FAQ – 10-04-2010

Interview with: FAQ
By: Nina Mende

It’s been way too long since the last time I saw FAQ, so for this occasion we decided to do an interview together, again. FAQ is the first band Tempelores did a second interview with, and it wouldn’t be our last. The first challenge “arranging the interview” was finally overcome after several attempts – shows had to get cancelled and other happenings kept us from doing it -, now the next one rose: finding a quiet place to do it. Since we did the interview after the actual show case there were parties going on everywhere in the venue, the backstage was not the most quiet place either, outside it was raining and cold… But we found a quiet and dark place on a stair case. Perfect for doing an interview with FAQ. The second interview is always harder, because you have to find new questions to ask, and without a new album, it is even harder. “Whitechapel” was released in between this and the last interview, but Phil already told me everything about that album last time. Nevertheless we still had enough to talk about. We talked about the Jack The Ripper Night that was today at the club. Phil told us that it was the promoter’s idea because of the album “Whitechapel”. Besides that Jack The Ripper is very interesting so it would be a great concept for a show. Actually they planned on having decoration and making the venue look like Whitechapel in 1888, but there were financial issues and other problems, so the theme decoration didn’t happen. Unfortunately. But it is a great idea and they might repeat it someday. My suggestion was to do such thing on Halloween, Phil told us here that they will have a show case in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino that day. There will be different stages, so it seems like it will be interesting. Maybe Elvis will turn out to be the real Jack The Ripper, you never know. About the show tonight, people did not quite seem the concept. But they will keep on promoting it, so maybe by the 2nd or 3rd night, people will understand and go along. It is always hard to start something new.

Now we talked about the latest album “Whitechapel” which is out for quite a while already. But FAQ had been working on it for a long time and the planned release date got rescheduled a few times. Amongst others that was due to producer and label changes. The actual album was done more than a year ago, but as they changed the producer, the album got retouched. It was worth it though.

I was curious if people got the concept of Whitechapel. It is always hard to create a concept record. If you take a band like Radiohead with a huge fan base you can basically do whatever you want. For FAQ it is a little harder though. It is hard to convince a label of it. The Jack The Ripper story itself was quite popular as the movie From Hell was released, but that is some years back already. But still the name rings a bell. So people get the concept very well, and get into the lyrics. Because each song tells the story of Jack The Ripper from a different angle. Phil told us here that he gets emails from fans talking about the songs. They appreciate the artwork and everything about the album. The booklet for example looks like the newspaper from 1888. Nowadays you don’t make songs anymore, you make files. So this one was really interesting to do and it was great. Especially because when you have a very precise idea of how something should sound in the end it is very rare that it will actually sound like that in the end. This album turned out the way Phil imagined it to sound like. Every song carries a certain feeling, and it is a satisfaction for Phil that he could capture this very feeling on the album. To listen to it again and hear that he made it and met his expectations and plans feel amazing. Another satisfaction is the great feedback they receive.

There are already plans for the next album. They have a few songs done already, but he can’t tell too much about it just yet. One thing is for sure though: It is going to be a massive change by many means though. We are currently more a synth pop band but we will go more into the direction of an indie rock band and will continue on into that direction. The next album is going to be huge. Of course everybody is saying that, but FAQ really means it. The release is still unsure, sometime in 2011 or 2012. I dug a little bit and found out that the new FAQ sound will be more of a Muse kind of direction, not that much electro. They have been in the scene for about 10 years now, it is a great scene but somehow it feels like it is time to move on.

I asked about the live band. Phil told us that they changed around the line up a bit because they felt like they need a live drummer. After all these years of using sampler they thought it would be great to actually have a live band. Having all electronic gets boring after a while. Now with a band it is so different. From having a guitarist the next step would be a bass player and then a drummer. Now they have a guitar player, a bass player, drummer and a keyboarder.

They play at a city festival in Essen on July 31st, with four stages in the streets. FAQ also plays some festivals in Switzerland, others are still in the talk. The main focus will be on the new album though.

Now I was curious about the IAMX show they did. Phil told us that he loves IAMX and thinks they are one of the best live bands out there, and Chris Corner is an awesome personality. It was Phil’s long time dream to play with them. IAMX usually does not have opening acts because at their club shows the stages are very small so the IAMX equipment already has trouble fitting on, a changeover would be very difficult. Since they are friends though, Phil kind of insisted on playing one show with them. It worked out and it was an amazing show and of course fulfilling a dream of Phil.

The Unheilig shows for April 30th and May 1st in Switzerland will be with FAQ as well. FAQ supported Unheilig before and since Diary Of Dreams and Zeromancer can’t support Unheilig for some reasons on these two shows, FAQ was asked to do so. The venue has a capacity of 2000 people, both nights are sold out. Having two shows in a row is awesome, not only because of the awesome venue but also because you only have to set up the stage once instead of both days, the second day you can just enter the club, do a quick sound check and you’re ready to go. So you have more time to actually enjoy the show and afterparties.

That was all we talked about, we’re looking forward to the next one. Many thanks to FAQ for their time and the great music.

Links:
FAQ Official