Last Updated on Thursday, 3 December 2009 11:55
Written by Alison Aird
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
For the second interview as part of my research project I had the chance to chat with The Fall Of Troy’s drummer Andrew Forsman and the newest addition to the band, bassist and back up vocalist Frank Ene. We had a great talk about their musical backgrounds and recommendations for people just getting into the more experimental prog rock scene like myself. On top of that, they had some pretty epic answers for my research proposal. Enjoy!
Alison A: Your music seems really technical. Have you guys been self taught or have you had professional training?
Frank E: I was self taught
Andrew F: I took drum lessons for a few years but that didn’t help me much. It was like jazz and how to read music and with this band we don’t play jazz or read music. Rick Stenzlen [apologies Rick, if this isn’t your surname, but congrats on teaching a great drummer] was my drum teacher.
AA: When did you start writing music? Were you pretty young when you just though “hey, I’m going to try writing music”?
FE: About 15 and a half, I started with a little riffage.
AF: Yeah I was probably about the same.
FE: It was about the time I was in my first band.
AA: Where are your favourite places to play? Do you like shows at home?
FE: Even though it’s hectic I like LA and the Hollywood area, that’s fun. Chicago. I’d love to play New York City.
AF: Yeah, I like Austin.
FE: I like Austin too.
AF: I like over here a lot too, it’s always a lot of fun. Like Germany…
FE: I’ve never played in Germany, but like festivals.
AA: Have you managed to sort out the Europe dates after this?
AF: We’ll probably be back in about 4 months.
AA: You were calling it “The Weak Tour” on the website, come on, it’s short but sweet right?
AF: Yeah, my passport was all messed up so it’s all my fault. But we shall be back, promise!
AA: As you started writing so young has your inspiration changed? Or the things you write about?
FE: Oh man, when I write stuff I’m always like “okay dude, it should sound like this” and it never sounds like you want it to and it’s like, okay, I’m stuck with this.
AF: I mean there not always, I mean there’s never an inspiration when I’m writing drum parts. I just want to make the song as good as possible.
FE: When you started writing your parts did you ever steal other elements?
AF: Oh yeah dude! I totally ripped off a part from Sparta!
FE: Really?
AF: *demonstrates* But I changed it a little bit! It was a little cut and paste at first!
AA: I read that you guys don’t have set lists. Who decides what comes next?
AF: It could be anyone. Sometimes it’s Tom, he just knows what he wants to play, or some nights he’ll be like what shall we play? Or maybe some kid in the crowd shouts out so we’ll do that.
FE: Since I’ve joined the band it seems like every tour we’ll have a block of songs that we’ll play, we might change it up.
AF: Yeah we have like 15 or 16 songs that we’ll pick from on each tour. It just depends on the tour.
AA: And you can do your whole catalogue? I mean you’ve got a lot of albums.
AF: Yeah, we try to get something off of every album.
FE: I’m still trying to get them all. I’ve got four more songs and then I’ll be all caught up. I’ll be ready next tour.
AF: You’ve got a couple of long ones, loooong ones to go.
FE: Yeah, god, ball busters!
AA: Overall what would you want to achieve as a band? Like what would you want to say to your grandkids about it?
AF: Uuuuh, I played in a band for my whole life, I built my family on this band, it has sustained me forever
FE: My mum’s taken care of
AF: Yeah, my parents are taken care of, my family’s taken care of. That’s about it. I don’t need to be famous or rich, I just need to have everyone taken care of and be happy.
AA: That’s a good way to go into it
FE: And obviously to make the fans feel good!
AF: Oh yeah! But I think if you’re taken care of then that’s a result. So like the overall goal for me would be that everybody’s happy and I don’t have to work a 9 to 5!
AA: So I’ve just got into your music, shamefully, I just reviewed your album last week and was like “oh man, I’m really into this”, so are there any other bands you recommend I listen to that are more that kind of experimental style?
AF: Have you heard Minus The Bear?
AA: That one I have, any others?
FE: Yo La Tengo
AF: I knew you were going to say that one! Have you heard that one?
AA: No!
