshall Davis, frontman of Farewell about their debut album and their plans for the year!
So with their debut record being released in the UK last week, Rocklouder decided to place a phonecall to the home of frontman Marshall Davis...
Rocklouder: Hey Marshall. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us.
Marshall: Hey no problem!
RL: So, as it's the first time we've spoken with you and there's not a whole lot of information on you guys out there, can you tell us a bit of background on Farewell, and about how you guys got together?
M: Well, the band existed before I joined it. I guess the guys started it out in rural North Carolina and then Jeff and two of the other guys moved to Greensboro to start college, and that's where I met Jeff in one of our Biology classes. So, we just kinda started hanging out... I've never been in band before, but I was always a big music fan and he was in this band called Farewell and I thought they were pretty cool so I asked him if I could play keyboards. He said they didn't really need anyone, but he was fine with me coming out to their practices and just kinda hanging out, and just hanging around if I wanted to. So I did, and we ended up going to record and I just kinda tagged along and they recorded most of the music, and then they came to do vocals and the singer got in there and started doing his thing, and the producer that we were working with - who is actually the same one that we work with now - he told the singer to go home! He was like 'this is no good, you gotta pack up and head back'. So he left, and we all had a band meeting or whatever, and at that point I wasn't really in the band I was just kinda hanging out, and they were all like 'can anybody else sing', and I said 'well I'll give it a shot', so I went in there and we ended up recording our first EP. I went from being the groupie to being the singer of the band overnight! So it's a kinda unique story, and then after that of course, the singer - he fell back and started playing guitar and then after a couple of weeks he just quit... So that was how we started, a little over 3 years ago, and it's just kinda taken off from there.
RL: That's a pretty cool backstory! So when did you sign to Epitaph?
M: We signed in April of last year (2007).
RL: And where there labels fighting over you? Did you have to showcase a lot for them or did they just come in for you straight off?
M: Yeah, actually they kinda caught us at the end as we'd been showcasing for about a year and a half before that, originally with major labels and that whole deal. We got an entertainment lawyer after we started to get a bigger buzz around North Carolina, and he just started showing our music to everybody, so we had a lot of the big major labels from the US coming out and they all kinda wanted to change things about us... they liked our music a lot but they wanted to change our appearance, and have us wear eye make-up. We actually had one guy tell us that he wanted us to look like Avenged Sevenfold! I was like, man if we looked like Avenged Sevenfold and played our music, then people wouldn't know what to think...
RL: That's kinda weird!
M: Yeah! So we just didn't agree with everything. Some of it looked really nice, but it just didn't... I dunno, we're just 5 normal dudes that just wanna play music and we're not into that whole fashion side of things. So it was cool, we just kinda waited out, and then Epitaph came in right at the end. We were getting a bit fed up, and I think we were on the verge of just signing a deal just so we could have our record out, and then Epitaph came along. We'd always been told that Epitaph was out of our league, so we never really thought about them. It's a label we always wanted to be on but just never thought they'd be interested in our style of music... and then just out of the blue Brett called me on my cell phone and said that he was looking through myspace and saw the artwork on our page and he thought it was cool and then he listened to our music and he liked that a whole lot...
RL: that must've been a pretty good phone call to get totally out of the blue!
M: Well, yeah! The funniest part was that he was trying to explain to me who he is, and I had to stop him and I was like 'dude, I know who you are! I've grown up listening to your band, I love your label'. I didn't wanna give him too much, but ya know... I knew who he was.
RL: That's pretty crazy... So that was in april 2007 that you signed with them, but with the record coming out in the States in September, did you have any of it already recorded when you signed?
M: Actually we'd been recording a lot of these songs over the past 2 years, and we were actually in Chicago recording new songs when he called me. He actually called in September, two years ago (2006). He flew somebody out to come see us, and she enjoyed it and we went out to dinner and stuff and it was all nice, and then he flew us to LA to meet him and to open the Epitaph tour in January...
RL: Oh sweet, who else was on that?
M: That was The Higher, Escape The Fate, The Matches and I Am Ghost.
RL: A pretty decent line-up that...
M: Yeah, and it was really cool for us, and when we came off stage he said he wanted to sign us.
RL: So, the record then came out in the States in September 2007, and it came out here last week (Feb 4th)... You said earlier that you still work with your original prodcuer, so he recorded the whole album?
M: That's right.
RL: So is he a friend of yours, or someone big that you liked and approached to work with you?
M: I think he is gonna become a big producer in his own right, he's really really talented. His name is Mark McClusky and we've been working with him for 3 and a half years...
RL: So is he from Carolina?
M: No, he was originally from Atlanta, and now he's in Chicago. We had been working with him just as friends in the beginning and then last year he did a few bigger record. He did our record and he did Powerspace, and he did a band called Ludo. He's slowly creating a name for himself, and he definitely has a different approach than all these big name producers in the States here. It's a different kind of sound, it's a little more natural, a little rawer. We really love the way that our record sounds.
RL: So have you guys got plans to come over here to the UK anytime soon, with the album having just come out?
M: Well we originally did, and then it kinda fell through. We were talking to The Higher and I think... there's a band...
RL: The Higher are going out with a band here called Elliot Minor in April...
M: Yeah, that's who it was. Elliot Minor. We were trying to do that but it didn't pan out for us. So hopefully after Warped Tour this year we'll have time to do all that. We're doing Japan, we're doing most of Warped Tour...
RL: I was gonna ask about that... You know what chunk you're doing?
M: Yeah, we're doing the first month I know, and we're shooting to get the second month.
RL: That's cool. D'you know what stage you're gonna be on there?
M: No, we haven't been given that information yet.
RL: Awesome, well we'll see you in the Autumn! Just looking at you and your stuff, your music has got that pop edge to it, but you all seem to be more from punk backgrounds...
M: Well we all came from different backgrounds, so I think that's why. Its hard to explain our music in a genre that's overflooded with pop-punk bands. There's so many bands out there, and I think at first listen a lot of it sounds the same, and I think that a lot of critics of our genre are dead on with what they're saying about the music. There's a lot of mediocre crap out there, and I think that to see what we've got that's different you really have to pay attention to the record...
RL: From listening to itthe synth led songs are really strong, and in the same vein as bands like Forever The Sickest Kids...
M: Yeah yeah, and I also think one of the things that we focus on that's different to a lot of these other bands is the layering of the vocals. We do a lot of things like the Beach Boys used to do and it's also about our live show. I mean, so many bands nowadays play with an ipod track. They don't even have a synth player but they've got synth tracks playing through the PA! We just really hate that... that's where you get the punk band in us. We've been playing music for years now, and everyone else in the band has been playing since they were 14/15 years old...
RL: How old are you all now?
M: The youngest guy is 18 and the oldest is 24. So I mean, that's where we kinda stand apart. Everything that you hear on the record, you'll hear live, and there's actually somebody playing.
RL: Well we cant wait to see it! So, what sort of music do you have on in the van when you're out on tour? Are there any particular bands you're listening to at the moment?
M: Yeah, we've all been huge Green Day fans our whole lives. We listen to a lot of Jimmy Eat World and Foo Fighters. Just a lot of rock music... and a lot of older pop punk actually. A lot of bands that were, and are still on Epitaph and all that stuff.
RL: Well thanks for talking to us Marhsall, and we'll be seeing you soon!
M: You bet. Thanks!
Farewell's debut album - 'Isn't This Supposed To Be Fun?' is out now.
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