Interviews -The Faint-

by E-mail, 2004.6
text by Yoshiyuki Suzuki
interpretation and translation by Hidetomo Hirayama

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"We were trying to excape from "indie rock". We got bored of it and we just thought that electronic music was the answer. "

First of all, I would like to start the interview with the question about your music background. How would you describe your childhood in terms of music surroundings? Then, what kind of music did you prefer to listen to? Tell me some bands and musicians that have much influence to you, and your lifetime favorite albums.

Todd：I was actually quite a little music fan when I was young. I joined a tape club in about 1983. I still remember and like just about all of those tapes still today. I can remember a few: The Clash-Combat Rock, Duran Duran-Rio, Flock of Seagulls, ZZ Top, Devo, The Fixx, Adam Ant. . .well, right now I don't remember as many as I thought I would. I chose that stuff mostly because I heard it on the radio and MTV. MTV was very new in omaha. I saw it for the first time at my second grade teachers party she threw for us at her apartment. Later on in 7th grade, I was turned on to a new batch of bands, The Cure, The Smiths, R.E.M., Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, Violent Femmes. Then in high school some of my favorites were Bad Brains, Bad Religion-No Control, Alien Sex Fiend, Metallica-(1st few albums), Billingsgate, Inside Out, The Pixies, Iceburn, Fugazi, Some Rap and Bunch of Screamy Stuff. Then a little later I found out about Pavement, Archers of Loaf, Mousetrap(Omaha), Slowdown Virginia(Omaha), Magnetic Fields, New Order, Elvis Costello, Polvo, Helium, Brainiac, Sunbrain, The Wrens, Erectus Monotone, etc. This was the stuff I was listening to when we started Norman Bailer, so I guess that means the early nineties.

Tell me how you started thinking about making your own band, The Faint. I read the band was called Norman Bailer at first and playing at coffee shops.

Todd：We thought it would be soft and notey like lambchop. We also planned on having some noisy keyboard as a backdrop. It didn't really sound like that at all. We didn't know how to play quietly. Conor would always get so excited screaming and yelping. I think it was probably more interesting to watch us because of that though. We sat down when we played which seems weird now, but in the coffee shops it was very normal. The keyboard sounds were unusual. We hooked the keyboaard up to a bunch of guitar pedals. It kind of sounded like when you try to start a car after it's already running. Overall, we were folky, sloppy, squeaky, melodic, we sang through a voice modulating mega phone sometimes, and there was a 12 string guitar.

Just listening to The Faint, Bright Eyes and Cursive, your label mates, it seems to me that your hometown, Omaha, Nebraska, has some kind of atmosphere in which various talents grow. How do you think the fact that you are grown up in Omaha have influenced the way you express yourself in art forms?

Todd：I think that all of our friends wanted to play music because of Tim Kasher of Cursive's band Slowdown Virginia. There were also some other great bands like Moustrap, Simon Joyner, and Polecat. I think that everything is based around Tim. Everyone else found their own voice eventually, though at first many of the bands sounded kind of like Slowdown or Tim Kasher acoustic.

I was wondering if you, Bright Eyes and cursive are stimulating each other in terms of creating music even though styles might differ among them. Could I have some comments from you about those two bands.

Todd：I think that we all used to write songs for our friends in the other bands. That has faded a little bit as we don't see each other as much these days. It's still there, though. I think we all like each others bands and are always keen on hearing any new recordings.

From your first album to the latest "Danse Macabre", your style have been changed a lot, featuring more synthesizers and electronic instruments. How do you think this change have happened in the band?

Todd：We were trying to excape from "indie rock". We got bored of it and we just thought that electronic music was the answer. It seemed like there were more sonic possibilities and we believed that keyboards could rock. Although now that I think about it, the only band I had ever seen that actually rocked the keyboards was brainiac. They were awesome.

Because of the fact that the main instrument has changed from guitars to keyboards and synthesizers, does that influence the way you write songs, for example, you start writing songs by making rhythm tracks, not by writing melodies or riffs?

Todd：Yes, I write songs differently now. Actually, every time I write a song, I try to do it differently. Sometimes I write songs while I'm walking. My feet give me the tempo. It is easier for me to write songs to a beat of some sort. Sometimes I'll put on a horrible house cd and use that beat to release a thought vocally. Lately, I've gone back to guitar on occasion. I carry a tape recorder around when I am trying to write songs. I leave notes for myself in it. I have a really bad memory. If I didn't do that, I would never have a new song.

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