AF: Yo La Tengo, TV on the Radio, we don’t listen to a lot of it…
FE: Do you mean experimental rock?
AA: Yeah
AF: Tera Melos
FE: That’s a great band
AF: And a great band name
FE: I would say a band called Law Dispute, they’re from Grand Rapids. They’re experimental
AF: Would you say Touche Amores is experimental?
FE: Nah
AF: Yeah they’re pretty straight forward like, rock LA punk band. Law Dispute for sure though. If you haven’t heard them, they’re a band from over here that aren’t a band anymore and they’re called Second Smile. They’re probably one of my favourite bands.
AA: Was it right you started recording the first album when you were 17?
AF: Well he [Frank] didn’t
AA: Yeah cause you joined later, but you did, was there loads of pressure when you were 17?
AF: I was so excited, I was like “sweet, I get to record now?”. Spring break! So I wasn’t too nervous.
AA: Do you reckon you would’ve gone to university?
FE: He was at university
AF: I was at the university of Washington
AA: How’d your parents take that?
AF: Me dropping out?
AA: Yeah
AF: Not well… uh they were a little cooler after they saw us play to 3000 people in Seattle. They were kind of nervous at first, but they have since realised that this is what I love doing and I can always go back to school.
AA: You should’ve pulled that card on your parents, the “why don’t you have faith in me?”
FE: Aaaw naaah!
AF: They always had faith in me, they just didn’t think it was the best decision
FE: They’re parents
AA: Yeah
AF: They wanted me to go the 9 to 5 route and I just don’t want to do that at all. I love my parents and they’ve supported me without question. They were just a little bit… “I don’t know if that’s the best choice, but if it’s your choice it’s your choice”.
AA: Aaaaaw
AF: They get it now, they understand, it’s all good!
AA: Were you going to go to school Frank?
AF: He was bored at school. He just wants to be doing music
FE: Yeah, I just want to be playing
AA: Fair enough!
AF: Music’s the best! It’s my favourite thing on earth.
FE: I’m kind of too stubborn for back up plans. That may irritate me later
AF: Oh I definitely have plans. You don’t have the escape pod?
FE: No
AF: Oh man I do. I have it all planned out. I’m good to go!
FE: Can you let me know? Can you tell me?
AF: Well, it’s a secret. It’s not anything crazy, it’s like take it real back down low, go to school, get a job. I have like the technical details down.
FE: That’s good
AA: You know like the school you’ll go to…
AF: Oh yeah, what bus routes I’ll take. The escape pod is fully stocked but I’m hoping it never comes to that.
AA: Okay, do you guys ever get writers block, it seems like you’ve been constantly writing?
AF: There are long periods where we just don’t write anything. I guess they’re only like two or three months but they seem like a long time to me.
FE: What like two or three months not writing?
AF: Yeah, usually we can write pretty quick, like a good three or four in a good session. You’ve just got to harness that thing.
AA: Do you usually write on the road?
AF: Not usually, we save it
AA: Which of the albums is your favourite?
FE: What me personally?
AA: Yeah
AF: For me it’s the last two
FE: I can’t say the record I’m on
AF & AA: Yeah you can!
AF: I played on all of them! You’re going to have to get over that buddy!
AA: It’s a good record, be proud of it!
FE: Oh yeah, I’m very proud of it!
AF: But for you, you were like a fan of it before.
FE: Yeah
AF: So which one Frank, come on, answer the question!
FE: I’m sorry! My brain’s gone dry. I like Ghostship and Phantom on the Horizon, the original stuff, and this new record is obviously awesome, but that old stuff’s nice.
AA: So you worked with Terry Date on this record?
AF: Yeah
AA: Was he the one take guy?
AF: No, I mean with drums we’d do like 7 or 8 takes at least and we’d pick the best from that. I mean there’s no way you’re going to get it in the first take.
FE: I mean tracking my bass and vocals we’d do it and he’d be like “Frank I think we got it” but I’d be like “let’s go again”
AF: Yeah, he knows when it’s right, but he indulges you to see if you can do it better.
AA: Yeah, that’s a good producer. So, are there any big bands that you haven’t toured with yet that you would like to tour with?
