Bowlegs: Gravez is definitely a fun record to listen to, and it sounds like you guys are having a good time. Was it as fun to record as it sounds?

Daniel: We don’t really have fun playing music. It’s more of […]]]>

Hooded Fang are back in business with their new record Gravez – a torrent of guitars, melody and furious pop. We caught up with group members Daniel and April to talk about the record, the recording and cookies in the studio.

Bowlegs: Gravez is definitely a fun record to listen to, and it sounds like you guys are having a good time. Was it as fun to record as it sounds?

Daniel: We don’t really have fun playing music. It’s more of a painful self-torture kind of thing. We are masochists!!

April: I wish our friends visited us at the studio with snacks. Well, Mina brought us cookies; that was great. It’s always a strange kind of fun to record. It’s actually a bit nerve-wracking for me, but it feels good when you’ve nailed down a take. Daniel did a bunch of the songs on this record at home, and the others we recorded together, live off the floor, at our friend Ian Gomes’ studio.

Bowlegs: You manage to balance dark issues with a really summery, positive sound, as on Never Minding. Is this an attempt to find the ‘silver lining’ in a bad situation?

Daniel: I might have had the heater on for too long. Maybe it brought some sweat to give it that sound? It’s nice to have light and dark meet in the middle sometimes.

April: I don’t think always we mean for it to come out that way, but it seems to a lot of the times. Mostly we go with our guts.

Bowlegs: Your music has a certain 60s surf-rock style to it. What is it about that sort of sound that attracts you?

April: Summer. Shaking. Whiling out.

Daniel: We like all kinds of music.

Bowlegs: How important is structure/tracklisting to your records? There are short intros and outros on the new record and on Tosta Mista.

April: The flow on the record is pretty important. We both used to DJ so we deliberate on track listing for a while. Daniel thinks one thing and I think another and we go back and forth on the tracklist so matter of fact like in our opinions, but probably the differences are arbitrary and inconsequential. Then suddenly we end up with one that we think is perfect. Or one of us has given in. Haha. We also see all our records as one whole piece. You know, it makes a difference where you put your blue strokes and your yellow ones.

Bowlegs: There’s definitely more of a punk, or maybe DIY feel to this record than with your last. Why did you decide to go in this direction?

Daniel: Just what we felt like doing this time around. We have other projects that are more dirty sounding than this. Maybe that is crossing over into Hooded Fang as well.

Bowlegs: Gravez often delves into the brilliantly nonsensical, giving the record a light-hearted feel. Are you conscious of not taking yourselves too seriously?

Daniel: We don’t believe that nonsensical equates light-heartedness. Alot of the truest meanings and feelings can be expressed in odd or difficult-to- comprehend ways. I find that this is often when I’m at my most honest, lyrically.

April: We definitely take ourselves seriously. But really, everything about life is absurd.

Bowlegs: Was there a particular agenda to meet in recording this album that there wasn’t with your previous records?

April: Nah, we just always go with what feels right at the time. You know, that spark of inspiration comes, and you just go with it. That inspiration can be in various forms, it’s just life you know – - – good, bad, ugly, pretty, etc.

Bowlegs: What’s the story behind the artwork for Gravez? It definitely fits in with the eclectic colourful sound of the album.

Daniel: The artwork is Toronto artist Patrick Kyle. He makes comic books, runs a publishing thing, and plays in a punk band. We also drink beer together sometimes. www.patrickkyle.com

-Interview by Will Moss-

Here’s the story behind the video:

“The idea for the video came with combining the realism of a Stockholm winter with the escapism that the song suggests. The setting of a grim and dreary Scandinavian winter day, the journey from apartment to space with the wood, we thought it to […]]]> Small Feet is Stockholm based Simon Stålhamrhe and this is his debut double 7″ and Tape Cassette released on June 12th via Kning Disk. Are you ready to have your heart broken?

Here’s the story behind the video:

“The idea for the video came with combining the realism of a Stockholm winter with the escapism that the song suggests. The setting of a grim and dreary Scandinavian winter day, the journey from apartment to space with the wood, we thought it to be the perfect visual metaphor to accompany the song.
We also wanted to break down the mystery behind the Scandinavian idealistic winter. The song Palm Trees speaks a lot about being anywhere than where you are, existential possibility, and desiring a situation that you are not in. This very documentary and realistic take we found visually a good way to introduce this new project.”

In a 2010 interview they said their influences were […]]]>

It is good to hear bands that carry a pile of influences with a level of technical madness across several genres. The three-piece sound like a time-warped early XTC learned in hardcore and African rock reissues instead of punk and Farfisa organ rock. Fair Ohs’ slew of percussive rhythms and high energy guitar work drive an expansive attempt to diversify their sound – their energy is infectious to say the least

In a 2010 interview they said their influences were Paul Simon, African music, and the hardcore ethos – and it does feel like they built Jungle Cats around that foundation. This is a focused effort where intricate guitar runs collide with frantic bursts of vocals and atmospheric breaks throughout. The staccato hits, fiddly riffs and larger-than-life presence on Mountain Bombs is a prime example of the band’s frenetic yet focused direction.

Detractors may feel like the UK trio sounds like a late 00′s Brooklyn band playing with African rhythms and vocal chants plugged into jagged indie rock. Yet Fair Ohs brings a vitality to their scattershot brand of lively guitar and rhythm workouts—crafting a strong entry as a band playing what they love.

-Justin Strazdas-