FE: I’ve always wanted to tour with like, Incubus or something.
AF: I’d love that. All my favourite bands are too big or dead. I mean, we’re not going to tour with Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Beatles. I respect a lot of bands. I mean Muse would be fun. Muse would be great. Uh Rise Against?
FE: Yeah?
AF: Yeah I’ve toured with them before. I wish we did the Eastpak tour with Alexisonfire and Anti Flag, that would’ve been fun. Any of those, I mean I’m not sure about you, but as far as bigger bands go I think they all have the credibility.
FE: Yeah.
AA: I think it’d be good for you guys to do something like that, I mean so often you go to shows and you hear basically the same sounding stuff.
AF: Yeah, we try to do that a lot of times, but sometimes…
AA: You just have to…
AF: Yeah it’s just the bands you’re booked with.
AA: Is there anything you couldn’t survive without on tour?
AF: Cigarettes. In America, Taco Bell. Here…
AA: Do you hate the food here? Most American bands tend to.
AF: Here? You have great stuff and you have horrible stuff.
FE: It’s just easier to get greasy bad stuff in America.
AF: I mean, I know where to go in America and over here I’m not quite so knowledgeable.
FE: I mean it’s the same if you went over there. But if you went to Jack O Box you would know it’s great.
AF: Yeah you would know you get jalapenos poppers, some cheesy macaroni bites.
FE: When you’re from a place you just figure out what’s better.
AF: I know where the best teriyaki place in Seattle is.
Part 2: Dissertation Questions
AA: Right, you can talk about shows you’ve been to or your owns shows, anything. How would you describe a pit at a hardcore show?
AF: It depends what kind of hardcore show you’re going to.
FE: Yeah, cause I don’t want to say anything bad
AF: Well, thrasy hardcore is just people bumping into each other and pushing each other, but then when you get into hardcore with breakdowns it’s more like a bunch of ninjas training on the same floor, but not together at all. It’s just them doing their own exercises, like swinging their arms in windmills, or picking up chain off the ground.
AA: I was pulling both those at Bring Me The Horizon on Thursday.
FE: I would describe it as me standing behind the pit thinking “dear god, what is wrong with these people?”
AF: Yeah but she’s asking about the actual pit.
FE: Yeah but I’m saying what I do…
AF: But she’s not asking about the dude outside the pit she’s asking what goes on inside. If you’re in the pit…
FE: You’ve been in a pit before?!
AF: Frank, come on dude, I’ve done everything.
FE: You were in there pulling that?
AF: Nah I did this *demonstrates across the room* Well it was for fun. I never thought till we started touring…
FE: Oh man, like when you guys were touring with Hates The Day(?)
AF: Ooooh, yeah, but I was on stage, so I wasn’t in there. I’ve been to their shows, it was pretty funny.
FE: But you like got in there?
AF: Yeah, like, as a joke!
FE: But you moshed with people?
AF: Oh yeah, like Warped Tour. But that wasn’t a pit at a hardcore show, that’s at Warped Tour, it’s a festival.
FE: Yeah you could go to a gospel show and they’d still mosh.
AF: Yeah, like Christian rock.
AA: Would you say that that behaviour is distinctive of the scene?
AF: Yes. I don’t know how much these days, I haven’t seen a lot of hardcore dancing lately but…
FE: Well when we get to somewhere like Colorado or something like that they do it.
AF: Do they? See I’m always just looking at my drums so I don’t see. But it’s definitely like, you’re not going to see that at the Red Wine concert. You’ll probably see a little moshing.
FE: I think I saw a dude doing that at the Purple Turtle last night.
AF: I saw a few people!
AA: At Purple Turtle? Definitely.
FE: There wasn’t even a band playing.
AA: Oh no, they just go there to do it.
FE: Why would you do that?
AF: Hey dude, it’s chugga chugga man.
FE: Chugga chugga!
AA: Would you say that the quality of the show is proportionate to the size or intensity of the pit? So, is it a better show if there are more people going nuts?
FE: Well it looks pretty crazy.
AF: I would say the size of the show doesn’t matter so much as how crazy at the show are. I mean we’ve played shows to like 400 people but they don’t move much.
AA: Arms crossed?
AF: Not really arms crossed, just more like they’re paying attention, and it’s hard to play for a bunch of people that aren’t moving because you don’t know if they like you or not. Like why should I go all out? At least it’s like that for me. I mean I try to, but it’s an inevitable thing if people are bumming me out a little bit you can’t give it your all. I mean it’s like, I put my heart out there and you guys don’t really care. Which is not always true, but sometimes it feels that way.
FE: I mean for me, if people don’t leave that’s good, it means we’re doing really really well. I mean I’m amazed.
AF: But I mean like, it’s hard when you can’t see a physical reaction.
FE: Oh yeah
AF: It’s like you don’t know, they’re just judging you so hard.
FE: It’s like, “mum did I do good?”
AF: Yeah, if you’re mum’s standing there like “yeah, you did fine, I had a good time” or if she’s like hugging you and all “you did great!!!!” there’s a difference. I would say it matters, yes.
AA: At what point would you say a pit or an audience becomes out of control?
FE: When people get hurt.
AF: Yeah. We had a guy that did a stage dive in Knoxville, Tennessee like 3 weeks ago and he landed straight on his head.
FE: And arm.
AF: And he was just out, a little drunk too
FE: It was the Bay area
AF: But basically the show had to end. Whenever the show has to end because someone in the crowd took it too far, that’s when it’s out of control.
AA: Would you say there are younger of older people in your audience?
AF & FE: Younger
AA: Would you say they are more male or female?
AF & FE: Male
AA: If you do see girls in the pit do you reckon that affects the behaviour and makes them more conscious?
FE: I don’t know. I don’t think so.
AF: Well most of the pits, dudes you’d think they’d look out a bit more which is kind of weird, but in a pit you should be looking out for everyone anyway. I don’t know, if I see people in a pit I take care of them.
FE: At the same time I guess a girl going into that, knowing it could be dangerous
AF: Yeah, it’s not like she’s going in oblivious to the fact that it’s not the most safe environment. Unless she’s wasted and just wandered in there. But then she’s not throwing her arms around, so you can be like “hey get out of here or you’ll get hurt!”
FE: Yeah, it’s like going in a shark tank, you don’t know that that shark’s not going to touch you.
AA: Yeah with me on Thursday at BMTH, it was like me and 50 dudes and they just did not give a shit. But I’d rather that.
FE: Yeah, you know what you’re getting into. I’d never do that.
AF: I mean I used to go in there when I was 16 and didn’t care but after getting hit in the face a few times I was like “dude, I’ll just watch from the back”. I don’t want to get pushed around, I want to listen to the music.
AA: Yeah literally I came out and was like “I’m not 17 anymore, I can’t do this now”. Okay, what would you say the unspoken rules of a pit are?
FE: Don’t punch anyone.
AF: Yeah, don’t hurt anyone and if someone does go down help them up
FE: That’s a golden rule
AF: Yeah some people know but don’t care though. I mean basically, don’t hit anyone on purpose and if someone goes down pick them up. It’s called courtesy. I mean we’re all here to enjoy the show, and if your way of enjoying it is by flailing your arms around then by all means do it, but try not to hit anybody, and once again if anyone goes down, pick them up.
FE: Pick them up.
AF: We’re all here together so we might as well get along.
AA: Do you have any examples or experiences that you would like to share. Say something really epic or something you’ve seen?
AF: I mean it’s always just the same.
FE: Yeah, one, I saw Gallows play
AA: Oh yeah, they make a pyramid?
FE: They do a wall of death, but it was way more epic because it was Gallows. I was like “this is pretty cool”.
AF: That’s not really pit though.
AA: My example I give is Gallows built an 8 person high pyramid in the pit when I saw them.
AF: Did anyone get hit?
AA: No
FE: Wall of death isn’t a pit?
AA: I would say it is.
AF: Ok, I would say it’s like a war
*laughter*
FE: But what do the sides represent?
AA: Nothing usually
AF: What are we getting rhetorical here? What do each side represent? Good and bad? I don’t know! Everyone’s right on some level!
